- Children’s Wellbeing Bill: Conservatives using victims as “political football”
- Davey: Adult Social Care Commission must be completed within one year
- MP Calls for Greater Support for Off-Grid Homes
Children’s Wellbeing Bill: Conservatives using victims as “political football”
Commenting on the Conservative amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said:
The Conservatives are using the victims of this scandal as a political football.
The Conservatives alongside Reform, goaded along by Elon Musk will be voting for a motion which will not secure a national inquiry for victims of child sexual abuse, but instead it would kill these crucial child protection measures completely.
The Liberal Democrats will be putting forward our own amendment to take real action to tackle the child sex abuse scandal, by implementing the recommendations from the national independent inquiry in full.
Davey: Adult Social Care Commission must be completed within one year
Responding to the Health and Social Care Committee’s evidence session on Adult Social Care Reform with Sir Andrew Dilnot CBE, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
Andrew Dilnot is absolutely right that this review could be completed within one year.
The social care crisis is forcing patients to be treated in hospital corridors while elderly people sell their homes to pay for care. After years of being let down so badly by the Conservatives, they cannot afford to wait while the government drags its heels for another three years.
MP Calls for Greater Support for Off-Grid Homes
Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick has called for greater Government support to help those in off-grid homes deal with high energy prices.
During a debate on the decarbonisation of homes in Westminster today, David Chadwick highlighted that Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe has an extremely high number of homes not connected to the national gas grid, with most being reliant on heating oil to keep their homes warm.
The Liberal Democrats have stated that these households have borne the brunt of energy price rises caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and also tend to experience the worst of the cold weather due to their rural nature.
Powys has the highest number of off-gas grid properties in Wales, with 35,790 properties (52%) in the county not connected to the gas network.
David Chadwick highlighted during the debate that the Government should provide greater support to install heat pumps in off-grid homes, highlighting that this would not only benefit the environment, but also substantially reduce household bills for rural residents.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have also previously highlighted that under current rates, the Welsh Labour Government insulation programme would take over 135 years to insulate all fuel-poor homes in Wales and have called for improvements in the scheme and for off-grid households to be prioritised.
Commenting after the debate David Chadwick MP said:
Mid Wales has a huge number of homes not connected to the national gas grid that have experienced even higher price increases in recent years than the already high bills those on the grid have seen.
Yet it doesn’t seem that the Government has any clear plan to address this problem.
With air source heat pumps costing an average of £8,000 and ground source heat pumps going for a staggering £28,000+, it is simply unviable for most off-grid families to make the change without greater Government support.
We also need to see insulation programmes improved so that off-grid homes can store heat better, this is especially true in rural Wales which often has old and poorly insulated housing.
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7 Comments
The Liberal Democrats abstained from voting on the amendment.
Based on what Munira says, the Libdems have some explaining to do. Her, before the event statement, is clear, the Libdems opposed the proposed Conservative amendment and thus, being adults, would be voting with the government against it, so that the bill could continue and provide opportunity for the LibDem amendment to be debated…
An opportunity to be seen responsible and able to take decisive action has been lost.
The abstention is a puzzle but no doubt one of our MP’’s will explain
Oh dear, the party in Parliament was placed in a dilemma. Vote against the amendment and be hammered by the Tories in our affluent seats, vote for the amendment and the bill which we support would be killed. It is the political life that we are in, having to be in Opposition to the Government but also standing again the Tories at the same time. There will be more instances of this. We have to be quicker maybe at beating the Tories to the criticism of the government and to be making the running. Responsible opposition may be a bridge too far. We have many seats at stake over this.
The local authority in Oldham, requested a national enquiry into the Grooming gangs, for the reason that those in senior positions within that authority , and the local police, allegedly made decisions based on political expediency, and not the welfare of the children involved.
Those allegations were mirrored in Rotherham, Rochdale, Telford etc. Those individuals must be held to account .
@Thelma – an enquiry won’t do that; we can this currently with the Post Office Horizon enquiry.
it requires political will to instigate proceedings.
My understanding of the changes in the law being proposed by Labour, will make it harder for people in authority to shirk their responsibilities and easier to bring such prosecutions.
Unfortunately, unless the legislation has a retrospective clause, I doubt those responsible for past failings will be held to account.
@ Roland. Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides a very important safeguard “No one shall be found guilty on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence under national or international law at the time that it was committed”.
Safeguard ! It must be demoralising to victims, that such an institution is used to protect the rights of the perpetrators. Just about sums this whole tragedy up.