• Sharp rise in mortgage arrears should “ring alarm bells in Downing Street”
• NHS waiting lists: Sunak’s pledge lies in tatters
• Welsh Lib Dem leader gives her reason for voting for Senedd Gaza ceasefire motion
• Braverman: What on earth will it take for Sunak to do the right thing?

Sharp rise in mortgage arrears should “ring alarm bells in Downing Street”

There has been an 18% rise in homeowners in mortgage arrears over the past year, the latest UK Finance figures have revealed.

The data shows there were 87,930 homeowners in mortgage arrears worth at least 2.5% of their outstanding loan in the third quarter of 2023, up from 74,420 in the same period last year.

The Liberal Democrats said the figures show families are facing “mortgage misery” and reiterated their calls for a Mortgage Protection Fund, with targeted support to prevent people losing their home, funded through scrapping tax cuts for the banks.

Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

This sharp rise in mortgage arrears should be ringing alarm bells in Downing Street.

The Conservative Party crashed the economy and is now forcing ordinary families to pick up the tab.

Homeowners facing mortgage misery should be offered a rescue scheme, with targeted support to protect those most at risk of losing their home. It is the least this government could do after the economic damage they have caused.

NHS waiting lists: Sunak’s pledge lies in tatters

NHS waiting lists have reached a new record high of 7.8 million. It means that the waiting lists have grown every month since Rishi Sunak made his pledge in January that they would fall.

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

Sunak’s NHS pledge lies in tatters. He’s failed patients, failed NHS staff and failed the country. Month after month, more and more people are waiting in pain, desperate for treatment so they can get their lives back. Instead, this Conservative government has condemned them to prolonged misery and anxiety.

The Prime Minister has no plan to fix this mess. We urgently need to take pressure off hospitals by investing in GPs and dentists and finally fixing our social care services.

The Conservative Party has brought our health service to its knees and in the coming winter months the NHS will have to brace itself for crisis once more.

Welsh Lib Dem leader gives her reason for voting for Senedd Gaza ceasefire motion

Today, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS has explained why she voted for the Senedd Gaza ceasefire motion.

The Israel-Gaza conflict began on the 7th of October and has claimed the lives of over 7,000 people on both sides.

The motion, which calls for an immediate ceasefire to the conflict, will take place today in the Senedd.

Commenting, Jane Dodds MS said:

I would like to start by condemning the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on the 7th of October and that I will continue to demand for all the 119 hostages, including children, to be released unconditionally.

It is time we bring an end to this terrible conflict which has taken the lives of innocents on both sides.

It is often the case in any war that the ones who suffer the most are innocent civilians caught up in the chaos and violence that conflict can bring. And the Israel-Gaza conflict is sadly no different.

According to Save the Children, as of the 4th of November at least 30 children have been killed in Israel, and at least 3,760 Palestinian children have been killed.

Children make up more than 40% of the 7,703 killed in Gaza since the conflict began. But with a further 1,000 children reported missing, the death toll is likely to be much higher.

This terrible conflict must be ended with an immediate ceasefire, the children of Gaza and Israel both deserve to live in just peace.

I have taken time to consider this serious issue very carefully and I have heard from many organisations. Ultimately my concerns lay with ensuring the safety of the innocent children who have been caught up in this horrific conflict.

This is why I will be supporting the Senedd motion calling for an immediate ceasefire, now is the time to take a stand and protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Braverman: What on earth will it take for Sunak to do the right thing?

The Liberal Democrats have called on the Prime Minister to sack Suella Braverman after what looks like her latest breach of the Ministerial Code.

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson admitted today that Number 10 had not signed off on the Home Secretary’s inflammatory op-ed in the Times.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Suella Braverman is not fit to hold the office of Home Secretary. She divides communities with reckless abandon, playing a personal political game with no care for the consequences suffered by the people she is supposed to protect.

She is the most dangerous and divisive Home Secretary of modern times. This country will be safer without her in post.

This is a situation of the Prime Minister’s own making. He appointed her knowing she had previously broken the Ministerial Code yet he was too scared to stand up to her.

What more will it take for the Prime Minister to do the right thing? It is time for us to move past her pathetic failings and for her to go. Rishi Sunak needs to find his backbone and sack her.