Cole-Hamilton comments on cross-party summit

Speaking after attending the democracy summit organised by the First Minister, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

“The joint statement sets out valuable principles about trust in politics and democratic participation.

“Unlike Russell Findlay, I’m in politics to get thing done. If I can do my bit to put power back in the hands of voters, end the culture of secrecy and spin, and fix our broken politics then I will.

“That disaffection with politics does not come out of nowhere. People’s pay packets don’t stretch as far as they used to. It takes too long to get a doctor’s appointment. There’s a desperate housing crisis. That is down to failures in how Scotland is governed and after so long in power, much of that lies at the door of the SNP. Government needs to understand why it has lost the dressing room.

“I hope that alongside the fine words about tackling disinformation and boosting democratic participation, there can now be a relentless focus on the issues that matter most like swift local access to healthcare, fixing social care and tackling violence in our schools.”