Alex Salmond signing NUS Scotland's 'Reclaim Your Voice' commitment - a pledge to students that he is now breaking by cutting college places

Liberal Youth Scotland are throwing our weight behind a campaign organised by the National Union of Students Scotland to maintain college funding and FE student support. The SNP Government already cut funding to Scottish colleges by £40m last year, leading to course closures, job losses and increased class sizes. Now an even bigger proposed cut of 20% is putting even more courses and college places at risk.

The Our Future Our Fight campaign calls on the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament to:

• protect the budget for college student support at 2011/12 levels;
• stop any cuts to college places;
• protect college teaching quality;
• and to protect local access – college campuses must stay open with a wide choice of courses.

LYS President Sophie Bridger said: “The courses that the SNP are putting under threat are vital to our economy. The Scottish Government may think that colleges are unimportant, but the reality is that young people will be denied the opportunities they deserve.”

Sign the petition at http://www.ourfutureourfight.org/

LYS President Sophie Bridger sorts through over four hundred letters from young people in favour of marriage equality

Liberal Youth Scotland today continued our drive for marriage equality, with the delivery of over four hundred personally signed letters from young people to their MSPs. The signatories call on MSPs directly to support equal marriage in any Scottish Parliamentary vote.

Sophie Bridger, President of Liberal Youth Scotland, said:

“Everyone should have the right to marry the person they love. It’s a matter of simple human fairness. The hundreds of young people who’ve joined our campaign to write to MSPs show that the future is bright for LGBT people in Scotland.”

“MSPs need to show courage in the face of scaremongering and stand up for what’s right.”

The direct appeal to MSPs is just the latest step in our ongoing campaign. Liberal Youth Scotland previously protested outside the office of John Mason MSP, after he stoked homophobic fears by falsely claiming that religious organisations would be forced to perform same sex marriage ceremonies. Last year, a motion tabled by Liberal Youth Scotland made marriage equality the stated policy of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, resulting in a commitment being included in the party’s 2011 manifesto.

Commenting, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP said:

Willie Rennie MSP joins LYS members in presenting the letters to MSPs

“Liberal Youth Scotland should be congratulated on their efforts in highlighting how important the campaign for equal marriage is. I am pleased that so many people have responded to their campaign, showing the will for change in society.”

“I want Scotland to be one of the most fair and progressive places in the world. Extending marriage equality to all is a really important part of that. I look forward to working constructively with the all the groups involved who want to see this change in Scotland as we enter the next stage of the debate.”

There was a large turnout, with members from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Galloway, St. Andrews and beyond coming down.  After a few icebreaking games and activities, training was provided on how to design the best print material and publicity, as well as a tour around the party in 60 minutes, and a discussion on how Liberal Youth Scotland can affect the party and how campaigning will move forward in the years ahead.

The day closed with a great talk and question and answer session with new party leader Willie Rennie.  Most people then all headed out for dinner and drinks.  Overall, McActivate proved to be a huge success, with some saying that it was the best Liberal Youth Scotland event they had ever been to.  It was a great chance to network and meet new young Lib Dems from across the country.  It is clear that despite poor election results in recent times, the party is continuing to grow its amount of youth activists.  McActivate showed that the future for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, with LYS involved, is indeed bright!

Lynne Featherstone, Equalities Minister, said that whilst the UK was currently a leader for gay rights, there was still more to be done. She added: “To deny one group of people the same opportunities available to another is not simply discriminatory. It is simply not fair.”

Liberal Youth Scotland President Sophie Bridger said: “I am really pleased and excited to see that the Liberal Democrats in government are making this important step in recognising same-sex marriage. We are the only major party to support full equal marriage rights, and its great to such a well-loved policy being enacted in government.”

“But this proposal only refers to civil marriage. For many in the  LGBT community marriage is a religious commitment as well as a personal one, and government must respect that.”

“We will keep campaigning for full marriage rights – including religious marriage for same-sex couples, and the extension of civil partnerships to heterosexual couples.”

Willie said: “I am disappointed that leaders of the Catholic Church in Scotland have threatened the Scottish government over proposals to bring equality to marriage. Over six in ten people support same sex marriage, so to threaten politicians with the votes of 800,000 people of the Catholic faith may backfire on the Church.”

Sophie Bridger, President of LYS, added: “In an open society no religious group should be able to force their beliefs on any other. By taking this line, the Catholic Church is seeking to use the state to force its position on those religious groups that do want to perform same sex marriages. The decision should be up to religious organisations themselves.”

You can support Liberal Youth Scotland’s ‘Separate Isn’t Equal’ campaign by emailing your MSP via our website and asking them to support equal marriage rights: www.lyscotland.org/campaigns/equality

Liberal Youth Scotland have launched their own campaign, Separate Isn’t Equal – urging MSPs to support equal marriage.

Liberal Youth Scotland President Sophie Bridger said, “We welcome the consultation on equal marriage. Having two separate institutions for different sexualities is nothing less than segregation. There is no excuse not to extend the right to marry to same-sex couples – and to open up civil partnerships to mixed-sex couples.”

Nathan Sparling, from NUS Scotland LGBT said: “The ‘Separate Isn’t Equal’ campaign from Liberal Youth Scotland shows a there is a real commitment coming from a wide range of the Scottish community on Marriage Equality. It’s with campaigns like this that we’ll be able to persuade politicians that this is an important issue in delivering true equality in this country.”

You can support Liberal Youth Scotland’s ‘Separate Isn’t Equal’ campaign by emailing your MSP, and asking them to support equal marriage rights: www.lyscotland.org/campaigns/equality

Please also take the time to respond to the Scottish Government’s consultation here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/05153328

Edinburgh Branch President Callum Leslie confronts John Mason MSP

Liberal Youth Scotland joined NUS Scotland in protest outside John Mason MSP’s new Constituency Office, to highlight the fearmongering nature of his recently tabled motion at Holyrood. The motion, prompted by the Scottish Government’s decision to consult on the legalisation of marriage between partners of the same sex, states that “no person or organisation should be forced to be involved in or to approve of same-sex marriages”.

Sophie Bridger, President of Liberal Youth Scotland, said: “There is no suggestion that any religious organisation will be forced to perform any sort of marriage ceremony. The precedent exists – some congregations currently will not marry previously divorced straight couples, for example. LGBT organisations openly state that the only legal requirement to perform marriage ceremonies, gay or straight, should be on civil registrars. John Mason’s motion is based on fear alone; unfounded fear that risks inflaming unwarranted resentment against the LGBT community.”

Liberal Youth Scotland are continuing to call on MSPs to back the introduction of same-sex marriage and opposite-sex civil partnership in Scotland. You can find out more, and write to your MSP at http://lyscotland.org/equal

“We are all horrified by the attacks in Norway today, particularly the direct targeting of a political youth wing such as our own. Our thoughts are with those affected today, in Oslo and on Utoya.”

Vice President Communications Ross Stalker commented:

“Section 28 was a direct attack on the mental health of our LGBT community. It is outrageous that the most prominent financial backer of the policy should be honoured. Liberal Youth have always been committed to eliminating homophobia, and whilst our Homophobia is Gay campaign has been successful in reversing some of Section 28′s effects by making schools face up to homophobic bullying, there is still much work to be done.”

“Brian Souter still promotes the results of his methodologically flawed ‘referendum’ on Section 28 via his website.”

“Besides, I am not sure that Brian Souter’s use of anti-competitive practices to drive local operators out of business should earn him any sort of award for ‘service to transport’, let alone a knighthood.”

Vice President Communications Ross Stalker said:

“Although the SNP claim that this policy gives parity with English universities, in actuality, the four year length of a Scottish degree makes the total cost higher. When the Liberal Democrats were in Government in Scotland, the annual fee cap was set below that of English universities for this very reason.”

“It is true that some – not all – English students can choose to enter directly into the second year of their degree, but they should not feel it necessary to do so for cost reasons.”

“We call on the Scottish Government to ensure that the overall cost of attending university in Scotland remains competitive with that of England.”

Vice President Campaigns Robbie Simpson said:

“This move would make Scottish universities the most expensive in Europe. That will do nothing to attract the brightest students at a time when applications from England have fallen 15% in the past year.”

“Meanwhile, there is no mention of student support – yet Scotland has lower bursaries and higher drop-out rates than the rest of the UK. The Scottish Government cannot simply use Rest of UK students to cover up their own lack of investment in Scotland’s universities and Scotland’s students.”

“The SNP needs to reconsider the extent of their proposals, and actually take heed of their consultation. They can’t play politics with Scotland’s educational future.”