Alex Cole-Hamilton insists Scottish Lib Dems on cusp of 'historic breakthrough' at Holyrood election

Alex Cole Hamilton said the Liberal Democrats would offer voters both “hope” and a “realistic plan”.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats leader was speaking at the party conference in Glasgow ahead of May’s crunch Holyrood election.

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Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “Scottish Liberal Democrats secured £15 million more for GPs in the Scottish Budget this year, to alleviate some of the recruitment and retention issues that practices are struggling with right now, to make it easier for people to see a GP.”

He said at the coming election, the Liberal Democrats would commit to training and recruiting staff such as “nurses, mental health professionals and physios”.

He said the Lib Dems would “roll out AI language models in consulting rooms to listen to appointments and generate notes and referrals”.

The party leader added: “These are already being used safely in some surgeries and could save GPs masses of bureaucracy.”

He also pointed to moves to “increase the number of GPs and their share of the NHS budget”.

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Mr Cole-Hamilton added: “And crucially, conference, let’s give infants, over 70s and everyone with long-term health conditions access to a named GP, because the evidence shows having a GP who knows you well, and can see when something isn’t right, lowers the chance of expensive emergency admissions.”

Mr Cole-Hamilton also said “social media giants need to be held accountable” and the party would expand pupil support in schools and focus on education.

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He said: “Young people are telling us that they know it’s harmful. Research shows many have tried to find ways to cut down their use themselves.

“Phones are a distraction, apps are built to be addictive, they offer relentless notifications, toxic role models and platforms for the worst kind of bullying.

“It’s time to enshrine the right of children to learn, and teachers to teach, in phone-free classrooms and we’d expand pupil support in every school too.

“Because education is the great leveller of our times. It is the ladder. It is the best investment we can make in our children’s potential and our country’s future.”

In what will likely become a key election education pledge, Mr Cole-Hamilton vowed to “expand pupil support in every school too”.

He added: “Because education is the great leveller of our times. It is the ladder. It is the best investment we can make in our children’s potential and our country’s future.”

In an appeal to win votes in all parts of Scotland at next year’s election, Mr Cole-Hamilton spoke to those who “feel let down by the other parties”.

He said: “We think Scotland deserves better than this. A realistic plan. Change with fairness at its heart.

“Scotland has so much going for it. But right now, it feels like our country simply isn’t working.

“Household bills are soaring. The long waits to see your GP. The national embarrassment of the ferries fiasco. And Scottish education just isn’t what it used to be.

People are tired and frustrated. They’re right to be. The Scottish Liberal Democrats believe in fairness for everyone, no matter who you are or where you come from.”