• Ed Davey: Tougher sanctions needed on Israeli Government now to “stop the carnage” in Gaza
• Badenoch reshuffle: Titanic captain appoints iceberg apologist to key role
• Laura Anne Jones’ defection – The Conservatives are clearly dead as a political force in Wales
• Lib Dems attack “SNP’s dirty secret” as environmental targets look set to be missed
• Greene comments as west coast ferry faces months out of action

Ed Davey: Tougher sanctions needed on Israeli Government now to “stop the carnage” in Gaza

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on the government to urgently bring in tougher sanctions on the Israeli Government and officials amid a brutal new ground offensive in Gaza, including sanctioning Netanyahu and IDF generals.

Commenting in the wake of fresh Israeli Defence Force (IDF) ground operations in Gaza, Ed Davey called for the UK Government to sanction Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and to begin drawing up plans to sanction individual IDF generals leading the ground and aerial bombing campaigns across the Strip.

Ed Davey also said the UK should halt all arms sales to Israel, including component parts for F-35s. He has called on the Government to stop “[sitting] on its hands” while Gaza faces demolition, and commit to “stemming the flow of fighter jet parts to Israel”.

The party’s calls come following additional reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) that its facilities have come under attack during Israel’s fresh offensive in Deir al-Balah.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said:

The Foreign Secretary must realise that we’re past the point of threatening sanctions. We need sanctions now, including against Netanyahu and the IDF generals leading the military campaigns in Gaza.

Every day the Government sits on its hands, more innocent civilians are being killed while over a million are at risk of starvation. Meanwhile, the hostages held by Hamas are no closer to being freed. This is utterly intolerable.

The Government needs to do everything it can to stop the carnage unfolding in the Strip. That must include stemming the flow of UK fighter jet parts to Israel.

Badenoch reshuffle: Titanic captain appoints iceberg apologist to key role

Commenting on Kemi Badenoch’s ongoing Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, including the appointment of James Cleverly as Shadow Housing Secretary, Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson Sarah Olney said:

Kemi Badenoch has appointed the very man who said that replacing Liz Truss as Prime Minister would be a terrible idea. It’s like appointing an iceberg apologist to a role steering the Titanic.

The public won’t forgive this group of failed former Conservative ministers for the damage they did to our economy and NHS.

It’s no wonder the Conservatives previously pledged to avoid any reshuffle until the election.

Laura Anne Jones’ defection – The Conservatives are clearly dead as a political force in Wales

Responding to Laura Anne Jones’ defection to Reform, Welsh Liberal Democrat spokesperson David Chadwick said:

The Conservatives are clearly dead as a political force in Wales.

But let’s be clear: Reform has no answers for Wales, just more noise, division, and is seemingly now only a vehicle for failed Conservative politicians.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are standing up to Reform and defending the public services our communities rely on, offering the serious leadership Wales desperately needs.

Our party’s DNA is interwoven with Welsh history and identity. Next year, we will be fighting hard to build a fairer, more Liberal future for Wales. For voters who feel the Conservatives have abandoned them and are appalled by Reform, our door is open.

Lib Dems attack “SNP’s dirty secret” as environmental targets look set to be missed

Scottish Liberal Democrat net zero spokesperson and environmental campaigner, Cllr Sanne Dijkstra Downie has today criticised the SNP’s failure to deliver progress on reducing waste as analysis of new figures suggested that Scotland will miss key targets for recycling and reducing waste sent to landfill.

Scottish Environmental Protection Agency data has revealed that in 2023:

• the Scottish waste from all sources (WFAS) recycling rate was 62.2%, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from the 62.8% of waste recycled in 2022. This is well short of the Scottish Government’s target for 70% of waste to be recycled by 2025.
• the estimated amount of Scottish WFAS recycled was 5.92 million tonnes, which was 452,000 tonnes (7.1%) less waste recycled than in 2022.
• the total amount of Scottish WFAS managed by incineration was 1.74 million tonnes, an increase of 292,000 tonnes (20.2%) from 2022.
• 19% of all waste was sent to landfill. The Scottish Government’s target is for just 5% of waste to be landfilled by 2025.

The figures arrive on the heels of reports from BBC’s Disclosure suggesting that that 100 truckloads of waste will be moved each day to England once a Scottish landfill ban affecting virtually all domestic and commercial waste comes into effect at the end of the year.

Commenting on the figures, Ms Dijkstra-Downie said:

The dirty secret of this SNP Government is that there is now little hope of them meeting their own pledges to drive down waste. It looks set to be yet another broken promise.

From missed climate targets to botching the deposit return scheme, the SNP is holding back Scotland.

As a result of their failure, we are going to see waste being trucked to England for disposal. Carrying lorry loads of rubbish to be landfilled just beyond Berwick is even worse for the environment than landfilling it here due to the emissions generated by these journeys. It is bad news for people and planet.

If this was happening in reverse, the SNP would be throwing a monumental tantrum. Ministers must urgently set out what steps they will take to prepare local authorities for the upcoming ban.

Ultimately though this is just another area where the SNP have failed. People deserve a government that gets the basics right. That’s why people should vote for Scottish Liberal Democrats across the country on their peach-coloured regional ballot next year.

Greene comments as west coast ferry faces months out of action

Responding to the news that MV Caledonian Isles will require further work which will put it out of action for up to four months and that CalMac are now developing a new deployment plan for the entirety of the winter timetable which does not include MV Caledonian Isles, West of Scotland MSP and transport spokesperson Jamie Greene said:

The situation keeps going from bad to worse for my constituents on the west coast.

Another lengthy absence will mean fewer tourists, more missed doctor’s appointments and long waits for boats.

I don’t think anyone living on the west coast has any faith that this will be the last expensive sticking plaster.

Where is the Transport Secretary? I want to know what she is doing to whip her department into shape. After years of disruption, still no one in government has carried the can for repeatedly failing our island communities.