Latest news with #ScottishLibDem
The Herald Scotland
25-07-2025
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Lib Dems accuse Neil Gray of stealing credit for Hospice funding
The funding is intended to help facilities caring for people at the end of their lives increase wages to be in line with staff in the NHS. Responding to the announcement, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader has said the government may wish to claim the credit for this move, however, he commented that it was his party who pushed the First Minister to commit to the £5 million funding during budget talks. Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said: "More money to support hospices was a key Scottish Liberal Democrat demand in budget negotiations so I am glad than an additional £5m for the hospice sector is being delivered. "Neil Gray may be keen to claim the credit but this is an area that we forced on to the agenda because from visiting hospices and speaking with staff and residents, we recognised the huge demands being placed on the sector." Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton (Image: Ken Jack) Mr Cole-Hamilton added: "The work they do week-in week-out to help those with life shortening conditions and their families is incredibly challenging but so important. "I hope that these additional funds can immediately be put to work to support service users by recruiting skilled staff. That's the difference that Liberal Democrat MSPs can make.' The SNP has been contacted for comment. READ MORE: Hospice CEOs warn that sector is 'struggling enormously' Scotland's first children's hospice set for £17m revamp The budget was passed earlier this year, and, since then, Scottish Labour have called for the cash to be released by ministers. Speaking ahead of a visit to a hospice on Friday, Health Secretary Neil Gray said: 'Independent hospices provide vital care and support to people and families across Scotland at the most difficult times in their lives. 'I am pleased we are able to support these organisations in supporting pay parity for their clinical staff. 'This funding recognises the skilled, compassionate care that hospice staff deliver every day, and helps ensure their pay reflects the immense value of their work.' Jacki Smart, chairwoman of the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group, said: 'This is a welcome first step in recognising the needs of the hospice sector, which plays a key role in delivering specialist palliative care for Scotland. 'It is right for patients and staff that hospices can pay skilled professionals fairly and in line with NHS colleagues, and we need to keep pace on this.' Marie Curie has welcomed the funding but said that "one-off" investments like this will not address long-term funding challenges. The charity is pushing the Scottish Government to deliver a sustainable funding plan for hospices for the future. Amy Dalrymple, Associate Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Marie Curie Scotland said: 'As Scotland's largest palliative and end of life care provider caring for people at our two Scottish hospices and in people's homes, Marie Curie Scotland welcomes the Scottish Government's announcement about how the £5 million for Scotland's hospice sector, announced in the Budget in December, will be provided. 'But one-off funding like this will not address the long-term funding challenges or tackle the inequalities that exist in end of life care. Alongside increased support for community services, we're calling on the Scottish Government to deliver a sustainable, long-term funding plan, that includes ways to future-proof the workforce, so that wherever you live, whatever your illness, you'll be able to rely on good care right to the end. 'It is shocking that the public purse spends four times more on hospital inpatients in their last year of life than on primary, community health, and hospice care combined for this group. This doesn't need to be the case, and means that we need to radically transform care of dying people. 'Investment in hospice staff is essential. There is only one chance to get end of life care right. However, we are concerned that this £5 million will not touch the sides given the recent changes to employer National Insurance contributions which are expected to cost Marie Curie Scotland close to half a million pounds in 2025/26 alone. 'Death is one of two certainties in life. The Scottish Government must prioritise palliative care to ease the strain on the already overburdened and underfunded NHS and create a system that works for everyone now and in the future.' Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: 'After months of dither and delay, it is welcome that the SNP is finally allocating the funding it promised in its budget – but this is funding promised for last year's pay rise. There is nothing on the table for this year. 'Hospices are still being short-changed by the SNP, and staff and services will continue to pay the price. 'A Scottish Labour government will properly support hospices and the crucial work they do, and fully fund a fair deal for staff.'
The National
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
MSPs express 'deep concern' over Scottish Parliament trans toilet ban
Nearly 50 Scottish parliamentarians, including 16 MSPs, signed the letter to the Scottish Parliament's corporate body, the Guardian reports, after it set out its interim position earlier this month in response to the Supreme Court's recent ruling. In April, the Supreme Court ruled that under the Equality Act 2010 a woman is defined by 'biological sex' and does not include a transgender woman with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). This went against how the law had been interpreted across public and private bodies in the UK for the past 20 years. READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon says Supreme Court ruling 'massively misinterpreted' It led to Alison Johnstone, Holyrood's Presiding Officer, to issue guidance stating that toilets designated as male or female will now be interpreted as meaning biological sex. Johnstone said that the parliament will increase its exisiting provision of gender-neutral toilets, open to anyone, to ensure 'confidence, privacy and dignity' for visitors and staff. The letter, however, argues that Holyrood has misinterpreted the court judgment, based on legal advice from the Good Law Project. 'The designation suggested in the guidance issued is that male and female spaces will be applied 'by biological sex',' the letter states. (Image: Russell Cheyne/PA Wire) 'We would argue that the application of this is not only deeply invasive – it raises immediate questions about enforcement. We ask, non-rhetorically, on what basis are staff expected to prove their sex to use a toilet?' This approach 'risks exposing [trans people], and anyone who may be gender non-conforming, to humiliation, harassment or worse – all under the guise of 'clarity', the letter adds. The letter is now available online for other MSPs and parliamentary staff to sign. Former ministers Elena Whitham and Emma Roddick, as well as depute SNP leader Keith Brown, have signed the letter. READ MORE: JK Rowling to fund gender-critical women's cases against employers Scottish Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, as well as Scottish LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton have also signed the letter. Former SNP MP Hannah Bardell organised the letter working with the Good Law project, said she expected more politicians and staff to sign up. 'I've spoken to many MSPs who feel huge concern about this decision. I hope this can move the debate forward and that the corporate body can rethink their decision just like other organisations have done,' Bardell said. 'It's very sad that the question of how trans people live their lives has become so toxic that the very people who represent them feel nervous about signing a letter like this.' Other parliaments in the UK, Westminster, Stormont and the Senedd, did not change their policies. While interim guidance was published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), official guidance is now expected to be delayed until after the summer while consultation is undertaken. The interim guidance banned transgender people from using the bathroom of their acquired gender, and was called 'authoritarian and cruel'. A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said the current position could be changed in light of an updated code of practice from the EHRC. A spokesperson said: 'We will therefore consult with staff, their trade union representatives, members and other stakeholders, including equalities groups who work regularly and closely with people with protected equalities characteristics, at an appropriate point.'
STV News
14-05-2025
- Health
- STV News
Assisted Dying in Scotland: What happens next?
The Scottish Parliament voted in favour of taking a landmark first step toward legalising assisted dying on Tuesday. The legislation would give terminally ill patients the option of requesting help to end their own lives. In its current form, it would require two doctors to independently certify that someone is both terminally ill and has the mental capacity to request an assisted death. It would only be available to people who are registered with a GP in Scotland and have lived here for at least 12 months. However, the Bill must first get through the next stage of scrutiny and survive a final vote at the Scottish Parliament. The Assisted Dying Bill has just survived the first stage of becoming law. MSPs have considered and approved the 'general principles' of it, and they have allowed it to move on to stage 2 – the detailed scrutiny and amendment phase. After MSPs have made and agreed any amendments, the Bill will come back for a final vote to determine whether or not it will become law. At that point, if it's approved, the Bill must also receive Royal Assent from the King. Although passing the first vote is a major milestone, Scotland's Assisted Dying debate is far from over. A similar debate is raging down in England and Wales as well, with MP Kim Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill due to return to the House of Commons on Friday. The Westminster Bill would allow an assisted death for those living in England and Wales with a terminal illness with less than six months to live. They would need the approval of two doctors and a panel – including a specialist lawyer, social worker and psychiatrist. MPs will debate amendments to the Bill on Friday with votes likely on some key proposed changes. If, as expected, it takes more than one session, it will be debated again on June 13. In the meantime, Scotland's Assisted Dying Bill champion, Scottish Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur, said he'll continue to have discussions with MSPs and medical and legal experts over the coming months to ensure the Scottish Bill gives people a choice in a way that is 'robustly safeguarded'. 'So that terminally ill adults can have the choice of accessing assisted dying, alongside other palliative care and support at the end of life,' he said. 'This Bill has been a long time coming but, at long last, it can offer that compassionate choice for the small number of terminally ill Scots who need it.' STV News is now on WhatsApp Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
We will keep fighting, pledges MSP after assisted dying vote
An MSP and disability campaigner has pledged to 'keep fighting' after assisted dying proposals were backed in an initial vote in Holyrood on Tuesday. Pam Duncan-Glancy – the Scottish Parliament's first MSP to use a wheelchair full time – voted against the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill at stage one on Tuesday and has campaigned fervently against it. Proposed by Scottish Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur, the legislation would allow terminally ill people to seek to end their lives and was passed by 70 votes to 56 with one abstention following a landmark debate. But speaking to the PA news agency after the vote, Labour MSP Ms Duncan-Glancy pledged not to give up as she sought to persuade fellow members of the dangers posed by the proposals. 'We fight every day of our lives just to exist, and we never stop fighting,' she said. 'So we'll continue and we will keep fighting. 'And I fundamentally know that people will understand the serious concerns that we have. 'We will not be able to amend it out of this legislation.' Ms Duncan-Glancy said she had hoped fellow MSPs would heed the concerns she and other campaigners have expressed, but she seemed heartened by some MSPs pushing for changes to the Bill at stages two and three. 'I had hoped that colleagues would see the risk in this legislation and the message that it could send to people across Scotland about the value they place on people's lives,' she said. 'But I also heard in the chamber that many people have concerns and some people openly saying that they couldn't support the Bill as it stands if this was the final Bill at stage three.' She added: 'I think that when they try to amend the legislation to get what they think are the safeguards, they will realise that there is no amendment that can provide the level of safeguard that they want, or indeed that we need as a nation in this legislation. 'So hopefully we will get to a point in stage three where colleagues feel that they are unable to continue to support that decision.' During the near-five hour long debate on the issue, Ms Duncan-Glancy delivered an impassioned speech where she urged fellow MSPs to 'legislate to assist people to live' as opposed to assisting them to die. She said: 'Today I've only scratched the surface of concerns, but for me it comes down to this: How can it be possible for people to make a free and equal choice to allow a system that oppresses them so much to also potentially assist them to take their own lives?' The vote, the third such attempt to advance similar proposals at Holyrood, was described as a 'landmark moment' by Mr McArthur. 'This Bill has been a long time coming but, at long last, it can offer that compassionate choice for the small number of terminally ill Scots who need it,' he added.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
MSP speaks out ahead of crucial vote on assisted dying
THE MSP leading efforts to introduce assisted dying in Scotland has spoken out ahead of a crucial vote in Holyrood next week. Scottish LibDem MSP Liam McArthur has brought forward a bill which, if passed, would allow terminally ill Scots to seek help to end their life. With the first vote on the bill – where MSPs decide on whether or not they support the general principles of the legislation – due on Tuesday, McArthur said he is 'confident that the support is there'. He told the PA news agency: 'I think the general mood is while it will be close, I am confident the support is there to allow us to go through to the next stage.' It will be the third time Holyrood has voted on the issue, with previous attempts to change the law defeated in both 2010 and 2015. First Minister John Swinney has said that the proposals from McArthur are a 'much better Bill' than those introduced previously – though he stressed that he could not support the legislation. It will however be a free vote when MSPs decide on the issue on Tuesday evening. READ MORE: Andrew Tickell: Voting against assisted dying legislation will not be a neutral act If a majority of MSPs back the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill on Tuesday evening, more detailed scrutiny will be carried out, with the legislation also opened up to other MSPs to put forward amendments, ahead of a final vote at Holyrood before it could become law. But arguing that the majority of the public support such a change, McArthur insisted it 'would be pretty difficult to justify' voting down the Bill and not taking it forward for amendments. He said Westminster MPs had initially passed Kim Leadbeater's bill on assisted dying to 'enable the detailed committee scrutiny of amendments to take place'. And he said that at Holyrood 'I think we need to go through that process too', adding that it 'may well be that amendments are brought forward that can help address concerns'. But the LibDem, who has been working on the issue since 2021, stated: 'We only get to find that out if we pass the general principles next week.' Opponents of the legislation argue that if it is passed, it could leave vulnerable people feeling pressurised to prematurely end their life. McArthur, however, believes that the 'political mood' at Holyrood is 'very, very different from what it was' when the previous bills were considered. He said: 'The conversations I have had over the past four years with colleagues now suggests there is more of a willingness to look for reasons to support rather than excuses to oppose. 'There are many colleagues who come at this issue with their own personal stories of losing a family member or a close friend to a bad death, therefore they view this issue through that prism, they recognise that the current ban on assisted dying is leading to too many instances where people are at the end of life with horrendous choices.' READ MORE: I visited Donald Trump's ancestral homeland. This is what I learned about him But he added: 'As we get to Tuesday there is a recognition, even among some who still have reservations, that we can't afford not to engage in the detailed scrutiny of potential changes to this Bill that might address the concerns they have.' While his legislation originally proposed allowing eligible Scots with a terminal illness to seek an assisted death from the age of 16, McArthur announced recently if the bill progresses he will change that to 18. 'I think on balance 18 is a more appropriate threshold,' he said. 'On this issue it had become increasingly clear to me setting the age threshold at 18 would give more reassurance to my MSP colleagues, including many who are very supportive of a change in the law.' However, he insisted that assisted dying could 'provide additional choice to the small but not insignificant number of people for whom that is a desired option'. The MSP stated: 'I understand there are those who do not want to see a change in the law, I understand people have concerns and questions about how this might work in practice. 'But with growing international evidence I think we can have confidence that we will be able to deliver a law which gives that choice, the compassionate choice to the small number of dying Scots who need it.' Adding that similar debates have taken place in 'all of the states in Australia and New Zealand, in a number of the states in the US and in other jurisdictions', McArthur argued those areas had 'safely and successfully' introduced assisted dying legislation 'in a way that continues to command strong public support and indeed the confidence of the medical profession'.
