Dundee Liberal Democrats - www.dundeelibdems.scot

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today warned the First Minster that patients who are well enough to leave but are unable to do so because social care packages are not available are being let down by plans to reform social care which will not come into effect until 2026.

Speaking in the chamber, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today branded the SNP's backlog of operations as being the product of "broken promises and empty words" after it was revealed that the total number of operations lost to the Covid-19 pandemic has risen to 313,674.

Scottish Liberal Democrat analysis of Public Health Scotland figures has compared average pre-Covid levels of NHS activity with the number of operations scheduled over the past two years.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today challenged Scottish Government ministers to set out what planning it has in place for a fresh Covid-19 wave.

Figures published by Public Health Scotland today show that in the week ending 19 June 2022, there have been 15,541 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 30.5% from the previous week.

Scottish Liberal Democrat MP and former police officer Wendy Chamberlain has today backed the recommendations in a new report which calls for all Police Scotland staff and officers to undergo equality and diversity training in order to tackle a "perceived 'men's club' culture".

The report by Mark Hamilton, Deputy Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, came after Rhona Malone successfully pursued a victimisation claim against Police Scotland at a tribunal last year.

The Liberal Democrats have slammed the Conservatives as not having "any sense or any soul" for inaction on the cost of living crisis as families face a near £1,300 bombshell from inflation and tax hikes.

Today's ONS data reveals that a typical household now spends £5,780 a year on food, drink and clothing - £425 more than a year ago. Meanwhile record petrol and diesel prices mean that a typical family re-filling its car once a month pays an additional £310 a year.

Responding to the latest ONS figures which saw inflation increase to 9.1% in May, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said,

"Rishi Sunak is standing by while millions of people suffer from eye-watering levels of inflation- he either hasn't got any sense or any heart not to intervene.

Responding to official figures showing that local authorities' debt continues to grow, with an estimate that £2 billion more will be added to their debts this year, Scottish Liberal Democrat local government spokesperson Cllr Peter Barrett commented:

"Councils have been between a rock and a hard place for years, receiving less money with more strings attached and now with spiralling costs of borrowing and demands for pay rises.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Jamie Stone MP, has today spoken up for the hundreds of Ukrainian refugees who are stuck in Scottish hotels up to a month after arriving in Scotland.

While people from across the Highlands have opened up their homes to house Ukrainians fleeing from Russian aggression, many refugees have found themselves victims of government bureaucracy after arriving in Scotland.