Tag Archives: scottish parliament elections 2026

Mark Valladares

17 November 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 17th November 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Asylum hotels: state-endorsed robbery will not fix the crisis
  • Lib Dem MP calls for National Crime Agency crackdown after “mountain of waste” uncovered in Oxfordshire
  • Greene calls for Scotland-wide school fire safety audit
  • Poll suggests Lib Dems can win over wide range of voters and take on SNP
  • Scottish Conservatives seem to have nothing but name-calling left

Asylum hotels: state-endorsed robbery will not fix the crisis

Commenting on the Government’s annoucement to confiscate asylum seekers’ jewellery to pay for their housing costs, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson MP said:

The Government must fix the asylum system, but stripping vulnerable people of their family heirlooms will not fix a system that is costing taxpayers £6 million every day in hotel bills.

This policy goes against who we are – a nation that has long responded with compassion to those fleeing the worst atrocities imaginable.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the end of asylum hotels and to give asylum seekers the right to work, so that they can support themselves financially, integrate and pay tax. That is how we bring down the bill – not by state-endorsed robbery.

Lib Dem MP calls for National Crime Agency crackdown after “mountain of waste” uncovered in Oxfordshire

The Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, Calum Miller, has used an urgent question in Parliament to call on the Government to pay for a 150 metre illegal waste dump in Oxfordshire, and for the National Crime Agency to investigate the most serious cases.

The mountain of rubbish, which is situated in a field between the River Cherwell and the A34 near Kidlington, has been described by Calum as “pollution on a grotesque scale.”

Calum also suggested that the site has to “be seen to be believed” and condemned criminal fly-tipping gangs, who he said are “carefully planning operations to dump industrial waste in the countryside” without consideration for the “health of people or animals”.

Calum has today (Monday 17th November) used an urgent question in Parliament to call on the Secretary Of State to issue an “urgent directive” to clear up the site “before it is too late” for the River Cherwell. The cost of cleaning the pile of waste, which is up to 20 feet high, is more than the entire budget of Cherwell District Council. Calum also called for an Independent “root-and-branch review” into the Government’s response to waste crime.

Greene calls for Scotland-wide school fire safety audit

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for the West of Scotland Jamie Greene has urged the Scottish Government to conduct a Scotland-wide audit of fire safety in schools.

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The Voice

Cole-Hamilton plots election breakthrough on the peach regional ballot

By The Voice | Sat 18th October 2025 - 11:00 am

Today, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton will use his speech to his party’s autumn conference in Glasgow to say that his party is on the brink of an electoral breakthrough and urge voters to back Scottish Liberal Democrats on the peach regional ballot at next year’s election in every corner of Scotland.

Mr Cole-Hamilton is expected to say:

The opportunity is such that we could be standing on the threshold of a historic breakthrough for our party across Scotland.

But that breakthrough is not inevitable, we are going to have to work for every single vote.

Our message is unapologetically positive, it speaks

…

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Mark Valladares

7 May 2025 – today’s press releases (part 2)

By Mark Valladares | Wed 7th May 2025 - 11:55 pm
  • Cole-Hamilton: Only the Lib Dems can get Scotland back to its best
  • Scot Lib Dems comment on SNP candidate list
  • Legal Experts express support for Assisted dying bill
  • Scot Lib Dems respond to Swinney independence comments
  • Labour steal Deputy Mayor appointment as part of a “grubby deal” for control of Oldham Council

Cole-Hamilton: Only the Lib Dems can get Scotland back to its best

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that only his party can deliver a fairer vision for Scotland and get our communities back on track, as he marked one year to go until the Scottish Parliament election.

Mr Cole-Hamilton is visiting a local business in Edinburgh Northern today with Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, the party’s candidate for the constituency. Edinburgh Northern is a key target seat for the party at next year’s election. At the 2022 local elections, Scottish Liberal Democrats won the area covered by the new seat by 29.3% to the SNP’s 25.0%.

The party is highlighting their priorities for the next election. This includes faster access to local healthcare like GPs and dentists, recruiting more teachers to put Scotland at the forefront of key industries like renewables and precision medicine and speeding up the delivery of important infrastructure, particularly the dualling of the A9 and A96.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

The SNP have been in charge for eighteen years and our health service, economy and education are all on their knees. They have let Scotland down.

When people look around at some of the alternatives, they feel frustrated. Labour were elected promising change, but they have clobbered small businesses and care providers with a cruel jobs tax. The Conservatives are lurching to extremes and abandoning the centre ground.

Only the Scottish Liberal Democrats have a vision for getting Scotland back to its best.

We want a Scotland where people get the local healthcare they need, when they need it. We want to give our children a world-class education and a thriving economy where the government looks after your money and works with its neighbours. We want a Scotland where our rural communities are listened to, not talked down to.

If Scots back us, we can defeat the SNP’s Kate Forbes in the highlands, win constituency seats in areas like Edinburgh and East Dunbartonshire and elect more Liberal Democrat candidates on the regional lists in every corner of Scotland who will be strong local champions delivering on the issues that matter most.

Scot Lib Dems comment on SNP candidate list

Commenting on the SNP releasing their candidate list, Christine Jardine MP said:

If only the SNP government were always as good at recycling as they are with their candidate list. We’d have no difficulty hitting our climate change targets.

Stephen Flynn has obviously decided that he’s bored of staring at the back of Ed Davey’s head each week and decided to try his hand in the Scottish Parliament. Given some of the language his supporters have been throwing around, I’m not sure that is a prospect his female colleagues will relish.

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