Cole-Hamilton responds to Programme for Government

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon in response to the First Minister’s Programme for Government, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

“We are faced with brutal spending cuts which are set to cause untold damage and pain to public services and households across Scotland.

“It is not hard to see how we got here. The Scottish Government has played fast and loose with the Scottish people’s money and squandered so much of our potential.

“The SNP were humbled at the ballot box and people are speaking. It is now self-evident that his party is incapable of listening.

“We need to fix our health service with fast access to GPs, dentists and mental health services. To deliver world-beating education and a green jobs revolution to get our economy growing again. Insulate homes so that the pensioners, who are having their winter fuel payments removed by the Labour Government, have a chance of staying warm this winter.

“That’s what the Liberal Democrats want to do- to fight for a fair deal for carers and the thousands of people with Long Covid who this government has ignored for years. Support small business, protect local authority funding and stop sewage being dumped in our rivers.

“In 20 months’ time, there will be young people casting their votes for the first time who have only ever known SNP rule. It is well past time that they knew a Scotland not weighed down or held back by a government so out of touch.”