BANFFSHIRE and BUCHAN COAST Liberal Democrats

Responding to reports that the business empire of Sanjeev Gupta is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office over suspected fraudulent trading and money laundering, Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Willie Rennie commented:

"The Scottish Government's exposure at the Lochaber smelter runs to hundreds of millions of pounds.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have today lodged a request for a parliamentary statement amid mounting concern and evidence about the stress and damage being caused by the flood of assessments replacing exams.

In a letter to John Swinney, Beatrice Wishart has told of a pupil who has the equivalent of an assessment a day for 8 weeks straight and warned of the toll the demands are taking on young people and staff.

Scottish Liberal Democrats today said it's critical that every pupil currently sitting assessments has quick access to a counsellor after documents published online by the Scottish Government show a target for counsellors in schools was missed and Parliament "given the run-around"

The SNP Programme for Government contained a commitment to "create around 350 counsellors" by September 2020.

Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Willie Rennie has today responded to the news that there will not be a specific Scottish inquiry.

Mr Rennie said:

"We owe it to those who have lost friends and family to have a full inquiry into what went wrong as well as what went right.

"We need to fully understand why other countries were able to avoid the devastating death toll that we have endured. Whether this is a Scottish or UK inquiry matters less than whether we can get to the truth.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today written to alert the First Minister to waits of up to three years for children and young people for mental health treatment, and to challenge the Scottish Government to share their plan for service recovery.

The intervention, during Mental Health Awareness Week, comes after Mr Rennie gathered statistics showing children and young people waiting up to 3 years 31 days to access mental health services.

Speaking after the final election results were declared, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie MSP said:

"I congratulate all those, from all parties, who have been elected to our new parliament.

"I look forward to working across the new chamber to put recovery first.

"Liberal Democrats have had some astonishing constituency results.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said:

"As polls close I would like to thank all of the Scottish Liberal Democrat activists who have worked so hard over the past few months to deliver an energetic and positive campaign from the Borders to the Highlands and Islands.

"We have been clear that a vote for the Scottish Liberal Democrats is a vote to put recovery first and spend the next five years tackling serious issues like mental health, education and the climate emergency.

In an appeal to Scottish Green voters, campaign chair Alistair Carmichael MP has today said every vote for the Scottish Liberal Democrats is a vote to "put the climate emergency ahead of independence".

The intervention comes after a poll by Lord Ashcroft Polls showed Greens voters hold mixed views on independence. The poll reported only 43% of Green supporters supported independence, while 46% were against it.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today kicked off the final day of campaigning before polls open at an airfield in East Lothian, where he urged voters to back Liberal Democrat candidates who will put recovery first, not an independence referendum.

Kicking off a whistle stop tour that will take him from the South of Scotland to the Highlands, Mr Rennie said:

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today used a campaign stop in Edinburgh to urge voters to reach for recovery and declare that his party can make the gains that will ensure the next parliament puts recovery first, not independence.

Launching his party's "Reach for Recovery" poster van, Mr Rennie said: