A year on from the beginning of the protests in Hong Kong, the Chinese government haven't budged. Beijing continues to systematically violate the human rights of people in Hong Kong, and deny the region democracy.
But Hong Kong is not giving up. The people of Hong Kong are not going to back down from this fight.
UK passport maker De La Rue left at risk and laying people off, as twice as many UK companies set up operations in the Netherlands in 2019 compared to a year earlier and the UK Brexit job and brain drain continues.
Past comments by our Prime Minister have underlined what he thinks about British business and we have highlighted on numerous occasions through this website the continuing post Brexit trend for UK firms to move their base or some operations away from the UK to Europe. The soon to arrive new UK Blue Passports from Poland underlines just how 'taking back control' is going to pan out in reality for British businesses.'
Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that the Scottish Government should radically overhaul their drug policy, stop sending those caught with drugs for personal use to prison and instead ensure that medical services are available to assist those who misuse drugs.
Liberal Democrats have long demanded fundamental reforms to the distribution of power: proportional voting, decentralisation, an elected second chamber.
Sadly, electoral reform has been lacking entirely from the Labour party's leadership contest. That's why, this week, I've written to the three remaining Labour leadership candidates, urging them to ditch our broken voting system in favour of proportional representation.
The NHS should be at the heart of the case for United Kingdom according to the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
Willie Rennie will tell the These Islands Conference in Newcastle that the case for Scotland's place in the United Kingdom should show how caring and compassionate the people of our country have been collectively. He will say that the pro-UK campaigners should not be shy about our common achievements like the NHS and should reach out to talk about issues beyond the economic strength that comes with a single UK market.
Responding to the news that the Scottish Government will now support Monica Lennon's bill on free period products, despite previously withdrawing its support, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:
"People inside and outside the SNP told them that their opposition to the bill that would tackle period poverty was unjustifiable and I'm glad they've seen sense and caved. A lack of period products shouldn't be getting in the way of women's lives or education.
By Isabel Hardman in The Spectator - Evening Blend
After years of British politicians calling for a 'points-based immigration system', the government today unveiled what it hopes will be the answer. Under its plans for a new post-Brexit way of managing migration, ministers are dropping visas for low-skilled workers. Anyone wishing to come to the UK for work must reach 70 points under the system. 'Skilled' will now be defined as those educated to at least A-level/Scottish Higher standard, with a rejig of the different types of worker covered so that carpenters, plasterers and childminders are included, while people waiting tables will not be. Workers must have a job offer with a minimum salary of £25,600, though that will be at a lower level of £20,480 for those with PhDs that are important to a specific job, and certain sectors where there are shortages, including nursing, civil engineering, and classical ballet.
As Storm Dennis buffets the country, Scottish Liberal Democrat rural affairs spokesperson Mike Rumbles MSP has called on the Scottish Government to scale up flood protection as he revealed that only a third of flood protection schemes identified for delivery by 2021 have been completed.
According to documents published by the Scottish Environmental Protection agency (SEPA), "There are 42 prioritised flood protection schemes identified for delivery between 2016 and 2021". This was confirmed by the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment in response to a Scottish Liberal Democrat parliamentary question. However freedom of information requests published by the Scottish Government reveal that as of December 2019, only 14 schemes have been completed.
Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today warned malicious calls to the Scottish Ambulance Service are putting lives at risk as new figures revealed that in the past five years there have been more than 7,000 malicious emergency calls requiring almost 2,000 hours of staff time.
When a person puts their empty plastic bottle in a recycling bin, they understandably assume it gets recycled.
When I was the Cabinet member for the environment on Rochdale council, and when we sent our paper and cardboard to be recycled, we knew it had new lives as cardboard inserts to kitchen roll.
