- 100,000 households face mortgage rate hike by polling day as Conservatives face ‘blue wall reckoning’
- Conservative community care annoucement papering over NHS cracks
- Pride Month: Welsh Liberal Democrats pledge to keep fighting for a more inclusive society
- Welsh Lib Dems call for more trains on Heart of Wales line
- Cole-Hamilton: Liberal Democrats will deliver a fair deal for local communities
100,000 households face mortgage rate hike by polling day as Conservatives face ‘blue wall reckoning’
- A typical mortgage holder will see their payments rise by £240 a month
- Over 3,300 households a day set to see their mortgages rise between now and polling day on 4th July
- Liberal Democrats warn that Rishi Sunak faces a “blue wall reckoning” with mortgage holders in key battleground seats among the hardest hit
100,000 households will face a mortgage increase between now and polling day on 4th July, House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has found.
This amounts to an average of 3,333 households a day being hit with higher mortgage rates. It comes as the Bank of England maintained interest rates at 5.25% earlier this month. A typical mortgage holder will see their payments rise by £240 a month.
The Lib Dem-commissioned analysis by the House of Commons Library, based on data from the Financial Conduct Authority, found that households will face an increase to their mortgages ahead of General Election polling day on 4th July.
The Lib Dems said Rishi Sunak’s claim that his economic plan is working shows he is living in a “parallel universe,” at a time when families are saddled with hundreds of pounds a month more on their mortgage.
The party said the Prime Minister is set for a “blue wall reckoning” with the data showing Liberal Democrat – Conservative battlegrounds such as Taunton Deane, Tewkesbury and Steve Barclay’s seat of North East Cambridgeshire among the worst affected.
In total, households coming off fixed rate mortgages ahead of polling day will pay an additional £290 million in mortgage costs over the next year.
Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, Sarah Olney said:
This Conservative government crashed the economy and now they are condemning hard-working households to a mortgage nightmare.
Rishi Sunak’s claim that the government’s plan is working shows he is living in a parallel universe, as every day thousands of families are seeing their mortgage go up by eye-watering amounts.
The Prime Minister is set for a blue wall reckoning in key battleground seats where fed up voters are ready to say enough is enough with this out-of-touch Conservative Government on 4th July.
Conservative community care annoucement papering over NHS cracks
Responding to the Conservative policy announcement on community care, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:
This announcement is papering over the cracks of the broken NHS after years neglect under the Conservatives.
From their broken promise to hire 6,000 more GPs to the 40 new hospitals that haven’t been built, no-one will trust a word the Conservative Party says on the NHS.
The Liberal Democrats are putting fixing the NHS and care at the heart of our campaign. We will give people a legal right to see a GP within a week, ensure people can access urgent and emergency care with a dentist on the NHS, and reverse years of cuts to public health funding for local communities.
Pride Month: Welsh Liberal Democrats pledge to keep fighting for a more inclusive society
Today the Welsh Liberal Democrats have marked the beginning of Pride month by vowing to stand up for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.
According to statistics from the Home Office, recorded hate crimes against Transgender people in England and Wales rose by 11% in 2023.
Speaking about her party’s stance on a more inclusive society, Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds vowed to “always champion a society where people are free to be who they are”.
Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds said:
The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free, and open society.
We will always champion a society where people are free to be who they are, free of prejudice and fear.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats stand hand in hand with LGBTQ+ people amid recent attempts by some sections of society to roll back on the hard-won freedoms gained in recent years.
I promise you we will always stand up for a more liberal, tolerant, and inclusive Wales.
Welsh Lib Dems call for more trains on Heart of Wales line
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on the Welsh Government to tackle unreliable train services on the Heart of Wales line.
Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds MS has called on the Welsh Labour Government to do more to revitalise the aging fleet of trains currently running on the line, with many being refurbished engines dating from the 1980’s.
The Welsh Lib Dem leader also criticised a decision by TFW to reduce the number of trains on the line from five to four per day, stating that it could have a “devastating” impact on rural communities.
A recent Freedom of Information request has revealed that there were 2,317 train breakdowns reported in 2023, with over 2,000 services being cancelled as a result of train failure.
The total amount of refunds given out to customers as a result of a delayed train in the past calendar year came to £2,314,714.
Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said:
I am very disappointed to hear that the number of trains running on the Heart of Wales line will be reduced to only four per day.
This line serves as a vital link for most of mid Wales, and any decision to limit services could have a devastating impact on our already isolated rural communities.
Our transport system is not up to standards, and it is our hardworking commuters who are being left to deal with the consequences of years of neglect.
Last year alone there were over 2,000 services cancelled as a result of a train breaking down, this is not acceptable, and the people of Wales deserve better.
They deserve a transport system that works for them, not one which relies on trains far past their sell-by date.
On the 4th of July, voters across Wales will have the chance to show Welsh Labour that they will not accept their nonsense for much longer.
Commenting, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Candidate for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick said:
For far too long now the needs of our rural communities have been cast aside by both the Conservatives Westminster and Labour Cardiff Bay.
The decision to slash the number of trains running on the Heart of Wales line, a vital transport link for many in mid Wales, is further evidence of this rural neglect and risks trapping our communities in a cycle of decline.
We as Welsh Liberal Democrats have always stood by our rural communities, and if elected I will carry on this proud tradition.
Cole-Hamilton: Liberal Democrats will deliver a fair deal for local communities
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today visited the Corstorphine Fair to highlight that his party will deliver a fair deal for local communities across the length and breadth of Scotland.
During the visit, he spoke to local community groups and charities to learn about the challenges they are currently facing.
Speaking after the visit, Alex Cole-Hamilton said:
When people vote for a Liberal Democrat MP at this election, they are voting for a community champion who puts the needs of those communities first and who will work day in, day out to help them thrive.
With every Liberal Democrat you elect, you get a local champion who will stand up on the issues that matter, from getting you faster access to a GP and an NHS dentist, to ending sewage dumping and lifting up Scottish education.
People are fed up with governments that have failed to get those basics right. They deserve so much better. It’s time for change. Both the SNP and Conservatives have got to go.