• ONS economy stats: Tomorrow is judgement day for Jeremy Hunt
• Braverman must apologise to women and girls for police dropping complaints
• Conservative MPs must back amendments to ban child detention
• Budget is “judgement day” for Chancellor on cost of living crisis
• Jane Dodds responds to Health Minister statement on Dental Reform

ONS economy stats: Tomorrow is judgement day for Jeremy Hunt

Responding to this morning’s ONS earnings and employment figures, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said:

Tomorrow is judgement day for Jeremy Hunt. He must finally end the cost of living crisis and the endless pay squeeze which is crippling families across the country.

The revolving door of Conservative Chancellors in recent years have all failed at keeping prices down. Jeremy Hunt can take action tomorrow and cut energy bills by £500, by introducing a proper windfall tax on the bumper profits of oil and gas firms. They are raking in billions off the back of higher energy bills and the public won’t stomach it any longer.

Braverman must apologise to women and girls for police dropping complaints

Responding to the figures that show police forces drop most complaints of officer violence against women, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip and former Police Officer, Wendy Chamberlain MP said:

These statistics tell us what millions of women and girls already know. Across the country, they look to the police to protect them and ultimately the buck stops with the Home Office to fix this crisis.

Violence against women and girls has no place in our society, not least in the police forces that are meant to keep us all safe.

We need swift action from Suella Braverman, including a promise to tighten vetting and investigation regulations. But first, she needs to apologise for the Government and police forces letting women and girls across the country down.

Conservative MPs must back amendments to ban child detention

The Liberal Democrats have urged Conservative MPs to back amendments to the illegal migration bill to uphold the ban on the detention of children for immigration purposes.

It comes after former Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland this morning suggested the Bill would have to be watered down to avoid a Conservative backbench rebellion.

The Liberal Democrats ended the previous Labour Government’s practice of detaining children for immigration purposes in 2011.

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said:

It is all very well for Robert Buckland and other Conservative MPs to wring their hands on the backbenches about how dreadful this Bill is. But last night they voted for it so their actions so far do not match their words. Sooner or later they will have to put up or shut up.

If Conservative MPs are serious about opposing these plans, they should back our attempts to prevent the locking up of innocent children fleeing war and violence.

This cruel and ineffective legislation will do nothing to tackle people smugglers and traffickers, instead it will criminalise their victims. Passing this Bill would be a betrayal of our longstanding British values of offering sanctuary to refugees and helping those in need.

Budget is “judgement day” for Chancellor on cost of living crisis

Commenting ahead of the Spring Budget, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney said:

This is judgement day for the Chancellor on the cost of living crisis. Desperate families are looking for a lifeline to cope with soaring energy bills, food prices and mortgage payments.

But instead of offering real help, this Conservative government has made things so much worse by crashing the economy and blowing a hole in the public finances.

Now Jeremy Hunt is asking families to pay the price for this Conservative chaos through years of unfair tax rises, while neglecting public services and letting oil and gas companies off the hook.

In these tough times, British people deserve a proper plan to tackle this cost-of-living crisis instead of just tinkering at the edges. That means a proper windfall tax, a £500 cut to energy bills and investment in fixing our crumbling hospitals.

Jane Dodds responds to Health Minister statement on Dental Reform

Responding to the Statement from the Minister for Health and Social Services on dental reform, Jane Dodds MS said:

Week in, week out I hear dentists and patients tell me that NHS dentistry is at breaking point.

Far from giving people choice, the two tier system we see across Wales means that many people must either go private to access treatment, or go without. The Minister’s refusal to acknowledge this in her statement shows how out of touch the Welsh Labour Government is on this issue.

I have long called for action on tackling workforce issues and introducing mobile dentistry units in rural communities, and I am pleased to see action from the government on these issues.

However, the fact remains that NHS dentistry is in crisis, and the Minister’s statement today will do little to reassure dentists nor patients that this crisis is close to being solved.