• Inflation: High time the Government put in place a proper plan to boost our economy
• Thames Water bonuses: Hardly a cause for celebration for customers
• Winter Fuel Payments: the “world’s longest u-turn continues”
• Winter Fuel Payments: Serious proposal from the Prime Minister Needed
• Lib Dems Respond to Welsh Gov Business Rates Consultation
• Carmichael challenges Prime Minister to pause family farm tax

Inflation: High time the Government put in place a proper plan to boost our economy

Responding to inflation rising to 3.5%, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Today’s grim figures reveal a triple whammy on Britain’s households – resulting from the Government’s disastrous jobs tax, Donald Trump’s devastating tariffs and April’s damaging business rates bill rises.

Ministers cannot allow inflation to spiral as it did under the Conservatives, but they risk repeating their record for as long as the employer’s National Insurance hike remains in place.

It’s high time the Government saw sense and put in place a proper plan to boost our economy: scrapping the jobs tax, standing with our allies to end Trump’s trade war, and urgently negotiating a new customs union with the EU. We must see bold action to deliver relief for millions of hard-pressed households.

Thames Water bonuses: Hardly a cause for celebration for customers

Responding to reports that Thames Water has halted their bosses bonus scheme, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Environment, Tim Farron MP said:

This will hardly be cause to celebrate for the millions of Thames Water customers who continue to face eye-watering bills.

The public are rightly fed-up with having Thames Water’s mess dumped on them.

The Government must act now and replace Ofwat with a new regulator with real power that can properly hold water companies to account on environmental pollution and unjustifiable bonuses.

Winter Fuel Payments: the “world’s longest u-turn continues”

Responding to the Prime Minister saying that more pensioners will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments next winter, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The world’s longest u-turn continues.

The Prime Minister has today announced the ‘concepts of a plan’ that have come far too late for the millions of pensioners forced to freeze in their own homes over the winter.

The least those people deserve is an apology for this punitive policy and a serious proposal from the Prime Minister on how he will begin to pick up the pieces from his Government’s disastrous decision. Not vague words that will take months to materialise into something meaningful.

Winter Fuel Payments: Serious proposal from the Prime Minister Needed

Responding to Starmer’s winter fuel payments comments at Prime Minister’s Questions today, Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster Spokesperson David Chadwick MP said:

For almost a year, the Liberal Democrats and I have been fighting to get the Government to listen to the deep concerns of pensioners in Wales over the slashing of Winter Fuel Payments.

A staggering 543,372 pensioners in Wales are currently set to be impacted by the cut as things stand.

The Prime Minister has today announced the ‘concepts of a plan’ that have come far too late for the millions of pensioners forced to freeze in their own homes over the winter.

The least those people deserve is an apology for this punitive policy and a serious proposal from the Prime Minister on how he will begin to pick up the pieces from his Government’s disastrous decision. Not vague words that will take months to materialise into something meaningful.

Lib Dems Respond to Welsh Gov Business Rates Consultation

Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:

Business rates punitively punish our small businesses in Wales, while rewarding large corporations.

We cannot simply tinker around the edges, and Labour’s proposals simply don’t address the scale of the problem.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats will be going into next year’s Senedd elections with a clear commitment to replace the outdated business rates system.

Carmichael challenges Prime Minister to pause family farm tax

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today challenged Keir Starmer to pause and rework his government’s tax hike on family farms, during Prime Minister’s Questions. Mr Carmichael highlighted a cross-party committee report which supported the government’s goal of tackling tax evasion but warned that the current proposals would harm family farms, and called for a one-year pause in the policy.

Mr Carmichael is Chair of the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, which produced the report.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Carmichael said:

On Friday, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee published its report on the government’s vision for agriculture. The committee agrees with the government that land purchase being used to shelter wealth from inheritance tax is a problem that needs to be tackled.

As a cross-party committee with a government majority, however, we took the unanimous view that the government’s current proposals for inheritance tax reform will catch too many family farms who will simply not be able to pay the bill. We are asking for the changes to be paused and reworked.

Will the Prime Minister listen to the select committee and those on his own benches who want to tackle tax evasion and support the farmers who keep producing food for the nation’s table?

Responding, the Prime Minister said:

He knows the very limited impact of inheritance tax – only on farm of a very very high level – but he will also know the record amount of money we put in the Budget into farming, and he knows about the EU deal, which will massively help farmers selling into the EU market.

Reacting after the exchange, Mr Carmichael said:

The Prime Minister’s response will be a disappointment to farmers and to many on his own benches, who are convinced that the government should rethink the tax on family farms. There is cross-party – and cross-country – support for this policy to be paused and reworked.

Throughout this campaign farmers have been clear that they are ready to work with the government to make a fair tax policy that protects family farms. It is the government that has refused to compromise – that must change.