Author Archives: NewsHound

NewsHound

What’s the media saying about Lib Dem Conference?

By NewsHound | Mon 25th September 2023 - 11:00 am

Here’s a quick roundup of some of the things that the media are saying about Lib Dem Conference:

Steve Coogan and Carol Vorderman lead rally for proportional representation. Sky

Liberal Democrats face housebuilding targets row at Liberal Democrat Conference BBC

Man pleas for assisted dying reform at Lib Dem Conference Bourmemouth Echo

Lib Dems would double shared parental leave pay and increase leave Guardian

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NewsHound

“People out there want the Liberal Democrats to stand”

By NewsHound | Tue 19th September 2023 - 9:30 am

Channel 4 did a preview of the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election last night. You can watch here.  Our brilliant candidate Gloria Adebo was interviewed in her garden.

Responding to a challenge that the Liberal Democrats weren’t relevant in the seat, Gloria, filmed tending her sunflowers, said:

Why would I not run? No vote has been cast yet and there’s all to grab. We speak to people on the doorstep and there was a lady who said to me “Can you not just press the reset button. We can’t go on like this. So there are people out there who want the Liberal Democrats to stand and that for me is enough.

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Tim Farron: “Scrapping nutrient neutrality is a disgraceful act from the government”

By NewsHound | Tue 29th August 2023 - 10:28 am

The Guardian reports that:

Michael Gove is planning to rip up water pollution rules that builders have blamed for exacerbating England’s housing crisis but which environmental groups say are essential for protecting the country’s rivers.

The housing secretary, with Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, will announce the move on Tuesday, according to several people briefed on the plans, alongside hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of extra funding to mitigate the potential impact on England’s waterways.

The decision will spark anger among environmentalists, who say it will further add to water pollution, as water companies are already dumping raw sewage into rivers

…

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NewsHound

Christine Jardine: Tinker, Tailor, Tartan Trews

By NewsHound | Mon 21st August 2023 - 10:35 am

Christine Jardine’s tongue is stuck firmly in her cheek in her Scotsman column this week. You can tell she’s enjoying making fun of the latest nonsense advanced by a former SNP MSP – that the reason the SNP is doing so badly is that it has been infiltrated by MI5 to discredit the independence cause.

It seems that after 16 years in power, including one term with an outright majority, the failure of the SNP to persuade the Scottish people to jump ship from the UK was all because of unionist subterfuge.

Not because of dissatisfaction with the state of our NHS, anger at failing education standards or frustration at the growing cost of those ferries. Nor the results of realising during the pandemic that the strength and size of the UK Exchequer and the economy were positive reasons for the Union. Nor was it the emotional ties we all have to family in the rest of the UK that swung the argument. No, it was spooks. British spies in the nationalist camp.

A potential new spy novel, she wonders?

A sort of ‘Tinker Tailor Tartan Trews’ expose of a pro-UK cell acting as a conduit for vital information that Holyrood would prefer to keep clear of the clutches of ‘Big Brother’ in Westminster. That, in claiming the Security Service is anti-Scottish, the originator of this particular conspiracy theory – apparently a former MSP called Campbell Martin – is actually laying the groundwork for a piece of fiction.

It might feature a handful of operatives, presumably well-trained in the love of square sausage and Irn-Bru, which has infiltrated the inner sanctum of the SNP. There they have painstakingly won the trust of the leadership and encouraged them down an independence cul-de-sac, for which they will be rewarded with a cottage in the Highlands and a new identity.

The online version of the article is illustrated beautifully with a picture of Claudia Winkleman in full Traitors get up

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NewsHound

Sewage: Investigation reveals water firms failing to admit how much sewage is being discharged

By NewsHound | Wed 9th August 2023 - 10:30 pm
  • Thames Water refused to hand over data despite saying publicly they do measure the volume of sewage discharged
  • Scottish Water make public how much sewage is discharged into rivers and seas
  • England’s water firms accused of “scandalous cover up”
  • Liberal Democrats demand water firms measure how much sewage they are discharging into waterways

Water firms are failing to disclose how much sewage is being discharged into rivers, lakes and coastlines, Environmental Information Requests by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

The staggering admission follows public outrage at water companies destroying the environment with sewage discharges. Currently, water firms only provide the length of sewage discharges, broken …

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NewsHound

Lib Dems target seat gains on new boundaries

By NewsHound | Wed 9th August 2023 - 12:35 pm

An interesting article on Politics Home highlights how our campaign team is now targeting more seats based on the new boundaries.

PoliticsHome understands that there are a number of areas across the country where Lib Dem activists are confident that the new make-up of seats could play in their favour, generally in areas where Lib Dem council wards are merging into areas that currently have Conservative MPs or have leaned Conservative in the past, and campaigners are now specifically targeting their canvassingin patches.

They talk to Victoria Collins, our candidate in the newly formed seat of  Harpenden and Berkhamstead, who told them:

Victoria Collins, who has been selected as the Lib Dems candidate for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, told PoliticsHome that there has been a “groundswell” of movement towards her party in the area, as demonstrated by local election results over the last few years as the party have made gains.

She said that she was selected before this year’s local elections and the final results of the boundary review. “We were looking forward and saying ‘actually, how do we start building a campaign for the next general election?’,” she explained.

The article also cites how our campaign in Selby and Ainsty targeted parts of the constituency that are moving into the new Harrogate and Knaresborough seat:

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NewsHound

Christine Jardine: SNP so caught up in indy fantasies they are almost in Narnia

By NewsHound | Thu 3rd August 2023 - 9:55 am

In her Scotsman column this week, Christine Jardine calls out the SNP/Green Scottish Government for wasting public money and effort on independence rather than tackle the problems people face day to day.

I appreciate we all want familiarity for comfort in difficult times, and there can be no doubt that these are tricky times for the SNP. With internal party squabbles, broken ferries, and an ever-lengthening social care backlog, who can blame them for wanting a distraction? But why should taxpayers have to fork out for the SNP’s therapy for frustrated nationalists? Particularly when public funds are tight and so many people are worried about providing for their families.

Lsst week, the Government published a paper on citizenship in an independent Scotland. Promise heavy but reality light is probably the best that can be said about it. As Christine says:

We would all also have our new passports by ‘independence day’. Oh and the colour of these new passports would be maroon, just in case that’s of any interest. We would also somehow have rejoined the EU without the nuisance of having to meet the criteria.

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NewsHound

LIb Dem led Powys County Council continues free school meal holiday scheme

By NewsHound | Wed 19th July 2023 - 9:07 am

In the middle of a cost of loving crisis, any extra demands on household income can be catastrophic for some families.

The Summer holidays should be a carefree time of play and fun for children. For parents on the lowest incomes, though, it can be incredibly difficult to find the money to provide an extra daily meal if their children are on free school meals.

In Wales, the Labour (just have a think about that for a minute) Government ended the scheme to give families entitled to free school meals vouchers during the Summer holidays. This policy was, of course, introduced during the pandemic by our own brilliant education secretary Kirsty Williams.

However, three Welsh Councils, including Lib Dem led Powys, have decided to take over the scheme so that children do not go hungry during the Summer.

Our Councillor Jake Berriman said:

The late notice that councils across Wales were given about this scheme stopping would have had a detrimental impact on low-income families. Not only would they lose out on the voucher scheme but they would also have had a very limited time to adjust their family finances accordingly.

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NewsHound

“Lib Dems take aim at Johnson’s entire honours list”

By NewsHound | Wed 21st June 2023 - 2:53 pm

Tortoise Media reports that Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson Christine Jardine has written to the Forfeiture Committee  to ask them to rescind Boris Johnson’s entire Honours list.

In a letter sent to the committee, seen by Tortoise, Jardine said Johnson had “launched deplorable attacks on the Committee and our Parliamentary democracy”. She also raised doubts about the suitability of individuals on the list, including those “implicated in the partygate saga”.

Jardine wrote: “I am therefore urging you to open an investigation into the potential withdrawal of all of Boris Johnson’s honours which fall under the scope of your Committee. Clearly, the circumstances around this list – and the events which have occurred since its release – are unprecedented and have brought the honours system into disrepute. I believe that there are grounds for examining whether Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list can be revoked in its entirety.”

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NewsHound

Lib Dems are not just for the leafy suburbs – Carl Cashman

By NewsHound | Wed 7th June 2023 - 7:30 am

Recently Liverpool Lib Dem Councillors elected Carl Cashman as their group leader to replace Richard Kemp who stood down after the May elections.

The Liverpool Echo recently did a profile of the 31 year old mortgage broker who has said that he wants the Lib Dems to appeal to the whole city, not just the suburbs:

“I want to dispel this idea that if you are from a council estate or a poorer background then it is the Labour Party that you naturally identify with. The Lib Dems aren’t just here for the leafy suburbs, we are here for the whole

…

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Who should LGBT+ people vote for?

By NewsHound | Wed 3rd May 2023 - 8:44 am

PinkNews have an article asking who LGBT+ people should vote for now that the Conservatives are actively targeting marginalised groups as part of their culture war and Keir Starmer’s commitment to trans rights dilutes every time he opens his mouth. Worryingly, at Easter, for the second time, the Labour leader visited a Church which supports the idea of the inhumane and cruel conversion therapy.  Once might be seen as a mistake, twice is sending a message.

The Lib Dems come out reasonably well. There are a couple of quotes from our own Charley Hasted who is also the Chair of LGBT+ Lib Dems.

In November 2022, the party faced a revolt from LGBTQ+ members when it revised a statement on the definition of transphobia to protect “gender-critical” views.

Charley Hasted, chair of the LGBT+ Lib Dems, says that since then much work has been done at a senior level in the party to win back the LGBTQ+ community’s trust.

“The kickback against that seems to have woken a lot of people up. We’ve had quite a lot of meetings with senior people in the party to try to sort that out and I’m genuinely pleased with how it’s going. At the moment I think we’re the only party with a leader on record saying ‘trans rights are human rights’ and that’s what we need,” they told PinkNews.

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NewsHound

What has made Tim Farron happy today?

By NewsHound | Wed 12th April 2023 - 11:45 am

To make you laugh this lunchtime.

Tim Farron has just posted this on Twitter.

Someone had taken time out of their day to write to Viz, a Farron favourite, to say:

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NewsHound

LibLink: Christine Jardine We must not take peace in Northern Ireland for granted

By NewsHound | Wed 12th April 2023 - 9:07 am

As Joe Biden visits Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Christine Jardine writes in the Scotsman that we should not take the huge step forward to peace for granted.

She started by looking at how we got to the agreement:

Progress towards the Belfast Good Friday agreement had begun shortly before Christmas 1993 with the Downing Street Declaration. The joint statement by Prime Minister John Major and Taoiseach Albert Reynolds stated it was the right of the people of Northern Ireland to decide between the UK or a United Ireland. It also acknowledged the importance of mutual consent in the north and south of the island in resolving issues.

In the following five years, there were ceasefires, cross-party talks and false starts before that historic announcement on April 10, 1998, which in essence contained three basic principles. They are: the parity of esteem of both communities, the principle of consent underpinning Northern Ireland’s constitutional status, and the birth-right of the people of Northern Ireland to identify and be accepted as British or Irish, or both, and to hold both British and Irish citizenship.

And she highlighted the dramatic reduction in loss of life and injury that has followed in the ensuing quarter of a century:

In the 25 years before the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, there were more than 3,000 deaths and 47,000 people were injured as a result of the conflict. Since 1998, there have been fewer than 200 deaths. Still too many, of course, but a reflection of changed times.

Current circumstances, she says, mean that we still have to work to maintain this peace.

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Two million patient admissions at NHS hospitals with crumbling roofs last year

By NewsHound | Mon 13th March 2023 - 7:30 am
  • Lib Dems demand this week’s Budget includes emergency funding to fix dangerous hospital roofs
  • 18 trusts have buildings fitted with roofs which NHS chiefs warn could collapse at any moment
  • Almost 6,000 patient admissions a day last year at hospital trusts with crumbling roofs

There were a staggering two million patient admissions at hospitals with crumbling roofs at risk of collapse last year, new analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found.

The Liberal Democrats are demanding emergency funding in this week’s Budget to replace the crumbling roofs at every affected hospital and prevent patients’ safety being put at risk.

18 NHS hospital trusts around the …

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NewsHound

Christine Jardine – Windsor Framework a hopeful sign for future relations with EU

By NewsHound | Thu 9th March 2023 - 11:15 am

In the Scotsman this week, Christine Jardine pointed out the irony of Rishi Sunak’s pronouncement on Northern Ireland’s special and unique position:

The picture became even more ridiculous when this arch-Brexiteer enthusiastically proclaimed the benefits Northern Ireland could derive from being in both the EU single market and the UK. Is that not what we all used to have?

Are what Rishi Sunak described with a smile as the “exciting prospects” for Northern Ireland not what we all used to take for granted? And yet even as the Tories basked in this self-proclaimed Brexit victory, there was just the slightest hint, a tiny glimmer of hope that our future relationship with the European Union might be salvageable.

It’s good to hear a Lib Dem actually talking about the problems with Brexit:

The reality remains that the Conservatives erected immense barriers to trade between the UK and the EU. Farmers, fishermen and small businesses across Britain remain tied up in red tape and the Conservative government are, as yet, doing nothing to help them. But in recognising the importance of creating a special agreement for Northern Ireland, they may, perhaps, have taken an important step towards reconciliation.

But the SNP saw it as an excuse to get something for Scotland:

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NewsHound

Ed Davey: International Women’s Day is a chance to reflect

By NewsHound | Wed 8th March 2023 - 7:00 am

Speaking ahead of International Women’s Day, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

International Women’s Day is a chance to celebrate women, honour their achievements, and reflect on where we still need to go.

Our country has taken many important steps towards achieving gender equality and I’m proud of the role the Liberal Democrats have played in delivering that progress.

This year, I will be celebrating so many incredible women – who have brought us this far; who work tirelessly for equality; and who will take us even further in the years to come.

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NewsHound

WATCH: Alex Cole-Hamilton defend Scotland’s place in the UK in Oxford Union debate

By NewsHound | Sat 4th March 2023 - 10:46 am

Alex Cole-Hamilton recently took part in an Oxford Union debate on Scottish independence. His side, opposing the motion that “This House would support an independent Scotland” won comfortably.

Watch his speech here:

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LibLink: Christine Jardine – Sturgeon’s dead cat distracts from multiple failures

By NewsHound | Wed 15th February 2023 - 9:25 am

In her Scotsman column this week, Christine Jardine highlights 3 major SNP Government failures and suggests Nicola Sturgeon’s publication of her tax returns is merely a dead cat to distract from them.

The first failing is the lack of dualling the main route to the north of Scotland, the A9. It was supposed to be one by 2025 but that is not going to happen and fatalities on this road are going up.

Failure to make the promised improvements will impact the economy as well as the health and well-being of isolated communities with poor access to vital services. But most of all it is a failure to make the main route north safe for all of us. Safety was a major factor in the decision to upgrade a road on which the number of deaths still managed to record a heart-breaking 20-year high in 2022.

Thirteen people lost their lives on the stretch from Inverness to Perth of which approximately 77 miles remain to be dualled and the tender for the latest stretch – Tomatin to Moy – was announced this week to have been delayed. Promised improvements now will have to wait while thousands continue to face the real fear of driving on a road which switches intermittently from dual to single carriage and on which you can meet a tractor or road works at any moment.

And then there is the unbelievable capacity to make a mess of a good idea that is the proposed Deposit Return Scheme. Anyone who wants to sell drinks in bottles, or cans, in Scotland after August is supposed to sign up for the new scheme by the end of this month, but businesses are saying they may not bother because of the additional costs they will incur. This weekend no Scottish Government Minister would appear on the main Sunday morning shows to defend the scheme which has even been criticised by SNP MPs.

On a practical level, retailers are unhappy that the vending machines will cost around £20,000 to install and take up valuable retail space. Producers are also beginning to ask questions, and then there are the problems of different pricing for different parts of the UK. Which raises another not insignificant problem: the Internal Markets Bill.

A leading lawyer this week claimed that Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme could create an unlawful trade barrier with the rest of the UK where a similar scheme will be introduced in 2025.

Finally, the Government is yet again delaying the full implementation of welfare powers.

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LibLink Christine Jardine: Sorry just isn’t enough

By NewsHound | Wed 8th February 2023 - 9:24 am

Christine Jardine has long been fighting for justice for those affected by the Infected Blood scandal and used her Scotsman column to say that Government needs to get much better at accepting its own failings so that victims and their families do not have to wait decades for acknowledgement of mistakes and compensation.

She outlined the tragedy and heartbreak the scandal caused.

One woman told how she had discovered that she and both of her daughters have been infected with HIV by a blood transfusion she had been given before either child was conceived. It had been passed on to them during their birth.

A father told of the pain he and his family had gone through over his son’s death. He had been given blood products contaminated by HIV in the early 1980s when there was little understanding of the condition and public fear was at its zenith. Already distraught at what had happened to their son, the family then had to deal with the lack of understanding and stigma which then surrounded HIV.

I thought about friends of my own family who had gone through the grief of losing their father to hepatitis after what had seemed like a life-saving kidney transplant. He had been given a contaminated blood transfusion during the transplant which eventually claimed his life. In a way, the system had let them both he and the donor down as he never enjoyed the full, long life that should have been the result of that amazing, selfless gift.

All of those families and thousands more have lived with pain, confusion and, in many cases, financial hardship for what is now approaching four decades.

She then looked at the failures of Government to act to help, not just on this, but on Grenfell and Hillsborough too.

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Ed Davey: Tax the gambling industry to solve the NHS crisis

By NewsHound | Tue 7th February 2023 - 8:14 am

Mark’s Monday press release round-up covered this story:

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey is today announcing proposals for a new Carer’s Minimum Wage, to tackle the huge staff shortages in the social care sector. Under the Liberal Democrat plans, social care workers would be paid at least £2 an hour more than the current minimum wage, bringing their pay up to at least £11.50 an hour today – and £12.42 from this April. The proposals would benefit 850,000 workers, making up more than half of all people working in frontline care.

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Tim Farron on decarbonising steel production and that coal mine

By NewsHound | Thu 26th January 2023 - 4:53 pm

Tim Farron spoke in a Westminster Hall debate on steel production yesterday:

Steel is vital to our green economy. As Britain decarbonises with new infrastructure based on steel, let us make sure that we also decarbonise the processes we use to make that steel.

His comments come in the shadow of the government approving the controversial Woodhouse coal mine in Whitehaven, the first deep coal mine in England since 1986.

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Survation: Majority of Conservative councillors dissatisfied with own party’s performance

By NewsHound | Fri 20th January 2023 - 3:25 pm

This week Survation reported the results of a survey undertaken in the last month. They polled 710 councillors of all parties across the UK. The results are interesting, if painfully predictable for the Tories.

Survation asked the councillors to assess the local performance of their party in 2022. Liberal Democrats came out with a net satisfaction rating of +92% (which is remarkably high); Labour councillors had a net satisfaction of +73%, but the Conservatives came in with a miserable +21%. Note that this is their assessment of their local performance for which they were responsible.

If you think that last figure is low, it gets far worse when councillors were asked about their party’s national performance. On that, the Conservative councillors net satisfaction is a staggering -53% (note the negative). In fact 72% of Tory councillors said they were somewhat or extremely dissatisfied with the performance of the Conservatives nationally, compared with only 19% who were somewhat or extremely satisfied.

Labour and Liberal Democrats managed net satisfaction ratings of their party’s national performance of +65% and +56% respectively.

The survey also explored the favourability rating of the various party leaders. You can read more detail in the report, but it is worth mentioning how the main party leaders were viewed by Lib Dem councillors: Not surprisingly Ed Davey had a net favourability of +80%, while Keir Starmer achieved +5%, and Rishi Sunak was on -76%.

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LibLink: Lib Dems plan ‘Labour squeeze’ in fight for suburban Tory seats

By NewsHound | Mon 16th January 2023 - 1:03 pm

The Guardian has today covered reports that the Liberal Democrats will be attempting to squeeze the Labour vote in key target seats. Now, whilst this may not come as a huge surprise to Liberal Democrat activists, the article does offer some useful quotes from the likes of Zoe Franklin, our PPC in Guildford, noting the issues that arise from younger voters moving out of London;

We’re really aware of this shift of people moving from London,” Franklin said. “They would normally vote for Labour, but now found themselves in Surrey, and one of the things we really need to get

…

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NewsHound

Sarah Olney criticises “appalling” rush to pass anti Strike Bill

By NewsHound | Sat 14th January 2023 - 3:30 pm

Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney has criticised the “appalling” way the Government is trying to “sneak” through its new anti strike measures with the bare minimum of Parliamentary scrutiny. MPs will have two days to debate the measures.

Reported in the Standard, Sarah said:

It’s appalling for Conservative ministers to try and sneak this sweeping new law through with barely any scrutiny from MPs. It’s almost like they know their Bill would fall apart under even the lightest examination.

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LibLink: Wera Hobhouse – UK must commit to phasing down fossil fuels for good

By NewsHound | Wed 4th January 2023 - 7:30 am

In an article for Politics Home, Lib Dem spokesperson for climate change Wera Hobhouse argued that 2023 must be the year that the UK finally commits to a timescale for phasing down fossil fuels for good.

This year we witnessed the consequences of climate change first hand. The British summer saw temperatures of over 40 degrees and Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine left us exposed to volatile international markets, unveiling the true cost of our dependence on fossil fuels.

Evidence shows the phasing down of fossil fuel production being vital to preventing temperatures rises above 1.5 degrees. But the United Kingdom is the second largest producer of oil and gas in Europe and is actively encouraging greater North Sea extraction.

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Lib Dems call for government to declare NHS “major incident”

By NewsHound | Mon 2nd January 2023 - 5:42 pm

Over the New Year, Lib Dem MPs have been attacking the government’s record on our crisis ridden NHS. Government ministers are conspicuous by their absence and have not yet responded, leaving any comment to civil servants.

Today’s Times, Guardian the Independent and other media report that people are resorting to DIY medical treatments after failing to get face-to-face appointments with GPs. Some go to A&E instead. But up to 500 people a week are dying due to A&E delays according to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Several NHS trusts have declared critical incidents. Ambulance staff in some trusts have been urged to conserve oxygen supplies due to a surge in demand.

The British Medical Association said:

The current situation in the NHS is intolerable and unsustainable, both for our patients and the hardworking staff desperately trying to keep up with incredibly high levels of demand.

The BMA has repeatedly invited the government to sit down and talk about the pressures on our health service, but their silence is deafening. It is disingenuous for the prime minister to talk about ‘backing the NHS’ in his new year message, when his own health secretary is failing to discuss how this crisis can be fixed.”

Daisy Cooper, Lib Dem health spokesperson said:

This is a life or death situation for huge numbers of patients. The NHS is collapsing in front of our eyes whilst the Prime Minister and Health Secretary are nowhere to be seen. This is a national crisis and the country will never forgive the Government if they refuse to recall Parliament whilst hundreds of people die in parked ambulances or hospital corridors.

Nobody should lose a loved one because the Government was asleep on the job.

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Only 40 armed forces paramedics are qualified to work in the NHS

By NewsHound | Tue 13th December 2022 - 11:20 am

Embed from Getty Images

There are only 40 paramedics in the armed forces who would be qualified to work in the NHS, figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

The government has admitted in response to a parliamentary question that the armed forces have 107 paramedics, of which 40 are confirmed as meeting the qualification requirements set out by the Health and Care Professions Council. These are the qualifications needed in order to practise as a paramedic in the UK.

The figures were uncovered through a parliamentary question tabled by Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP.

It comes as the government has set out plans to bring in military personnel to drive ambulances and support the NHS during the strikes due to take place this month.

Daisy Cooper said:

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Office for National Statistics: Real wages have fallen by 2.7%

By NewsHound | Tue 13th December 2022 - 9:49 am

Embed from Getty Images


The Office for National Statistics has reported that “total and regular pay in the UK fell 2.7% when adjusted for inflation in the three months from August to October”.

Responding to this morning’s news, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said:

This is just the tip of the iceberg with families facing a nightmarish interest rate rise in just 48 hours time.

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Christine Jardine: Donald Trump is a warning, not an inspiration

By NewsHound | Tue 29th November 2022 - 11:00 am

Christine Jardine has been sharing her dream in her Scotsman column this week. And it isn’t pretty:

In this sleep-induced scenario, some Donald Trump sound-alike was holding court in Edinburgh, draped in tartan, surrounded by saltires and spouting endless meaningless slogans. Fortunately, they had stopped short of wearing a bright blue Tam O’Shanter bearing the motif “Make Alba Great Again”.

And people in the crowd which had gathered were not all there to cheer and applaud the separatist dream being espoused at the flag-laden centre of events. No. Many of those in the imaginary demonstration were instead calling for help for the nurses and other health workers who have to cope with long shifts looking after wards with too many patients and too few staff.

This echoes the feeling of many Scots that the Scottish Government needs to sort out the crisis in its public services instead of looking to populism to stoke up division over the constitution.

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Vince Cable destroys Braverman’s anti international students rhetoric

By NewsHound | Sat 26th November 2022 - 1:20 pm

This week’s net migration figures have driven the Government to set their sights on reducing the numbers of international students. Suella Braverman has had them in her sights for a while, saying last month:

“We’ve also got a very high number of students coming into this country and we’ve got a really high number of dependents. So students are coming on their student visa, but they’re bringing in family members who can piggyback onto their student visa. Those people are coming here, they’re not necessarily working or they’re working in low-skilled jobs, and they’re not contributing to growing our economy.”

As Business Secretary during the coalition years, former Lib Dem Leader Vince Cable was in charge of international student numbers and had numerous battles with then Home Secretary Theresa May about them.

Writing on Medium, he has taken Braverman to task about her anti student rhetoric.

Preoccupied by the headline numbers, she has promised a ‘crack down’. This is to take the form of cutting visas for dependents — that is, married students — and for those seeking ‘low quality’ degrees. I recall the same pejorative language being used to dismiss any university not in the Russell Group. Other than sheer academic snobbery, it is difficult to see the substance behind this distinction. In ‘left behind’ parts of Britain it is often the less fashionable and less prestigious, but good quality, new universities which are a mainstay of the local economy. It is reassuring to hear that the Chancellor is warning that the proposed ‘crackdown’ will ‘harm the economy’ and that the Education Secretary is committed to defending British universities.

He highlights the benefits that international students bring:

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