Cole-Hamilton: Scottish Liberal Democrats “surging forward”

After celebrating their best UK general election result in over a hundred years, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton will tell his party’s Autumn Conference that that they are “surging forward” ahead of the Holyrood elections because people want strong local champions.

He is expected to say:

“The election will be here before we know it.

“The country is taking us seriously again.

“On top of our huge leap forward to 72 MPs, every single poll has us surging forward.

“Make no mistake, we are on the up and Scotland needs strong liberal voices more than ever.

“I look around this room and I see the faces of people who got into politics to help their communities and those around them.

“For so many life is getting harder. It feels like nothing works any more. And people have had enough.

“The SNP have made brutal cuts to vital budgets because they have mismanaged our nation’s finances over the entirety of their time in government.

“This year alone they have cut the housing budget in the middle of a housing emergency.

“Cut the mental health budget during a mental health crisis.

“And they have cut the drug and alcohol budget while Scotland’s drug mortality remains among the worst in the world.

“These decisions are harming the people of Scotland and the SNP have only themselves to blame.

“Conference, the coming Scottish Budget could make a difference to all of this.

“In a Parliament of minorities, we will always act like grown-ups and seek consensus where we can. It’s why each year we engage in meaningful talks with the Government to try to find common ground and improve the lot of our communities in the pages of the budget.

“I want to see a spending plan that actually works for the people we serve. But we are a long way from that and they will have to move mountains to persuade us.

“Because we know how badly broken things are.

“We know the scale of the reform that’s needed.

“And in our heart of hearts, we know the only thing that will truly bring about the change that Scotland needs is a change of government.”