Tag Archives: budget

Caron Lindsay

Rennie says SNP Government must put more into mental health, the police and helping disadvantaged kids in schools

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 19th January 2017 - 12:58 pm

It’s time for the Scottish Parliament to debate the Government’s budget plans for the coming year. It’s particularly interesting this year as the SNP no longer has a majority and must secure the backing, or at least the abstention, of others in order for the budget to pass.

Willie Rennie has written to Derek Mackay, the SNP’s Finance Minister, to set out the changes that the Liberal Democrats wish to see before they could consider supporting the budget.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that he is sticking to the priorities we outlined in our manifesto for the Scottish elections last year – more money for disadvantaged kids in schools as we implemented successfully south of the border, an expansion of mental health services, particularly for young people, and more funding for the Police who are struggling to cope with the SNP’s disastrous centralisation.

It’s quite important that we have all this in mind in everything that we do during this Parliament. We need to think about what we want to achieve and what we will have to say to voters in 2021 about what we have fought for and where we are not prepared to settle for tepid, unambitious half-measures. In the last Parliament, where the SNP had a majority, we still made issues like early years education, colleges, the Police, civil liberties and mental health our own and won significant concessions from the SNP in budget discussions. Now that there is no majority, we need to push for more.

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Alex Hegenbarth

The Greatest Show On Earth

By Alex Hegenbarth | Mon 18th January 2016 - 6:25 pm

 

From the great theatrical showman in Las Vegas to the street-hustlers on trestle tables asking tourists to watch the cups; misdirection, the foremost requirement of magic, is a deception in which the attention of an audience is focused on one thing in order to distract its attention from another.

No matter in what forum they perform, from street magicians to TV illusionists, magicians have the ability to use their skills to create something out of nothing, of reordering the universe to defy the rules of logic before our very eyes – and who knew that the Conservative government was creating the greatest show on earth.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 4 Comments
Newsmoggie

Independent: Liberal Democrats’ “major and under-rated contribution” to Budget success

By Newsmoggie | Sat 22nd March 2014 - 9:20 am

Budget 2010 photocallYesterday’s Independent editorial had some very complimentary things to say about the Liberal Democrats’ influence on the Budget:

It is widely said that George Osborne had a decent Budget this week, aided in no small part by Ed Miliband’s curiously weak response. But the Liberal Democrats, as has frequently been the case during this parliament, made a major and underrated contribution to its success.

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Alan Reid MP

Alan Reid MP writes… Time for the Chancellor to be fair on Scotch

By Alan Reid MP | Wed 12th March 2014 - 11:48 am

WhiskyAs the local MP for Islay, I see frequently just how important whisky is to the island. Eight distilleries (and another planned), and the world famous brands they produce, help to drive the local economy and attract tourists from around the world to a remote corner of the Scottish west coast.

What is less easy to understand is why the UK continues to penalise the industry in its home market. Today, nearly 80% of an average priced bottle of Scotch Whisky – four pounds in every five you spend on a bottle – is accounted for by tax, making whisky one of the UK’s highest taxed consumer products.

Excise duty on whisky has increased by 44% since the introduction of an annual 2% above inflation duty escalator in 2008. The result has been predictable and damaging. The UK market for Scotch is now 12% lower than it was when the escalator was introduced, a loss of 6,500 bottles from the market every day.

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Caron Lindsay

Budget 2013…..Live Blog

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th March 2013 - 12:34 pm

George Osborne is about to get to his feet to deliver his Budget.

IF campaign Budget Dy

In Parliament Square this morning, Enough Food IF campaigners gathered to remind him to stick to the 0.7% overseas aid pledge.

Join us for our budget live blog.

“It was of course inevitable that debit reduction would impact on growth, but what the independent OBR figures show quite clearly is that other factors – namely the weak international picture and higher-than-expected inflation – have had a much greater impact on economic growth. Given the risks of not …

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Simon McGrath

Opinion: Liberal Reform urge MEPs to oppose a secret vote on the EU Budget

By Simon McGrath | Tue 12th February 2013 - 3:50 pm

European Parliament chamber, StrasbourgIt probably came as a  surprise to most Lib Dems to hear  that it is possible to have a secret vote in the European Parliament at all, let alone when as few as 20% of MEPs call for one. Press reports that some members want a secret vote so they can safely vote against the EU Budget are shocking, because knowing how elected representatives vote is surely the most basic piece of information required to hold them accountable.

If the EU Budget is rejected, after a secret vote, there is not the slightest doubt that it will be seized upon by those in the UK who want us to leave to leave the EU.  Not only should our own MEPs, but also ALDE as a whole, should be opposed to a secret vote in this case, and they should act to change the Parliament’s rules to make secret votes impossible.

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Kirsty Williams AM

Kirsty Williams AM writes: Welsh Liberal Democrats will fight for more for disadvantaged children

By Kirsty Williams AM | Wed 3rd October 2012 - 1:36 pm

Yesterday the Welsh Labour Government submitted its £15 billion draft budget which reveals its spending plans for the next year.

In its current form, the Welsh Liberal Democrats cannot support this budget as we don’t believe it goes far enough to tackle the problem of making sure that children from deprived backgrounds get the fair start in life they deserve.

Last year, the Welsh Liberal Democrats vastly improved the Welsh Government’s budget by agreeing to support it in return for the introduction of a Welsh Pupil Premium. Despite failing standards in our schools and an ever growing spending gap per pupil when compared …

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Recent Comments

  • User AvatarDav 23rd Oct - 4:06pm
    No, the Lib Dem support for a referendum was defined in opposition to those who wanted a referendum specifically on the Lisbon Treaty. As Nick...
  • User AvatarSimon Perks 23rd Oct - 3:51pm
    @jay: A fair point. But it's a letter to Theresa May, not the EU negotiating team. And given that it's the UK that has got...
  • User AvatarKatharine Pindar 23rd Oct - 3:46pm
    Well said, Peter Hirst. I believe that individually and in our local parties (for instance by holding anti-Brexit street stalls), we should help to build...
  • User AvatarMichael Cole 23rd Oct - 3:30pm
    @Peter Watson 23rd Oct '17 - 12:08pm, The LD support for a referendum related specifically to the Lisbon Treaty.
  • User AvatarKatharine Pindar 23rd Oct - 3:28pm
    Hi, David, I expected you might come back with 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'! But you for once are unfair in...
  • User Avatarjay 23rd Oct - 3:19pm
    I notice no condemnation of the EU for refusing to enter early talks along these lines. While I certainly sympathise with people stuck in in...