Dundee Liberal Democrats - www.dundeelibdems.scot

Responding to the news that the NHS will remain on an emergency footing until 31st March 2021, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

"People were hoping and expecting that we were on our way to eliminating the virus and progressing back to something like normal. The new restrictions and rising infection rates have deeply dashed those hopes.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today sounded the alarm on "serious deficiencies" with Scotland's quarantine system following an exchange with Professor Linda Bauld at a meeting of Holyrood's Covid Committee.

In response to questioning from Willie Rennie, Professor Bauld stated that "It's absolutely clear that people coming back into the country have brought the virus with them. We've got specific examples of that and quarantine is not being followed". She also raised concerns about Scotland's testing infrastructure.

Saturday sees the first full meeting of our new Steering Group, created by the Federal Board in a pilot to find ways of improving how we run the party. As the Thornhill Election Review found in frank detail, failing to run the party well hinders our election prospects.

Elections will be very much on our mind as one of our major items of business is next May's elections. The combination of general elections in Scotland and Wales plus two rounds of local elections in one will make this much more than a usual May. How much normal party activity to put aside so we can focus on the elections will be one of the issues discussed. It's always tempting to stop everything for the next election, but do that too often and many long-term problems build up. Some careful judgements will be needed.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have today called on the Scottish Government to reverse their decision not to offer financial support to the residential outdoor education sector.

The Deputy First Minister confirmed that no funding would be made available to providers, despite warnings that centres are in danger of closing down for good.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have renewed their calls to bring forward the long-delayed Police Scotland staff survey, as yet more evidence of serial under-supporting of officers and staff emerges.

A 2015 exercise where police staff and officers were invited to share their views on their work lives exposed serious problems in the working culture and practices within Scotland's police force. Police Scotland originally promised this exercise would be repeated in 2017.

The new law, aimed at stamping out protests that have racked Hong Kong for the past year, can "prevent, stop and punish any acts or activities" that severely endanger national security." Such charges are often used in mainland China to silence dissidents and other political opponents. It has already been used to silence people.