Dundee Liberal Democrats

Commenting as a report by Arnold Clark dubbed four-fifths of school leavers seeking an apprenticeship as unsuitable for employment, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie MSP said:

"The only shocking fact about this report is the damningly unfair indictment it makes of young people in Scotland.

"Based on a tiny straw poll of 2,280 applicants, Arnold Clark has come to an absurd conclusion that four-fifths of school leavers are unsuitable for employment. This is not the way to assess the employability needs of young people in Scotland.

"At a time when young people need more opportunities, more jobs and more hope, the last thing we should be doing is engaging in some youth-bashing on the basis of pretty subjective maths.

"It is time for the Scottish Government to engage in serious discussion on employability measures, such as the Youth Contract which will deliver 16,000 jobs for young people."

Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael has welcomed support from the National Farmers Union of Scotland for UK government plans to create a new adjudicator that will protect farmers and small producers in their dealings with major supermarkets.

Mr Carmichael was commenting after meeting with the President of the National Farmers Union of Scotland earlier this week.

Other topics discussed at the meeting included ongoing negotiations over the future of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, Single Farm Payments and measures to reduce the environmental impact of the agricultural sector. Mr Carmichael was meeting with the NFUS ahead of a trip to Brussels for discussions with EU fisheries officials later this week.

Commenting, Mr Carmichael said:

"The Liberal Democrats have been calling for the creation of an adjudicator to protect our farmers for some years and we are now delivering in government. I know that the NFUS and other producer groups welcomed the progress that was made on this issue in the Queens speech and the legislative work underpinning the creation of the adjudicator is now underway.

"In recent years, too many farmers have experienced difficulties due to sharp practices on the part of some of their biggest customers. A number of producers have struggled locally in recent years and this new body will provide firms such as Orkney Meats with protection of a sort that simply was not available in the past.

"On the Common Agricultural Policy, there is a clear need to ensure that our agricultural sector is as environmentally efficient as possible but farmers should not be punished for failing to deliver the impossible. Changes to the current rules need to be sensible and must take account of the long term needs of the industry.

"What we ultimately need is a CAP that delivers for the taxpayer, consumers and local farmers. The current arrangements are not fit for purpose and we are now at a stage where root and branch reform is required if we are to achieve our economic and environmental goals."

Commenting as the Scottish Government launches a consultation on proposals to be included in the Victim and Witnesses Bill, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie MSP said:

"Last month the government were talking about launching a consultation, and this month they are still talking about the consultation. People will be wondering when there will finally be action from the Scottish Government to help victims of crime.

"The bill has moved at a snail's pace since I asked the First Minister about reinstating it into the legislative programme last September.

"Allowing victims of domestic abuse special measures in court such as giving evidence via a TV link is a welcome idea, but that's all it is right now. There were 52,000 incidents of domestic abuse recorded by police in 2010.

"Victims need support sooner, not later."

Together with four colleagues from other political groups, I launched a written declaration two months ago on the welfare of pigs urging Member States to respect for the deadline for the implementation of the ban on individual sow stalls set on 1st January 2013.

The actual text of the written declaration is slightly outdated already as we have now received new data on the Member States which expect to comply and those who will fall short. The figures are slightly better, but still clearly insufficient if we want EU rules on animal welfare to be respected by all European farmers and be credible to consumers and our trading partners.

The new data shows that three Member States will definitely be fully compliant (UK, Sweden, Luxembourg), ten expect to comply on time (Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia) but at least eleven will fail to meet the deadline (Greece, Slovenia, Spain, Poland, Finland, Austria, Latvia, Italy, Cyprus, France, Portugal)

We need to put pressure on these countries now to safeguard what is left of our own credibility in making legislation in this area.

If you want to help us in our fight for respect of EU standards on animal welfare, please sign written declaration number 6 this week. Please encourage your colleagues to do the same.

Many thanks in advance for your support, I really hope that this is something that UK MEPs can have one united voice.

Commenting on reports that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has died, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie said:

"Although this is an end to a chapter of one of the worst terrorist events in Scotland there should be no celebration that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has died.

"Instead it should act as spur to establish the facts, including whether crucial forensic evidence was withheld from the trial."

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today written to the Permanent Secretary and the senior investigating officer of Operation Rubicon, to enquire whether any Scottish Government phones have been subject to phone hacking.

Commenting, Willie Rennie MSP said:

"Regardless of the First Minster's phone being hacked or not, we need to know if any official Scottish Government phones have been hacked by, for example, the News of the World or the Sun.

"If official phones have been hacked the Scottish Government may have been exposed to considerable risk. There are issues of commercial confidentiality, national security and international diplomacy at stake. Is it the case that sensitive commercial information may have been in the hands of journalists? Was national security at risk? Did journalists from Rupert Murdoch's newspapers access private messages from ministers from other countries? These are serious matters, Parliament needs to be informed.

"I have written to the Permanent Secretary and Strathclyde police to determine if any national or corporate confidential information has been compromised.

"Alex Salmond seems to be more interested in grandstanding at the Leveson Inquiry than addressing serious concerns about the potential impact on government business of his phone being hacked. Using the revelation at Leveson that his phone has been hacked would be a feeble attempt to deflect attention away from his cosy relationship with Rupert Murdoch. He needs to tell Parliament now what has happened so Parliament can address any serious issues."

The question for the independence referendum needs to be agreed by all the political parties, according to the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie.

Speaking in advance of the launch of the SNP's independence campaign he said:

"It's in the interest of whoever wins the referendum to have the acceptance of those who lose. A critical part of that is a fair question accepted by everyone. Yet, the SNP seem to think only they should determine the question that is asked.

"I am urging Alex Salmond to be reasonable and work with all political parties to set the independence referendum question.

"If he has confidence that he can win he should be look to build the broadest possible consensus around the process used to reach his goal.

"As it currently stands it difficult to see how there will be a consensus. People will simply conclude that he is so desperate he will do anything to win, including rigging the referendum.

"If he wants to win fairly he should agree to a cross party committee to set the question."

Speaking in response to reports that photography could be banned under a by-law on the Glasgow underground, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie MSP said:

"Whichever bright spark came up with this needs to be told to drop it.

"This kind of nonsense distracts from the real fight against crime and terrorism.

"We have seen what happened in the past under the old Labour government. People were arrested under terrorism laws for wearing t-shirts lampooning Tony Blair or for shouting 'nonsense' at a conference.

"Strathclyde needs some strong liberal voices to shout 'nonsense' at this plan."

Edinburgh's Liberal Democrat MP, Mike Crockart, has today written to a joint letter to Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport and Lord McNally, Minister of State and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, to demand that the legislation around cold-calling via people's home and mobile phones be strengthened and more rigorously applied.

The joint letter highlights the fact that consumers are currently let down because where responsibility lies in unclear. OFCOM is responsible for the Telephone Preference Service, but the Information Commissioner regulates the protection and sharing of data.

At present, once you have registered your phone number with the telephone preference service, a ban comes into effect that forbids cold-calling you over the phone. Recorded messages, however, are covered by other legislation (Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003) and unsolicited SMS messages don't appear to be covered at all.

Mr Crockart has called for the Information Commissioner's powers to be strengthened to take in all forms of unsolicited contact and for there to be a single simple point of contact for any individual wishing to protect their privacy whether from unwanted faxes, mail, phone calls or texts. He has also asked that OFCOM's responsibility to maintain a register of people who do not wish to receive sales calls is more rigorously applied.

Commenting, Mr Crockart said:

"People should be able to guarantee their privacy in a simple and effective way. The present situation where responsibility lies with OFCOM, the Information Commissioner and various 'preferencing services' is merely a charter for unscrupulous companies to ride roughshod over the regulations with very little chance of any charges being pursued.

"I've lodged ten separate complaints with the Information Commissioner relating to unwanted text and phone marketing calls I've received just in the last few weeks. I urge all my constituents to do the same and to let me know so I can add them to the list I'm now compiling. People shouldn't have to put up with this menace which puts many vulnerable and elderly people at risk of fraud just as much as if the crook or pushy salesman was turning up at their door.

"Many of the big energy companies have recently stopped cold-calling in person thanks to a strong and vocal local campaign. I urge people to get involved again so we can stamp out these nuisance calls once and for all."

Figures obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alison McInnes MSP have revealed that there were almost 2,000 reported cases of people being admitted to hospital due to self-harm over the age of 60 in the past three years.

Commenting on these figures, Ms McInnes said:

"These are worrying figures, particularly as the number of cases has increased in some health boards.

"A recent study by the British Medical Journal showed that older people who self-harm are three times as likely to take their own life than are younger people who self-harm, and recommended that all patients visiting A&E under these circumstances were fully assessed before being discharged.

"As the government seeks to integrate health and social care in the community, there must be a focus on the mental health and wellbeing of older people. I urge the government to consider these cases when developing their new model of care.

"We need to work together to ensure that older people aren't left feeling isolated in their communities."