High Court rules Government must reverse cuts to modern slavery victims

Responding to today’s High Court ruling that the Government acted unlawfully when it cut payments to modern slavery victims, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said:

Theresa May once rightly called modern slavery the great human rights issue of our time, but her Government cut support for victims by 40%, leaving them vulnerable to further exploitation.

Now that the court has ruled those cuts unlawful, the Government must reverse them and ensure that victims receive the help they need to escape the terrible bonds of slavery.

You can’t fight the great human rights issue of our time on the cheap. Liberal Democrats demand better.

Government failing to meet promises made after Grenfell

Responding to the reports that more than 400 high-rise residential buildings still have the same type of external cladding blamed for the Grenfell Tower fire, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Housing Wera Hobhouse said:

Grenfell should never have happened. The fact that thousands of families are still living in unsafe high-rise buildings is a disgrace.

The Government is failing to meet the promises it made after the fire. The Secretary of State committed to fully fund the removal and replacement of unsafe cladding by councils and housing associations, but there are still over 150 publicly owned buildings that are unsafe.

Furthermore, those in private residential buildings cannot be ignored. The Government must not only meet its basic promises, but must go further and fund the same for the private sector. Money can be recovered at a later date but when it is about people’s homes, safety must come first.