• Childcare: Conservatives have turned their backs on families
• Sharpe report: Boris Johnson must now also face the music to answer questions

Childcare: Conservatives have turned their backs on families

Responding to reports that the Treasury is considering expanding its free childcare offer, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson said:

Parents should never be forced out of work by a lack of affordable childcare. If the Treasury wants to help more parents back to work, it should simply implement the Liberal Democrat plan for childcare that is flexible, affordable and fair.

Crucially, that must include raising the rates paid to providers match the actual costs they face – otherwise too many parents still won’t be able to find anyone to look after their children.

The fact is the Conservatives have turned their backs on families. They have woefully underfunded the existing free hours, forcing thousands of providers to close, and are now imposing more disastrous, short-sighted cuts on early years education.

Sharpe report: Boris Johnson must now also face the music to answer questions

Responding to the embargoed DCMS committee report on Richard Sharpe’s reported loan to Boris Johnson, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said:

This damning report shines a new light on this whole shady affair.

Boris Johnson must now also face the music and answer questions from an independent inquiry. He is the elephant in the room and so far getting away with it, whilst his accomplice in the dodgy deal is left to front it up.

Rishi Sunak cannot let his former boss off the hook any longer. The Ministerial ethics advisor must start an investigation.

The drumbeat of sleaze is deafening and Rishi Sunak appears powerless to stop it.