So, another day, another episode of dissolving into tears as a Lib Dem MSP makes their first speech in Holyrood. Yi-Pei Chou Turvey is my friend and I cannot describe how thrilled I am to have her at Holyrood.

Her first speech today, on childcare, is one she currently lives. She has three children and so completely understands the complexities of finding good childcare. She was well placed to pull the SNP down to earth a bit from its self congratulatory parliamentary motion, pointing out that someone who was a baby when they came to power could have their own children now.

She called them out for expecting Councils to do lots of service delivery but not providing sufficient funding, of the impossibility of providing breakfast clubs over a large rural area, of the costs of childcare which often mean that parents – and let’s be real here, that’s most often mothers – cut back work or even leave their jobs completely. Yi-Pei talked about how our plans would help the parents who needed it most to enable them to stay in work which in turn would benefit the economy.

Watch her speech here:

The text is below:

Thank you Presiding Officer and colleagues.

“I am humbled and proud to be here today to serve the residents of the North East of Scotland. And that’s thanks to our helpers, family and friends, and also, people on the doorsteps who remembered the good days of Mike Rumbles, Nicol Stephen, Alison McInnes, and also, certainly, Robert Smith and Malcolm Bruce.

“Indeed, the Scottish Liberal Democrats are back in the North East of Scotland, and I heartily believe in our ability to be there alongside the residents and work for them, and with our businesses, education institutions, industries and third sector.

“But one topic that makes me want more than anything to help people have a better and fairer life is the debate we are having today on the motion on childcare.

“Colleagues, I hope we are all aware of the fact that the UK has the highest costs for childcare compared to the rest of Europe. And that is one of the reasons our economy is not progressing the way it should be.

“When parents have to stop working or reduce hours or take a step back in their careers, that’s not right. It is not right that they are only able to work the hours in the time they can, or fit childcare around the hours the job demands them to do.

“Many parents wait three years between children to afford childcare, or some do night shifts and weekend shifts to take turns to cover childcare, or some have to move closer to their relatives.

“I was surprised when the SNP manifesto landed with the promise of free childcare from nine months onwards.

“I also wonder why it took them so long to see the costs of childcare being a munro in the achievement for a fairer society and help to grow our economy.

“19 years in government, the babies born when the SNP arrived in power can have babies of their own now.

“With the Scottish Lib Dems our goals seem to be not as fancy. That’s because we budgeted the cost of our manifesto promises.

“We know, in my ward, the average cost for 8-5pm, 5 days a week is around £1,750 without the 1140 hours of funded childcare.

“We know, at the Scottish Liberal Democrats, that free breakfast clubs is nearly impossible to deliver in our rural regions, and any of you who work in any remote council will know that as well.

“We know that help with childcare needs to be serious, fair and help parents to work or go back to work.

“I know as a councillor in one of the most underfunded councils that decisions that we make here, in Holyrood, cascade down to local government, but the cost for underfunded councils to deliver the decisions are unfair, depending on where you live in Scotland. It increases the risk for local authorities, which are overstretched already, to have to find savings elsewhere.

“As a Scottish Liberal Democrat, I will scrutinize that those promises and the funding to deliver them follow. I will fight for all the hardworking families and their network of support- grandparents, friends, nurseries- to be able, finally, to aim and achieve the choice in life, and finally to feel that they are treated with fairness and equality.”

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social