BANFFSHIRE and BUCHAN COAST Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Christine Jardine has slammed the Tories for creating a "Nurse Tax" on EU citizens who come to the UK to work for the NHS.

The new Tory policy extends the Immigration health surcharge of £400 to EU health professionals, coming to the UK to work in our NHS.

The fee, which is £400 per person per year, under Conservative plans could be payable directly out of doctor and nurse salaries.

This would mean an NHS worker from the EU with a family of four, would be expected to pay £8000 over five years. This is on top of the upfront visa application cost of £464 per person or £1856 for a family of four.

Commenting Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Christine Jardine said:

"The Conservatives have effectively created a new Nurse Tax. It is an insult to the thousands of people who dedicate their lives coming to work for our health service from the EU.

"The NHS currently relies on 10,000 doctors and 20,000 nurses from elsewhere in the EU, and we've already lost more than 5,000 EU nurses in the last 2 years.

"Brexit is making the nursing crisis worse, and the only cure the Tories can offer is a new Nurse Tax.

"The Liberal Democrats have the solution to the nursing crisis, Stop Brexit so that we can build a brighter future for our precious NHS."

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today joined activists and candidates in Cramond, to launch the party's general election campaign, in which the party will focus on stopping Brexit and building a brighter future.

Willie Rennie said:

"This election our ambition is sky high. We can stop Brexit and build a brighter future for Scotland in the United Kingdom.

Scottish Liberal Democrats today highlighted that the SNP Government is diluting its commitment to give key public services the new mental health workers they need, in light of new figures showing more than a third of the new staff recruited so far are being attributed to 'other settings' and ministers couldn't explain what they are doing.

The Liberal Democrats have declared a Liberal Democrat government will Stop Brexit and use the £50 Billion Remain Bonus to invest in public services and tackle inequality.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson said:

"The Liberal Democrats are the only party standing up to stop Brexit and build a brighter future for the UK.

"Brexit has taken far longer and cost far more than anyone said it would. But any form of Brexit will damage our jobs, our economy and our public services, starving them of vital cash as the economy struggles along.

"The Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit and then use the £50bn Remain Bonus to invest in our public services.

"Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to stop Brexit, build a brighter future and invest the £50bn Remain bonus in our vital public services."

Stopping Brexit will generate a Remain Bonus for the public finances because under Remain, the economy will grow faster than under Brexit, leading to higher GDP and consequently higher public sector current receipts.

The Liberal Democrats forecast that the economy will be 1.9% larger in 2024-25 if we stop Brexit than it would be under the Conservative Government's Brexit deal. That means government receipts will be higher too, providing a £50 billion Remain Bonus over the next five years.

The £50bn figure reflects the total extra current receipts over the next five years. In 2024-25, the Remain Bonus will be worth £18bn.

The Liberal Democrat Remain Bonus is based on a conservative forecast of higher growth under Remain - just 0.4% a year higher on average. That is very much in line with -if not more cautious than- forecasts produced by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in their Green Budget 2019.

Responding to comments from Nicola Sturgeon in which she said she would request a Section 30 order by the end of the year and that she expected Jeremy Corbyn to grant it, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said:

"Scotland doesn't need another independence referendum.

"Scottish Liberal Democrats are now the only ones who can be trusted to stand up for the union.

Christine Jardine MP and Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP have today launched new Liberal Democrat general election posters in Edinburgh and outlined the Liberal Democrats' plans for an optimistic and upbeat campaign to bring Jo Swinson's vision of a brighter future to voters tired of Labour and Conservatives politics which is stuck in the past.

Speaking to activists in Edinburgh on the day after the general election was announced, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said:

"A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to stop Brexit and build a brighter future for Scotland in the United Kingdom.

"Jo Swinson presents a fresh, new choice for the future in stark contrast with Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson who represent the divisive past.