• Covid Inquiry Report must be a moment for change
• Chamberlain tables two child benefit cap parliamentary motion
• Sadiq Khan refuses to back removing the two-child benefit cap
• Cole-Hamilton: Scotland badly let down by SNP Government’s pandemic planning

Covid Inquiry Report must be a moment for change

Commenting on the first Covid Inquiry Report, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Today’s damning findings confirm in black and white what we unfortunately already knew.

Our hearts go out to all those who lost loved ones during the pandemic, yet sadly these findings of systematic and political failings will provide little comfort for thousands of grieving families.

Today must be a moment for change. The country was badly let down during the pandemic and this new government must ensure that lessons are learnt swiftly.

The Liberal Democrats called for an inquiry in 2020, and we will continue to demand that the full facts are known about every aspect of this catastrophic failure.

Chamberlain tables two child benefit cap parliamentary motion

Wendy Chamberlain MP for North East Fife, has tabled a Parliamentary motion calling on the Government to remove the two-child limit on social payments in the first Budget.

Statistics from the Department of Work and Pensions state that 1.6 million children are affected by the two-child benefit cap. The cap also imposed employment barriers on parents who have less income available for childcare costs as a result.

The Liberal Democrats urge the Government to announce the removal of the cap in the first Budget. Lifting the cap is the most cost-effective way of immediately lifting 300,000 of children out of poverty, while helping to make costs more manageable for parents.

Chamberlain said:

The two-child benefit cap creates avoidable poverty for children and families across the country.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the new Government to scrap this policy to not only help thousands of children, but to also help parents find better employment opportunities.

Whilst I acknowledge that Labour have set up a Child Poverty Commission, it doesn’t take a commission to realise that we need to lift this cap.

The Liberal Democrats feel strongly that this needs to happen urgently which is why scrapping the cap will be in our King’s Speech amendment.

Not only is this the most cost-effective way of alleviating poverty, we also have a moral obligation to change this unnecessary policy.

Sadiq Khan refuses to back removing the two-child benefit cap

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has refused to commit to removing the controversial Two Child Benefit Cap or to lobbying the new incumbent Labour Government on the issue.

The questioning by the Liberal Democrat Leader on the London Assembly Hina Bokhari sparked an angry response by the Mayor who repeatedly refused to put on record his stance on the issue.

When asked if he would write to the new Government in support of removing the cap, the Mayor instead resorted to attacking the Liberal Democrats, despite the two child benefit cap being introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, over two years after the coalition ended.

Responding to the exchange, Hina Bokhari AM said:

It is extremely disappointing that instead of engaging with this serious issue, the Mayor chose to respond with an angry outburst rather than answering the question.

The Liberal Democrats had nothing to do with the introduction of the two-child benefit cap, but we have been one of the biggest advocates of scrapping the policy, unlike Labour who have so far been complicit in keeping the policy in place.

Countless young Londoners are being trapped in a cycle of poverty by the two-child benefit cap and experts are clear, ending the two-child benefit cap is the most effective and quickest way of reducing child poverty in our country.

The Mayor of London should be standing up and using the full voice of his office to support the removal of this cruel policy.

Cole-Hamilton: Scotland badly let down by SNP Government’s pandemic planning

Responding to the publication of the UK Covid Inquiry’s report on resilience and preparedness (Module 1), Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP commented:

Today’s devastating findings confirm in black and white what we unfortunately already knew.

SNP ministers including Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney were consistently warned that a pandemic was the single biggest threat to Scotland. Despite that, the Scottish Government they led was completely unprepared and distracted.

Reports were confused, outdated or even copy and pasted. They were littered with a false sense of security and fatal assumptions about the threat we could face. Frontline staff across the NHS and social care were left in the dark because recommendations gathered dust on a shelf and those in charge of preparedness went months without meeting.

Scotland was badly let down during the pandemic by both the SNP and Conservative governments. This report today must be an important step towards change.

Our hearts go out to all those who lost loved ones during the pandemic, yet sadly these findings of systematic and political failings will provide little comfort for thousands of grieving families.