Rennie: “No reasonable explanation” for the government being unprepared on student return
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today chastised the Scottish Government for being “unprepared” for student movements yet again and pointed out that the term dates “haven’t snuck up on them”.
Read moreParliament debate and vote on new restrictions essential
Responding to the First Minister's statement and confirmation that 11 local authorities will be moved in to level 4, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said:
"These new measures will change the way of life for hundreds of thousands of people so it is essential that we fully scrutinise them in a debate and vote on Thursday.
Read moreSupporters of devolution can find a good home in the Liberal Democrats
People across Scotland opposed to independence but appalled by Boris Johnson’s views about devolution can find a good home in the Liberal Democrats. That’s the view of the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie
Mr Rennie said:
Read moreReports that police staff are being instructed to turn off tracing app are “inexcusable”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today branded new reports that staff working in the Police Scotland’s Dundee control room are being instructed to turn off the contact tracing app while at work as “inexcusable”.
Read moreRennie calls for testing boost as Scotland lags behind
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today warned that virus testing is “too limited and underutilised” after new analysis by the party showed that Scotland has done almost 20% less testing per capita than England.
Nation |
Tests conducted to 13th November |
ONS Population estimate |
Tests/1,000 of population |
England |
30,334,480 |
56,286,961 |
539 |
Scotland |
2,428,624 |
5,463,300 |
445 |
Since the spring, Mr Rennie has continuously pressed the Scottish Government to get on top of testing.
Read moreLib Dems call for vaccine rollout plan and public information campaign
Commenting on the confirmation from the Health Secretary that she will set out vaccine rollout plans to parliament this week, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:
"With a second vaccine now returning good results, a new dawn is beginning to creep over the horizon.
Read moreRennie: Full parliamentary debate required if West of Scotland is to move to level 4
Commenting on reports that 12 local authorities in western and central Scotland will be moved to level 4 lockdown measures, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said:
"If half the population of the country is to be moved to level four we must have a full parliamentary debate and vote first.
Read moreOnline grooming rises by a third during pandemic
Commenting on new figures from the NSPCC which reveal that online grooming crimes in Scotland increased by 30% while children were at home during the pandemic compared to last year, Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP said:
"These figures are particularly troubling. We are all living more of our lives online nowadays and with that has come an increase in vile people looking for ways to take advantage.
Lib Dems urge Treasury to help small shops conquer the online Christmas market
The Liberal Democrats have today called on the Treasury to make smart interventions to “even the playing field” and help small shops conquer the online Christmas market and rival online shopping giants.
Read moreSQA overhaul needed to win back teacher's trust
Scottish Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Beatrice Wishart has today called for an overhaul of SQA bureaucracy after the Scottish Parliament's education committee took evidence from the authors of a review of the 2020 exams process.
Following questioning from Ms Wishart, Professor Mark Priestley told the committee that the SQA saw their role as putting in place a “technical solution” for assessment following cancellation of exams but that subsequent problems with pupils being unfairly downgraded could have been avoided had there been greater engagement with education stakeholders.
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