• Kemi Badenoch Speech: Lib Dems blast Tory economics as “laughable”
• China spies case: Investigation needed on if Govt is doing enough to protect our democracy and national security
• NHS/US Drug Price Increases: Ministers must come clean
• Ed Davey urges One Nation Conservatives to join Lib Dems after Kemi Badenoch’s conference speech
• Badenoch Speech: “Liz Truss on steroids”

Kemi Badenoch Speech: Lib Dems blast Tory economics as “laughable”

Responding to the Conservatives’ unveiling a new set of economic plans, announced by Party Leader Kemi Badenoch in her keynote speech today, a Liberal Democrat Spokesperson said:

The idea that the public would now trust the Conservative party with the economy is laughable. From almost crashing our economy to leaving public services on their knees, the Conservatives have shown their economics is almost as bad as their spelling.

Only the Liberal Democrats have a clear plan to make our economy thrive again, from halving energy bills to striking an ambitious trade deal with our European neighbours which would boost business and raise revenue.

China spies case: Investigation needed on if Govt is doing enough to protect our democracy and national security

Responding to reports that a case involving two men accused of spying for China collapsed because evidence could not be obtained from the Government referring to China as a national security threat, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said:

China is clearly a threat to UK national security. The head of MI6 said this in 2021.

It is shocking that a case against two men accused of acting on China’s behalf to acquire secret information from MPs has collapsed because Government ministers and officials have refused to confirm China is a menace.

The Government should tell Parliament who made the decision not to provide evidence to the CPS. The Intelligence and Security Committee should investigate whether the Government is doing enough to protect our democracy and national security from China.

Instead of trying to win favour with Beijing ahead of a visit next year, the Prime Minister should show some backbone, call China out for its behaviour and place it – with Russia and Iran – on the enhanced tier of FIRS.

NHS/US Drug Price Increases: Ministers must come clean

Responding to reports that the Government is proposing an increase to the amount the NHS will pay pharmaceutical firms for drugs, in a bid to steer U.S. President Donald Trump away from his threatened tariffs on the sector, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson Helen Morgan said:

It beggars belief that the Government is bending to a bullying US president having told patients for years that life-saving new drugs are unaffordable.

Ministers must come clean about how much this move will cost and whether it will be funded by cuts elsewhere in the NHS. They should also lay their plans before Parliament without delay so they can be properly scrutinised.

It increasingly feels like this Government puts the whims of Trump before everything else – even our precious NHS.

Ed Davey urges One Nation Conservatives to join Lib Dems after Kemi Badenoch’s conference speech

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has written an open letter to One Nation Conservatives who feel abandoned by their party urging them to join the Liberal Democrats, following Kemi Badenoch’s conference speech today.

In the letter, he says “Kemi Badenoch has decided to abandon the traditional British values of tolerance, decency and the rule of law”.

It comes after the Liberal Democrats launched an ad van outside Conservative Party conference, inviting those One Nation Conservatives who are appalled by their party’s lurch to the extremes to join their party.

Full text of the letter:

Dear friends,

Our country is at a crossroads.

The Conservative Party under Kemi Badenoch is becoming more extreme and out of touch, chasing Nigel Farage instead of focusing on the issues that really matter to people. Meanwhile, Reform UK is growing in strength – threatening the tolerant, decent values that hold our communities together.

I know many One Nation Conservatives are deeply concerned about the lurch to the hard right in our country and under Kemi Badenoch’s leadership. Her plans to tear up the Climate Change Act and withdraw from the ECHR show she is abandoning traditional British values of tolerance, decency and the rule of law.

So my message to the millions of One Nation Conservatives who feel let down by their party and reject the divisive politics of Badenoch and Farage is to come and join us. Help us save our country and defend the values we all hold dear.

We will stand strong where others back down. We will not pander to Reform. We will fight to protect our environment, stand up for decency and the rule of law, and stop Trump’s America from becoming Farage’s Britain.

So if you share those values, now is the time to join the Liberal Democrats.

With best wishes,

Ed Davey

Badenoch Speech: “Liz Truss on steroids”

Responding to Kemi Badenoch announcing the Conservative Party would abolish stamp duty on primary homes, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson and Deputy Leader, Daisy Cooper MP said:

This speech was Liz Truss on steroids. No one is going to take the Conservatives’ seriously on the economy or the housing market given the Truss mini-Budget sent mortgage rates soaring for families across the country.

The Conservatives had years to abolish stamp duty and failed to do so. Instead they hiked taxes for millions of people with their stealth income tax rises, which the Government needs to rule out repeating.