Hansard

I am grateful to Fergus Ewing, and I also make the same commitment for the A96.

To put it simply, if the M8 were killing upwards of 10 people every year, it would be dualled by Christmas, yet Highlanders have had to wait for nearly 20 years of commitment after commitment but have not seen that vital road dualled. People deserve better, and Scotland deserves better.

Nearly two decades into SNP rule, for many people, it feels like our country simply is not working as it should be and as it used to. The SNP has had long enough. We know that the only thing that will truly bring about the change that Scotland needs is a change of Government. Scotland needs change, and it needs to be change with fairness at its heart—fairness for everyone, no matter who you are or where you come from.

Liberal Democrats will always hold this Government to account, but we will also roll up our sleeves and get things done. That is what our councillors and MSPs and our record-breaking 72 Liberal Democrat MPs are doing.

For us, the number 1 issue—for both the remainder of this parliamentary session and the coming election—is the NHS and care in our communities. The equivalent of one in six Scots is now stuck on a waiting list. That means months of pain, anxiety and lost time. Liberal Democrats would invest in a first-rate health service so that people can see a GP or dentist when they need them. It is not hard to imagine a time when we used to have that, and that should be the aspiration now. We would deliver faster access to mental health treatment because nobody should be left waiting years for help.

All those waits are holding people back. They are holding growth back and they are holding our country back. On doorsteps across Scotland, families tell me the same story—their bills are soaring, their money does not go as far as it used to, and they are struggling to get by. We would tackle that head on with a national programme of insulation to bring warmth to the homes of Scotland and to bring down stubbornly high fuel costs.

We also want local communities to truly benefit from renewables projects in their areas, so that people actually see the gains from Scotland’s energy wealth. To be shivering in the shadow of a wind turbine and unable to heat your home is not a fair deal when you live in a part of the country that is a powerhouse of the renewables revolution that will move us to net zero and guarantee energy security for all those islands. Jobs in the trades, warmer homes, lower bills—those are the practical differences that a competent Government can make.

It is 10 years since Nicola Sturgeon promised to close the poverty-related attainment gap. It was the number 1 priority—the yardstick—of SNP Government. However, Scottish education has fallen further down the international rankings. Parents and teachers are increasingly worried about what is happening in classrooms, especially about the violence. Workforce planning is a mess, which is leaving good teachers out of work.

The progress on closing that yawning attainment gap has been minuscule. We urgently need a plan to drive up education performance and improve outcomes for our young people. It means recruiting and retaining great teachers properly, supporting pupils with additional support needs and ensuring that every child gets the best possible start in life.

I am not given to quoting Kemi Badenoch, but I will do so now. She said that the Lib Dems are in local communities and that

“A typical Liberal Democrat will be somebody who is good at fixing their church roof.”

She is sneering at the Lib Dems for being a party that will come and fix your church roof and be in your local community, but that is something that we hold as a badge of honour. Her words show exactly why the Conservatives have lost the public’s trust. Many people who once backed Ruth Davidson are completely scunnered at what that party has turned into.

We will be the champions for every town and village in Scotland. We will be champions who will fight for carers, for those who are waiting for operations or care packages, for families who want to see a GP without weeks of delay, for parents who want the best for their children and for businesses that want to see a customs union and youth mobility scheme to fix our broken relationship with Europe.

People are tired of political spin and constant division. They want competence, compassion and care. This is what the Liberal Democrats stand for: thousands of seemingly tiny acts of public service up and down this country, working to make our communities better, to fix what is broken, to build anew and to protect liberal values at home and abroad. This is how we restore hope in our communities and trust in our politics: by fighting for change with fairness at its heart. Scotland deserves better, and the Liberal Democrats are ready to deliver that.

I move amendment S6M-18671.1, to leave out from “welcomes” to end and insert:

“recognises that people feel let down and frustrated, and considers that Scotland deserves better than the current Scottish National Party administration; calls for first-rate healthcare, help with the cost of living, more support for pupils to help get Scottish education back to its best, and an end to the ferries fiasco, and believes that Scotland needs change with fairness at its heart.”