Latest news with #AlexCole-Hamilton
Daily Record
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Record
Scotland's first safe consumption room is a vital step, but far from the finish line
The opening of the first safe consumption room in the UK took years of legal wrangling and political pressure. It required a sea change in attitudes from police and prosecutors over how to respond to the drugs deaths crisis which has shamed Scotland for too many years. When The Thistle finally opened in January, it was still a hugely controversial move opposed in some political circles. It's aims are simple - to stop drug users from sharing needles and injecting in unhygienic environments, while at the same time being offered advice on how to access long-term rehab. Some may now question whether its been a success given that drugs deaths rose by a third in the first three months of a year. That means around 100 Scots are dying from substance abuse every month. But the opening of one safe consumption room in one city was never going to solve in 12 weeks what remains a nationwide public health emergency. We need more facilities like The Thistle, as part of a broader increase in access to rehabilitation services, if the number of deaths from drugs is to start falling year-on-year. Politicians like Alex Cole-Hamilton are right to call Scotland's drugs deaths crisis a national tragedy. The fact is there will be countless examples of people who could have turned their lives away from addiction if they had been able to access treatment when they most needed it. The battle to save lives from drugs continues to rage, we must ensure it is won. The Scottish Government must do more than talk a good game and provide the resources needed to reverse this grim tide. Ban footy yobs A small minority of football fans in Scotland feel they can behave any way they like at a match. Whether through acts of violence or irresponsible use of pyrotechnics, they seem act without regard to others. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. No wonder then that SFA chairman Mike Mulraney has called for a crackdown on yobbish behaviour. In today's Record he talks of 'no jeopardy' for those who step out of line and you can sense his frustration. Football banning orders exist to hammer the sort of behaviour Mulraney is talking about. But only five were issued last season despite the widespread use of pyros and high-profile incidents of disorder. If football matches are to be safe spaces for all fans, then the few who step out of line have to know there are consequences.
Scotsman
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
'Absolutely honking': More than 2,000 complaints of sewage dumping made in Scotland
The Scottish Lib Dems say the SNP is to blame for the issues plaguing Scotland's waters. Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... More than 2,000 complaints of sewage were made to Scotland's environment watchdog in the past three years. Since 2022, 2,081 complaints were made to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa), including 196 so far in 2025. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Edinburgh, Lothian and the Borders recorded the highest number of complaints about sewage spills, with 443 in the past three years - 43 were made in the first three months of this year. The issue surrounding sewage was highlighted during First Minister's Questions by Scottish Liberal Democrats There were 268 complaints in south-west Scotland, 265 in Falkirk, Alloa, Stirling and Perth, 327 in Fife, Angus and Dundee, 222 in Greater Glasgow and Clyde Estuary, 199 in Grampian and Speyside, 187 in Argyll, Hebrides and the south Highlands, 168 in Lanarkshire and 75 in the north Highlands and northern isles. Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton lays the blame for this 'honking' problem squarely at the doors of the SNP government, claiming that the publicly-owned Scottish Water is to blame. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Speaking at first minister's questions, he said: 'Sanitary towels and wet wipes on the beach at North Berwick, raw sewage in Gala, a beach covered in thick brown discharge in Dumfries and Galloway, the River Almond making swimmers sick, paddle boarders covered in sewage in the River Tay - today on World Environment Day, the Scottish Lib Dems are publishing new research showing thousands of complaints from members of the public about sewage. 'Sewage that is, I quote, 'absolutely honking' in Dingwall. 'Songs were written about Scotland being the land of the shining river. 'Does the First Minister mind that his government's own water company is dumping so much sewage into them?' Alex Cole-Hamilton is MSP for Edinburgh Western Mr Swinney disputed this, saying 87 per cent of Scotland's water had been assessed as 'high' or 'good' quality by Sepa, which is an increase from 82 per cent in 2014. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Cole-Hamilton then highlighted that Thames Water in England had recently been fined £100 million for sewage dumping, but said there were 'never any consequences' for this in Scotland. He asked: 'Is that because the First Minister knows it is actually his government that's at fault for this absolutely honking problem?' In response, Mr Swinney said: 'What's absolutely honking is Mr Cole-Hamilton's attempt to conflate the situation in Scotland and the operation of one of the strongest assets in our country, the publicly-owned water network, with Thames Water. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The privatisation of water in England has been an unmitigated disaster for people in England and Wales and I thank our predecessors for not taking such a foolish decision in the first place.
Daily Record
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Record
LibDem leader joins Hamilton by-election campaign trail
Alex Cole-Hamilton says the party "could surprise people" with their poll showing at next month's Holyrood election Alex Cole-Hamilton says the Liberal Democrats 'could surprise people' with their showing in next month's Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse by-election, saying the party presents a 'credible alternative' for voters 'absolutely scunnered with the status quo'. The party leader joined activists in canvassing residents around the Wellhall Road area of Hamilton on Friday afternoon, where he praised 'dynamic [and] bubbly' candidate Aisha Mir – and paid tribute to the constituency's popular late MSP, Christina McKelvie. He spoke to the Hamilton Advertiser as party campaigners met residents with three weeks to go in the by-election campaign, and told how healthcare and cost of living have been the major issues raised by voters during the campaign to date. Mr Cole-Hamilton said: 'Constituents are [talking] about access to local healthcare, the idea that you would phone up and get a GP appointment at the first time of asking is really a thing of the past and that's a massive LibDem priority. 'It's about timely appointments, NHS dentistry near you; and when people get a diagnosis, they go to the back of some of the longest wait lists in the NHS whether that's orthopaedic surgery or diagnosis of things like ADHD and autism – these are really important to people. 'It's unsurprising as it's a factor across the country for people who are also not out of the cost of living crisis – this is a really tough time and families right across the constituency are struggling to make ends meet, so those are the key priorities that people are voicing with us.' He joined party members in going 'door by door, street by street, finding out what matters to local people and issues they want Aisha to take action on' and said their candidate is 'absolutely dynamic, really bubbly and full of a real civic determination and commitment to public service'. Mr Cole-Hamilton said of the by-election: 'This is tinged with sadness for me because Christina McKelvie was my friend – even though we were different parties, I served as her vice-convener on the equalities and human rights committee and she was very much a parliamentarian always willing to cross the aisle and put her hand out to political opponents. I miss her very much.' The Liberal Democrats placed a distant fifth in the Hamilton & Clyde Valley constituency in last year's general election, but the party leader says they are targeting 'a big leap forward' in the June 5 Holyrood poll, saying: 'I think we could surprise people with the showing that we'll put in in this by-election; we're growing as a party in all parts of Scotland and we're really pleased to have Aisha as a great candidate and a strong voice for the constituency. 'It's never been better to be a LibDem – I think that people are absolutely scunnered with the status quo, they've been let down by parties of government so whether that's the Conservatives, the SNP, Labour with the decisions they've taken in the first months of office, even the Greens because they've had time in office as well, they're looking for something new [and] we present a credible alternative.' He said of the anticipated contest between the SNP and Labour to win the seat: 'I think if that's the answer, we need to ask a different question. It's so depressing that people have to make do with parties that have consistently let them down and failed them, whether that's in the corridors of power in Edinburgh or in London. 'The LibDems are the community champions not just in Hamilton, but in Scotland and Britain more generally – we take an interest in what makes our communities tick, what matters to them, we'll work day and night to fix the things that are broken; we enjoy our campaigning and absolutely love meeting people where they're at.' A total of 10 candidates are standing in the constituency's by-election on June 5. The full list of those appearing on the ballot paper is: Collette Bradley (Scottish Socialist Party); Andy Brady (Scottish Family Party); Ross Lambie (Reform); Katy Loudon (SNP); Janice MacKay (UKIP); Ann McGuinness (Green); Aisha Mir (Liberal Democrats); Richard Nelson (Conservative); Davy Russell (Labour); and Marc Wilkinson (independent).
Scotsman
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
It all boils down to skills, planning and housing
As the events around the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe draw to a close, I've been struck by a dawning appreciation of how my grandparents must have felt in those bright spring days of 1945. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There will undoubtedly have been a national sense of hope and optimism. I wonder if by late summer, when the war in the Pacific concluded with VJ day, my grandparents ever stopped to think that they were entering the 'post-war era'. Pockets of war, and indeed the Cold War itself, have punctuated global affairs since 1945, but those of us born since have never known the sacrifice and privations of war on that scale. We are fortunate to be among the generations who have only ever really known the long peace that Victory in Europe ushered in. Housing costs are eating up incomes, says Alex Cole-Hamilton But the world is changing. Security assumptions and alliances which underwrote that peace are beginning to fracture and fall away. Globalisation is giving way to ambitions of imperial expansion. Free trade is being replaced by punishing tariffs and ordinary people across Scotland are paying the price with soaring costs for everyday essentials, energy and the raw materials that build our homes and fuel our economy. As such Britain and by extension Scotland must look to our own security and national self-sufficiency. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad While much of the responsibility for that rightly rests with Westminster, there are things the Scottish Government can and must do to help strengthen Scotland for what is to come. This week the First Minister will set out the programme for government which will define the final year of this Parliamentary session. I took my chance to make the case in parliament for the priorities this government should focus on so that Scotland is ready for a time of global uncertainty, and so we can protect Scottish people and businesses from the worst of its impact. That starts with growing Scotland's economy. That goal is fundamental to how we pay for everything else – GP appointments, social care, schools, potholes, everything. For the Scottish Liberal Democrats that boils down to three key areas of policy; skills, planning and housing. Without a skilled workforce ready to power the industries of the future – like defence, renewables, AI, and precision medicine – Scotland risks being left behind, with those jobs going overseas. Over the past two decades the SNP has presided over the quiet death of further education and reduced our ability to produce the skilled workers Scotland needs. We need to reverse that decline, and fast. Scotland is also actively driving away investment with a planning regime that is ridiculously slow. In parts of Scandinavia, planning takes about seven weeks from application to shovels in the ground – in Scotland planning applications are measured out in years. A faster, simpler planning process would attract investment. Finally, housing. It's eating up more and more of people's pay packets and it means businesses like care homes cannot get workers because they have nowhere to live. Putting more money in people's pockets would be good for the economy while creating and supporting good jobs across the country. People are tired of feeling like things are getting steadily worse with little or no clear plan for how to improve them. Liberal Democrats believe that focusing on these areas will be essential for Scotland to grow our economy while bolstering our self-reliance in changing and uncertain times. Alex Cole-Hamilton is Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and MSP for Edinburgh Western
Daily Record
06-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
Scottish hospitals face nearly 1,200 sewage leaks in just five years
The figures were uncovered by the Scottish Lib Dems. Almost 1,200 sewage leaks have been recorded in Scottish hospitals in the past five years. NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde was the health board with the most spills, followed by NHS Lanarkshire. Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton leader: 'Healthcare workers have enough on their plate without dealing with smelly sewage spills in their workplace. 'I hope that health boards will be able to offer assurances that these issues have been addressed and will not happen again. 'When budgets are tight, improving facilities and even basic maintenance can fall down the pecking order. ' Scottish Liberal Democrats are committed to delivering swift, local healthcare for everyone in the highlands. That means investing in the facilities that patients and staff rely on, ensuring that they are fit for purpose and won't deliver any unpleasant surprises.' According to figures released under freedom of information, eight health boards recorded leaks. These were Ayrshire & Arran, Fife, Forth Valley, Grampian, Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Highland, Lanarkshire and Lothian. There were 308 incidents at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 171 at the city's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, 12 at the Stratheden in Cupar and the same number at Aberdeen's Royal Cornhill. Of the 1,197 sewage leaks in hospitals since 2019, 761 were in the NHSGGC area and 342 in Lanarkshire. Highlands. Incidents included sewage coming up drains in a 'contamination area' and an overflowing doctor's toilet.
