McArthur criticises SNP’s double standard on landfill dumping 

Scottish Liberal Democrat climate emergency spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP has today pressed the First Minister on reports that 100 truckloads of waste will be moved over the border to England daily once a landfill ban comes into place at the end of the year.  

Speaking at First Minister’s Question Time, Mr McArthur asked the First Minister to explain to the chamber how the Scottish Government would respond if the UK government was dumping English waste in Scotland.  

Speaking after the exchange, Mr McArthur said:  

“There is a clear double standard here and the First Minister knows it. If the UK government was proposing to dump truckloads of waste from England over the Scottish border the SNP would be up in arms.  

“The First Minister was unable to offer a justification for these plans, because there isn’t one. The Scottish Liberal Democrats have been pushing for the government to respond to these risks for years now, and it is clear these warnings have gone unheeded by former SNP and Green ministers alike.  

“Despite having years and years of notice, there has been a clear failure by the government to plan for this ban. Let's be clear – this is an environmentally harmful outcome which absolutely undermines the government’s credibility.”