• GCSEs: Government deserves an ‘F’ for letting down pupils
• Missing: UK’s Foreign Secretary. Last seen leaving G20 early
• Dentist crisis escalates as new data reveals drop in NHS dental appointments

GCSEs: Government deserves an ‘F’ for letting down pupils

Responding to today’s GCSE results, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said:

The Conservatives have fiddled the figures and failed our young people yet again. Ministers have thrown into question thousands of students’ futures by taking their grades away to correct two years of exam chaos.

Young people receiving their results today faced unprecedented disruption to their studies. The Government deserves an ‘F’ for letting down these pupils, their parents and their teachers since day one of the pandemic.

This uncaring Conservative carousel of Education Secretaries cannot be trusted with our young people’s future any longer. We need proper investment in helping children recover lost learning from the pandemic, and we need them gone.

Missing: UK’s Foreign Secretary. Last seen leaving G20 early

• Liz Truss has been absent from nearly all her duties as Foreign Secretary for 46 days (number correct as of 25th August) at a time of international crisis
• Her last known physical engagement was the G20 summit in Indonesia, which she left early
• When on the leadership campaign trail in 2019, then Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt continued a full schedule of duties

Research by the Lib Dems has uncovered that Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has only held two phone calls and had no in-person formal meetings with her ministerial counterparts or foreign ambassadors since announcing her candidacy to be the next Prime Minister.

At a time of international crisis, the Liberal Democrats have accused Liz Truss of abandoning her role as Foreign Secretary, vacating Britain’s place on the world stage, to chase her self-serving leadership ambitions.

Since rushing back from the G20 summit in Indonesia on 7th July, following Boris Johnson’s decision to resign as Prime Minister, Liz Truss has failed to make any international visits, deliver any set-piece speeches as Foreign Secretary, or even welcome any visiting ministers.

During the 2019 leadership election, candidate Jeremy Hunt, then Foreign Secretary, continued to undertake his role as Britain’s chief diplomat on the campaign trail. His full schedule of engagements included numerous calls with Foreign Ministers. He also went to Brussels to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, and hosted meetings with the Iraqi President and conferences on religious freedom and the protection of journalists in combat zones.

Lib Dem Foreign Affairs spokesperson Layla Moran has accused Liz Truss of walking out on her responsibilities, leaving junior ministers and civil servants to pick up the pieces during a time of crisis.

Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran said:

Whilst war is raging on our continent for the first time in decades, as well as tensions rising between the West and China over Taiwan, Liz Truss has decided to take a self-imposed sabbatical from her role as Britain’s most senior diplomat.

She has spent months more concerned with furthering her own career instead of standing up for the national interest.

Now that she is within touching distance of No10, her mask has slipped and her disdain for diplomacy and Britain’s standing in the world is clear as day.

Our analysis of all Liz Truss’s official engagements since she hit the campaign trail shows she has held just two phone calls with her Ukrainian and French counterparts, and has not met any other Foreign Ministers or attended any FCDO meetings to deal with China’s aggression towards Taiwan.

Liz Truss has made a mockery of one of the Great Offices of State in her climb to the top. If she cannot be bothered to be the UK’s Foreign Secretary, how can we rely on her to be the Prime Minister?

Dentist crisis escalates as new data reveals drop in NHS dental appointments

New data reveals a huge drop in the number of NHS patients seen by dentists.

The Liberal Democrats demand the Government get a grip on the crisis and reform the current contract system.

Health and Social Care spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP, believes the Conservatives “created this mess by running our health services into the ground and failing to plan ahead.”

Shocking new figures from the NHS annual report into dentists show that the number of adults being seen by an NHS dentist has fallen by 4.6m in the last two years.

The report also shows the number of dentists providing NHS services has fallen by over 400 over the same period.

16.4m adults were seen by an NHS Dentist in the 24-months up to 30 June 2022, a 4.6m drop since June 2020.

24,272 dentists performed NHS activity during 2021-22, a drop of over 400 since June 2020.

This comes after the BBC’s investigation in NHS dentistry which found that 90% of dental practices are not accepting new adult patients for treatment under the health service.

The Liberal Democrats are demanding the Government get a grip on the escalating crisis facing NHS dental services. The party is calling on the Government to ensure there are enough NHS dentists in coming years by reforming the current NHS dental contract and committing to long-term workforce planning.

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP said:

The shortage of NHS dental appointments is yet another health crisis of the Conservatives’ making.

They have created this mess by running our health services into the ground and failing to plan ahead.

Neither Sunak or Truss have brought forward a proper plan to solve this crisis and whilst the Conservatives bury their heads in the sand, people are left in agony and distress.

It is shocking that some patients are now forced to carry out DIY dentistry because they simply cannot afford the hundreds, if not thousands of pounds for private dental treatment.

Patients are being failed and this zombie Government is nowhere to be seen.

The Liberal Democrats are demanding immediate action to ensure people can access the treatment they need, when they need it by recruiting more dentists into the NHS and providing more NHS appointments.