• ONS pay-squeeze figures: The Government simply doesn’t care
• Rise in faulty sewage monitors as water firms accused of “covering up environmental scandal”
• Prepayment meters: This half-measure is an insult
• Lib Dems launch digital campaign on A to Z of Conservative sleaze and scandal
• Calls For Welsh Labour to Take Stronger Action on Coal Mining Following Successful Lords Vote

ONS pay-squeeze figures: The Government simply doesn’t care

Responding to the latest ONS unemployment and earnings figures which saw average pay fall by 2.3% in the year to December 2022 to February 2023, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said:

This is a damning verdict on the Government’s attempt to end the cost of living crisis.

Jeremy Hunt is the latest out of touch Conservative Chancellor to completely fail on rising prices.

The Conservative party’s gross mismanagement of the British economy has lead to inflation rising and growth plummeting. People need urgent help with rising food and energy bills, yet the Government simply doesn’t care.

Rise in faulty sewage monitors as water firms accused of “covering up environmental scandal”

• Almost 2,300 sewage monitors found to be faulty – over one in six of all monitors

• Number of sewage discharges potentially much higher than feared

• Lib Dems accuse water companies of covering up environmental scandal by failing to fix monitors

New analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed water companies are failing to monitor hundreds of sewage discharges in coastlines and rivers.

The number and length of sewage dumps from storm overflows is measured by Event Duration Monitors (EDMs). However, analysis of Environment Agency data reveals water companies have either installed monitors which do not work 90% of the time, or have simply not installed the monitors at all.

In 2021, the Environment Agency recorded 1,802 sewage monitors as not working all of the time – 12% of all monitors.

In 2022, this has risen to a staggering 2,298 sewage monitors recorded as faulty – one in six (16%) of all monitors where sewage discharges took place. This means the time and amount of sewage discharged into those areas is potentially far more than first feared.

The worst offenders for faulty sewage monitors are Severn Trent (715), Yorkshire Water (495) and United Utilities (229).

Some monitors have now been broken for two years. In Tiverton, Devon, South West Water’s sewage monitor is recorded as broken for both years citing “sensor failure”. It worked for 0% of the time for the past years. Meanwhile, Anglian Water’s monitor for the River Wensum operated just 38% of the time last year despite being broken the previous year and under investigation.

Liberal Democrats Rural Affairs spokesperson Tim Farron said:

These water companies could be guilty of covering up an environmental scandal. What is the point of installing these monitors if they don’t even work?

Why on earth are Conservative Ministers letting them get away with this? Therese Coffey has to go. We need an environment secretary who actually cares about the environment. In her six months in post, it has been all talk and no action on the sewage crisis.

The scary reality is that we have no idea just how dirty our coastlines, rivers and lakes are. The data released last week could be just half the story given the thousands of sewage monitors found to be faulty.

It is a national scandal that this equipment is left broken whilst water company executives rake in multi-million pound bonuses.

Prepayment meters: This half-measure is an insult

Responding to the Ofgem announcement that prepayment meter installation will be banned for over-85s and those with severe illness, Liberal Democrat Energy Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse MP said:

This half-measure is an insult to all the people who had their homes broken into by big gas companies. These new plans will leave too many vulnerable people, retired pensioners and hardworking families unprotected.

Predatory prepayment schemes cannot go on a moment longer. No one should need to pay a poverty premium because of this Government’s incompetence.

Lib Dems launch digital campaign on A to Z of Conservative sleaze and scandal

After Monday’s announcement that Rishi Sunak has been referred to the Standards Commissioner, the Liberal Democrats have launched a new digital campaign highlighting the A to Z of Conservative sleaze and scandals.

The website covers a full alphabet’s worth of Conservative sleaze and scandals that have taken place during the current Parliament, ranging from ‘I’ for Matt Hancock’s appearance on I’m A Celebrity to ‘X’ for X-rated tractors.

The most recent entry on the list is ‘C’ for childcare, referencing yesterday’s announcement that the Prime Minister has been referred to Parliament’s standards watchdog after allegedly failing to declare his interest in a childcare firm his wife has shares in.

Under the letter ‘B’, is Scott Benton, who was recently caught offering to table parliamentary questions and leak a white paper for a fake company.

Liberal Democrats are calling for an independent inquiry into sleaze in the Conservative Party.

Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain said:

It’s a tragic state of affairs that since 2019, naming Conservative scandals has been as easy as ABC.

This alphabet of failure makes it very clear – the Conservatives believe it’s one rule for them, and another for the British people.

There’s clearly something rotten at the heart of the Conservative Party, which Rishi Sunak is refusing to fix. If he was serious about restoring integrity, he would order an independent inquiry to get to the bottom of this endless cycle of sleaze and scandals.

Calls For Welsh Labour to Take Stronger Action on Coal Mining Following Successful Lords Vote

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have today called on Welsh Labour to introduce stronger measures to prevent new coal mining in Wales.

The calls come after the Liberal Democrats won a vote in the House of Lords last night that would ban new coal mines in England. The Liberal Democrats won the vote against the Conservative Government by just three votes at 197-194.

Wales won the freedom to decide its own future on coal mining under The Wales Act 2017 and the Welsh Government announced a “managed end to the extraction and use of coal” in 2021 and stated it would not grant any new licenses.

However, controversy has arisen in recent months as several existing mines seek to have their licenses extended including Aberpergwm in Neath Port Talbot; Ffos-y-fran in Merthyr Tydfil and Glan Lash in Carmarthenshire.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are the only party in the Senedd to have publicly opposed these expansions.

The Welsh Government is currently engaged in a judicial review over the proposed expansion of the Aberpergwm Coal Mine brought forward by the Coal Action Network.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have stated that Labour must go further and deny permission for any license extensions, not just new licenses.

The extension of the licence in Aberpergwm alone is estimated to result in 42 million more tonnes of coal being extracted, emitting up to 100 million tonnes of CO2 and 1.17 million tonnes of methane until 2039.

Commenting Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:

The Liberal Democrats are clear, the time for coal has long since passed. Continuing to mine and burn coal not only contributes to runaway climate change, but also to air pollution and poor health.

The future of Wales is in clean renewables energy, yet we are the only party in the Senedd opposing the expansion of these coal mines. Welsh Labour’s response has been nothing but smoke and mirrors rather than radical action to tackle the climate emergency.

We want to see real investment in former mining communities, investment in new jobs such as green hydrogen that will provide long-term employment and opportunities, not investment in dying and polluting industries.

It’s time for Welsh Labour to take some responsibility and commit to a moratorium on the expansion of coal mining licenses. Every year these mines are open it brings us closer to environmental catastrophe.