Author Archives: The Voice

The Voice

Daisy Cooper highlights failure of Government to support 2 million pensioners

By The Voice | Tue 3rd May 2022 - 2:15 pm

As Boris Johnson showcases his lack of understanding about the problems vulnerable people are facing as energy and food costs soar, Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper has highlighted that 2 million pensioners will not qualify for the Government’s Council Tax rebate.

The Prime Minister’s interview on Good Morning Britain was a further embarrassment for the Government. Susanna Reid told him about Elsie, a 77 year old pensioner, who gets just the basic State Pension and whose energy bills have gone up from £17 per month to £85 per month. She doesn’t qualify for the Council Tax rebate. She is eating just one meal a day and is spending her days travelling on buses to keep warm. Johnson’s first reaction was to congratulate himself for introducing the bus pass that Elsie was using and he had nothing else to offer her to make life easier for her.

Daisy Cooper was quick to highlight that there are over 2 million pensioners who, like Elsie, won’t benefit from the Council Tax Rebate. It is worth reminding ourselves that this is just £150 which barely covers 2 months of Elsie’s fuel increase.

Daisy said:

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The Voice

Daisy Cooper: PM must tell Neil Parish to resign

By The Voice | Sat 30th April 2022 - 10:30 am

Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper has called on Boris Johnson to tell Neil Parish, the Conservative MP alleged to have watched adult content on his phone in the Commons Chamber, to resign as MP for Tiverton and Honiton in Devon.

While Parish himself has said that he will do so if an enquiry into his behaviour finds against him, Daisy says that in any other workplace, an issue like this would be resolved speedily.

If Boris Johnson had any shred of decency left, he would tell Neil Parish to resign immediately.

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The Voice

Last chance to develop Lib Dem policy on food and farming, international security and training

By The Voice | Tue 26th April 2022 - 1:30 pm

The Federal Policy Committee is in the process of setting up 3 policy working groups, to report to Autumn Conference in 2023. Any party member can apply to join them. But you need to hurry – the deadline is tomorrow.

The groups will update policy on Food and Farming, Opportunity, Skills and Training and International Security.

In an email to party members, FPC Vice Chair Lucy Nethsingha said:

Below you can see the aims of each working group:

  • Food and Farming
    This group will consider how we can improve our approach to food and farming, including looking at the future of farming and fishing, food security and supply chains, food poverty, nutrition and healthy eating, food production and animal welfare.
  • Opportunity, Skills and Training
    This group will look at giving people the skills to be successful in their lives. This will include vocational education from ages 14-19, careers advice, further education, tackling the Post-Brexit skills crisis, adult education and lifelong learning.
  • International Security
    This group will look at how the UK can strengthen its international security, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This group will address the International Security Institutional Architecture, UK Defence Policy, European Security and Defence Cooperation, Environment and Security (inc Energy Security), Economic security (eg vulnerabilities of supply chains), Combatting International terrorism, Novel threats e.g. Cyber Warfare and Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution.

The groups will start work as soon as possible, with a view to producing consultation papers for discussion at Spring Conference 2023 and final papers for debate at Autumn Conference 2023.

As a member of a working group you’ll work with other members to take evidence, identify the main challenges and develop distinctively Liberal Democrat policy that will appeal to voters and that would be effective in solving the identified problems.

You’re expected to attend regular meetings, contribute to discussion and help write papers (either through drafting or through commenting on drafts). The meetings are currently mostly taking place online, with some meetings in person in London (but with opportunity for online participation). The role is voluntary and the time commitment averages around two hours per week.

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The Voice

Lib Dem MPs criticise Jacob Rees-Mogg for “get back to office” memo

By The Voice | Sat 23rd April 2022 - 11:16 am

This week Jacob Rees-Mogg left a very passive-aggressive note on a Whitehall noticeboard in an attempt to guilt-trip civil servants back to work. It is hardly surprising that a man who seems to be allergic to the 21st century can’t see the benefits in modern working practices which were very useful during the pandemic and helpful when infection rates are still so high.

Working from home is good for those with disabilities or caring responsibilities which make it more difficult for them to come into the office. A liberal approach would do all it could to ensure that everyone had the working model that suited them. For some, that will be coming in to the office at least some of the time because they feel better doing that. That liberal approach would also make sure that those who are working from home aren’t cut out of workplace power structures – those water cooler conversations, for example. That’s particularly important for those who changed jobs during the pandemic and are getting to know people in their new organisations.

Lib Dem MPs Jamie Stone and Helen Morgan took Rees-Mogg to task:

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The Voice

Liberal Democrats: Ban water company bosses’ bonuses until sewage discharges end

By The Voice | Mon 18th April 2022 - 10:32 pm

England’s water company bosses have awarded themselves almost £27 million in bonuses over the past two years despite pumping out raw sewage into waterways 1,000 times a day, the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

Analysis of Companies House records by the Liberal Democrats shows that executives at England’s water and sewage companies were paid £48 million in 2020 and 2021, including £27.6 million in bonuses, benefits and incentives.

The eye-watering executive pay packets and company profits were made despite the Environment Agency reporting nearly 772,000 sewage dumping events taking place in 2020 and 2021 alone, or over 1,000 per day.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to ban new bonuses for water company executives until sewage offences are brought to an end. The party is also calling on water company bosses to hand back last year’s bonuses and for the funds to be used to clean up rivers and lakes that have been polluted by sewage.

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The Voice

Alex Cole-Hamilton launches Scottish Lib Dems local government campaign

By The Voice | Wed 13th April 2022 - 8:25 pm

Alex Cole-Hamilton and Lib Dem spokespeople and council candidates went up to the top of Calton Hill, overlooking Edinburgh city centre to launch our local government election campaign today.

Here he is talking to the BBC  calling for a cut to VAT, the SNP Government to cut rail fares as it has just taken over the Scotrail franchise and insulation for every home in Scotland.

The themes of the campaign are set out in the party’s Party Political Broadcast, starring Alex, Deputy Leader Wendy Chamberlain and her gorgeous cocker spaniel Tamlyn.  Wendy asked people to vote Lib Dem to get someone who cares about you and your community.

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The Voice

New policy working groups – apply by 27th April

By The Voice | Tue 12th April 2022 - 2:00 pm

The Federal Policy Committee is in the process of setting up 3 policy working groups, to report to Autumn Conference in 2023. Any party member can apply to join them.

The groups will update policy on Food and Farming, Opportunity, Skills and Training and International Security.

In an email to party members, FPC Vice Chair Lucy Nethsingha said:

Below you can see the aims of each working group:

  • Food and Farming
    This group will consider how we can improve our approach to food and farming, including looking at the future of farming and fishing, food security and supply chains, food poverty, nutrition and healthy eating, food production and animal welfare.
  • Opportunity, Skills and Training
    This group will look at giving people the skills to be successful in their lives. This will include vocational education from ages 14-19, careers advice, further education, tackling the Post-Brexit skills crisis, adult education and lifelong learning.
  • International Security
    This group will look at how the UK can strengthen its international security, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This group will address the International Security Institutional Architecture, UK Defence Policy, European Security and Defence Cooperation, Environment and Security (inc Energy Security), Economic security (eg vulnerabilities of supply chains), Combatting International terrorism, Novel threats e.g. Cyber Warfare and Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution.

The groups will start work as soon as possible, with a view to producing consultation papers for discussion at Spring Conference 2023 and final papers for debate at Autumn Conference 2023.

As a member of a working group you’ll work with other members to take evidence, identify the main challenges and develop distinctively Liberal Democrat policy that will appeal to voters and that would be effective in solving the identified problems.

You’re expected to attend regular meetings, contribute to discussion and help write papers (either through drafting or through commenting on drafts). The meetings are currently mostly taking place online, with some meetings in person in London (but with opportunity for online participation). The role is voluntary and the time commitment averages around two hours per week.

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The Voice

The LDV quick guide to non-domicile

By The Voice | Mon 11th April 2022 - 2:28 pm

So, Akshata Murty is non-domiciled for tax purposes. What does this mean, and how does it work? Luckily, the information is readily at hand…

Domicile is obtained in one of three ways;

  • origin – normally, your place of birth
  • dependence – where the law ascribes domicile to an individual because of that individual’s lack of legal capacity and legal dependence upon another person
  • choice – acquired by physical presence in another territory and the intention to remain in that territory permanently or indefinitely

So, in Akshata Murty’s case, her domicile of origin is India and, unless she indicates her wish to be domiciled in the United Kingdom, she can retain her status as being domiciled in India for the time being, subject to any finding that, by dint of the decisions she takes, she is deemed to have elected for a different domicile by choice.

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The Voice

Save the date: Two events to remember Erlend on 23 May

By The Voice | Sat 9th April 2022 - 1:15 pm

News reaches us via Ed Fordham of two memorial events for party legend Erlend Watson, who sadly passed away on 25th January.

Memorial Service for George Erlend Watson (in two parts)

Memorial Service (1)
3pm on Monday 23rd May 2022
St Olav’s, The Norweigian Church and Seaman’s Mission
1 St Olav Square, Albion Street, Rotherhithe, London. SE16 7JB

Memorial Glee Club (2)
5.30pm also on Monday 23rd May 2022
National Liberal Club,
1 Whitehall Place, Westminster, London, SW1A 2HE
(the formal proceedings will be over by 6.30pm)

Donations in aid of The Royal Papworth Hospital Charity, Cambridge.

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The Voice

Government U-turns on gay conversion therapy, but still allows it for trans people

By The Voice | Fri 1st April 2022 - 3:57 pm

Yesterday we acknowledged the Transgender Day of Visibility with a post that highlighted comments from a number of Liberal Democrats.

In that post we mentioned that the Government had decided not to ban conversion therapy, to much consternation.

Amazingly, overnight the Government has U-turned again and is now planning to bring forward legislation to ban conversion therapy in the next Queen’s speech. But – and a very big but – the ban will not cover trans people.

On the one hand it is pleasing that gay conversion therapy will at last be outlawed. But it is deeply disappointing that trans conversion therapy will still be allowed.

Now we should start by saying that counselling and psychotherapy should, of course, be made available to all people who are considering transitioning. It is a complex and difficult journey to take, and many will be helped to understand themselves better through professional help. But the key here is “professional” – someone who is fully trained and recognised by their professional bodies. Such people do not approach sessions with any preconceived notions about what the outcome should be for their client, except that they should emerge with a clearer understanding of themselves.

Conversion therapy is different. Last year many professional bodies, including the NHS, signed the updated Memorandum of understanding on conversion therapy in the UK. It states:

Conversion therapy is the term for therapy that assumes certain sexual orientations or gender identities are inferior to others, and seeks to change or suppress them on that basis.

The 2017 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) makes it clear that conversion therapy in relation to gender identity and sexual orientation (including asexuality) is unethical, potentially harmful and is not supported by evidence. It updates the 2015 version released at the Department of Health, which focused exclusively on sexual orientation.

It is truly shameful that the Government now wants to allow the practice to continue for trans people.

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The Voice

Lib Dems take action to clean up language

By The Voice | Fri 1st April 2022 - 7:55 am

Tucked away at the end of the Agenda for Spring Conference we find this constitutional amendment:

In Article 20.1, delete ‘not less than’ and insert ‘not fewer than’ on both occasions.

What is not immediately apparent is that such grammatical errors could result in disciplinary action in future.

In an attempt to smarten up communications the party can now apply sanctions to anyone who violates good grammar in public-facing documents such as Focus leaflets and press releases. Any party member responsible for such errors will have to attend training. If they refuse, they face expulsion.

Here are some examples of the kinds of errors they have in mind.

  • Confusing ‘less’ and ‘fewer’. Hint: ‘less’ goes with a singular noun, while ‘fewer’ goes with a plural.
  • Using ‘different to’ instead of ‘different from’.
  • Misplaced or omitted apostrophes. Hint: an apostrophe usually indicates that a letter has been left out (but not always …) or the word is in the possessive form (but not always …)
  • Semi-colons at the end of bullet points; Or full stops. Or commas,
  • Two or more spaces between sentences.    This is on the insistence of the Party President.
  • Treating data or media as singular nouns.
  • Starting a sentence with ‘But’ or ‘Or’.  Or ‘And’.
  • The Heidelberg colon. This should not be used under any circumstances.
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The Voice

Liberal Democrats mark Transgender Day of Visibility

By The Voice | Thu 31st March 2022 - 9:40 pm

Today is the Transgender Day of Visibility, our chance to celebrate transgender and non binary people and raise awareness of the issues affecting them.  Liberal Democrats have a proud history of supporting rights for transgender and non binary people.

Here’s how some in the party have marked the day:

 

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The Voice

Ed Davey: Boris Johnson must resign over “Partygate” fines

By The Voice | Tue 29th March 2022 - 12:30 pm

Ed Davey’s response to the news that the Metroplitan Police have issued an initial 20 fixed penalty notices over the Downing Street Parties held during Covid restrictions was short and sharp. (Plain text below.)

If Boris Johnson thinks he can get away with partygate by paying expensive lawyers and throwing junior staff to the wolves, he is wrong.

We all know who is responsible. The Prime Minister must resign, or Conservative MPs must sack him.

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Wera Hobhouse calls for misogyny to be made a hate crime after research reveals women killed by men in 28% of murders

By The Voice | Tue 29th March 2022 - 11:30 am

House of Commons Library Research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has today revealed that 28% of all murder cases since 2016 are women murdered by men.

Since the brutal murder of Sarah Everard last year in March, the data shows that 109 women have been murdered where men were the main suspect, representing more than 2 women per week. This is out of 414 murder victims overall, equalling 26% of all murder cases.

Our Women and Equalities Spokesperson, Wera Hobhouse MP has slammed the Government for turning a blind eye to anti-women hatred and refusing to take violence against women and girls seriously.

Liberal Democrats have accused the Government of ‘turning a blind-eye’ to violence against women and girls, choosing to bury their head in the sand.

Wera said:

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The Voice

Sunak shows he is “out of touch” on fuel poverty figures

By The Voice | Mon 21st March 2022 - 10:40 am

Responding to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s failure to answer how many people are being pushed into fuel poverty on the BBC’s Sunday Morning show, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine said:

Rishi Sunak doesn’t even care enough to find out how many people he is condemning to fuel poverty. It shows he is completely out of touch with families worried sick about how to cope with soaring energy bills.

People are desperate for help but the Conservatives’ response is to clobber them with an unfair tax rise.

The Chancellor should use this week’s Spring Statement to put money back into people’s pockets,

…

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The Voice

WATCH: South Cambridgeshire PPC Pippa Heylings’ speech to Spring Conference

By The Voice | Sun 13th March 2022 - 2:30 pm

South Cambridgeshire is one of the “Blue Wall” seats that the Lib Dems are targetting for the next General Election.

PPC Pippa Heylings was given a keynote speaking slot at Conference. This is her speech:

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The Voice

Ed Davey’s speech to Conference: Lib Dems can defeat this awful Government

By The Voice | Sun 13th March 2022 - 12:47 pm

A powerful selection on Ukraine, a call for Priti Patel to be sacked, a celebration of Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire, a tribute to Lib Dem by-election stalwart Erlend Watson, a decent gag about Dick Turpin, an evisceration of the Tories over sleaze and partygate (including a call for a public enquiry into Boris Johnson’s relationship with Lebvedev) and an attack on Tory MPs for keeping Boris Johnson in power, setting out what the Lib Dems offer for health and education and a look forward to the local government elections in May…all this and more delivered by Ed Davey to Lib Dem members gathered in York.

 

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The Voice

Lib Dems adopt most ambitious policy in UK to help Ukrainian refugees

By The Voice | Sun 13th March 2022 - 11:30 am

Ongoing bureaucratic barriers to refugees fleeing Ukraine and the appalling UK Government attitude to them, the bravery of young political activists in Ukraine who are having to defend their country against invasion, the courage of young activists in Russia who are protesting Putin’s actions, the need to end our dependence on others for energy supply, the importance of standing up for the right of sovereign nations to be part of Europe, the chilling prospect of how we respond to escalating brutality from Putin’s army. These were just some of the points mentioned in an emotional and powerful debate on the situation in Ukraine this morning.

This afternoon at 5:40 pm, we’ll be hearing from Kira Rudyk, the leader of our Ukrainian sister party Holos from Kyiv. If you want to hear her, it’s not too late to register here.

The policy we passed today was the most ambitious to help Ukrainian refugees of any major UK political party.

We call on the government to enable refugees from Ukraine to come to the UK without having to apply for a visa, to work with allies to create accessible routes to safety for all refugees displaced from Ukraine, to provide economic, military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and to reverse the international development budget cut.

The party’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson Layla Moran said even the government’s latest sponsor scheme would still force Ukrainian refugees to “jump through bureaucratic hoops” to come to the UK.

Ukrainians have been let down by the UK government in their hour of need. Priti Patel is presiding over a chaotic shambles – and the result is that Ukrainians who we should be supporting are being turned away simply because they don’t have the right paperwork.

Even the government’s latest scheme will still leave refugees having to jump through bureaucratic hoops before coming to the UK.

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The Voice

Conference votes for strong action to improve air quality

By The Voice | Sat 12th March 2022 - 10:30 am

At Conference yesterday, Lib Dems blasted the Government for its slowness in taking action on air pollution, the cause of thousands of premature deaths each year in the UK.

We passed a motion submitted by Ealing Lib Dems and moved by Hina Bokhari AM which called for a greater empowering of local authorities and the introduction of stricter, legally-binding national limits for particulate matter and other pollutants.

Our spokesperson for the Climate Emergency, Wera Hobhouse said after the debate:

“Air pollution is a killer. Thousands of people lose their lives each year, with many others suffering from ill health because of it. This is no legacy to leave to our children, who are in particular danger. It is heartbreaking and a damning indictment on the Conservatives, who have looked the other way.

“It is high time we put the power into the hands of local people and those who have directly suffered from the Government’s failure to act more quickly and urgently,

“The Liberal Democrats believe that everyone has the right to clean air. It is incumbent on this Conservative Government to do all they can to uphold that right, by tackling the air pollution crisis head on and cleaning up their act.”

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The Voice

Federal Board reformed in “peak Lib Dem” debate

By The Voice | Sat 12th March 2022 - 8:48 am

Chair Duncan Brack remarked late yesterday evening as he opened the debate on reforming the party’s Federal Board, we had reached “peak Lib Dem” as before us we had 4 options, constitutional amendments, standing order amendments, 3 requests for a reference back and 7 votes.

The Federal Board put forward those 4 options – 3 for reform, 1 to keep roughly the same arrangements in response to the Thornhill Review’s criticism of party governance in the 2019 General Election.

The option passed was to have a slimmed down board of 16 people who are:

The President, who shall act as its Chair;

B. The Leader;

C. The Chair of the English Party, the Convenor of the Scottish Party and the President of the Welsh Party;

D. The Vice President responsible for working with ethnic minority communities;

E. Three people who shall be party members elected by all members of the Party except that persons who, at the date of the close of nominations for election under this paragraph, are members of Parliamentary Parties set out in Article 17 shall not be eligible to be candidates for election under this paragraph. Casual vacancies amongst this group shall be filled in accordance with the election regulations;

F. A Vice-Chair of the Federal Policy Committee;

G. The Chairs of the Federal Conference Committee, the Federal Communications and Elections Committee, the Federal Finance and Resources Committee and the Federal People Development Committee;

H. The Chair of the Young Liberals; and

I. A principal local authority councillor, elected Mayor or Police and Crime Commissioner, elected by the principal local authority councillors, elected Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners of the Party.

This is controversial as it reduces the number of directly elected members of the Board from 15 to just 3.

A request for a reference back made by Board Member Simon McGrath, who criticised the plans here was defeated by a handful of votes.

Conference chose the option to create a Federal Council to scrutinise the work o the Board. Amendments were passed to give it some teeth – eg the ability to call in and overturn some Board decisions. The Federal Council will be made up of:

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The Voice

Ed Davey: Cut VAT from 20% to 17.5% as an emergency measure

By The Voice | Fri 11th March 2022 - 8:58 am

At 2.15pm on Sunday Conference will be debating a motion F30 Tackling the cost of living crisis.

A swathe of proposals are being recommended, including scrapping the rise in NI, ending the freeze on Income Tax personal allowance, uprating pensions and reinstating the £1000 boost to Universal Credit amongst others. These are in addition to policies that have already been agreed such insulating homes, and taxing income from capital more fairly. Three amendments, which add (or remove) options, will also be discussed.

Ed Davey has today added to the mix by calling on the Chancellor to take the radical step on cutting VAT from 20% to 17.5% for one year. This would save families £600 on average. It would also boost the economy by shoring up consumer spending, supporting local high streets and keeping inflation lower than it might have been.

It would also be simple to introduce and would not require primary legislation.

Ed says:

This is crunch time for the Conservatives and the Chancellor. Their cost of living crisis is hitting families hard and it is about to get worse. Will Rishi Sunak act or will he let families up and down the country suffer more financial pain?

An emergency cut to VAT is desperately needed for the millions of people around the country worried about making ends meet. High street businesses that fear going to the wall would receive critical support, as people who are feeling the pinch spend more at their local shops, cafes and restaurants.

This is a once-in-a-generation crisis, and the government must step up to help struggling households and businesses on the brink. Instead of clobbering struggling families with a tax hike, the Chancellor should be putting money back into their pockets.

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Lib Dem MPs propose 9 laws to advance women’s equality

By The Voice | Tue 8th March 2022 - 3:00 pm

Nine of of the Lib Dems’ thirteen MPs are women. Today, for International Women’s Day, they have proposed nine new bills to tackle areas where women face particular inequality.

The 9 bills are:

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The Voice

Lib Dems mark International Women’s Day

By The Voice | Tue 8th March 2022 - 1:21 pm

Today is International Women’s Day and the event has been marked by senior party figures.

Christine Jardine reminds us of the especially poignant reason we celebrate International Women’s Day on 8th March:

Welsh Lib Dem Leader Jane Dodds called for changes to make it more appealing for women to stand for election at all levels, but particularly local Government:

We urgently need our councils and politics to be more representative of communities they serve. If local governments are so unrepresentative of the population they serve, they cannot possibly hope to deliver for that community effectively.

“So this May I want to see more women from different backgrounds, different classes and different ethnicities standing for election. All political parties have a duty to encourage this. And if you are someone in a position of power of influence then make sure you ask them to stand.

“It may seem obvious, but my own political career wouldn’t have started had someone not asked me to stand for council elections. At the time, I had the same view of local Government that many women do, a club for white men over a certain age. I hadn’t thought of entering politics before because I hadn’t believed my voice would be listened to.

“However, we also need structural issues to be resolved. Introducing more flexible schedules for council meetings should be the top priority. Council meetings are often too long and involve unworkable and unsociable hours for those with family, caring and work commitments.

“Society works better when those making decisions are representative of the communities they serve and this International Women’s Day we must remind ourselves of what needs to be done to reach that.”

Lib Dem Women are using the day to highlight women candidates for May’s elections on their Twitter feed,kicking off with one of our most senior and experienced council leaders

ALDC is doing similar:

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The Voice

Ukrainians deserve better than being stuck in Home Office visa appointment queue

By The Voice | Mon 7th March 2022 - 11:30 pm

Responding to Home Office figures which show that just 300 visas have been issued to Ukrainian refugees under the Family Scheme, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said:

Ukrainians fleeing for their lives deserve far better than being stuck in a queue for a Home Office visa appointment.

People across the UK want to welcome Ukrainian refugees with compassion, but instead Priti Patel is keeping them out with pointless extra bureaucracy. No amount of spin can disguise the inadequacy of her response.

Our country has a proud tradition of offering sanctuary to those in need. The Government should remember

…

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The Voice

Refugees: Shameful that Ukrainians escaping Putin’s terror are being turned away

By The Voice | Mon 7th March 2022 - 3:53 pm

Responding to the news that Home Secretary Priti Patel is now investigating a humanitarian route for Ukrainian refugees without family in the UK, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said:

It is shameful that Ukrainians escaping Putin’s terror are being turned away from the UK. It flies in the face of our country’s proud history of providing sanctuary to people fleeing war and persecution.

Priti Patel has spent her time as Home Secretary closing down safe routes for refugees to come to the UK. For her to say she’s just started ‘investigating’ those routes for Ukrainians is a welcome

…

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The Voice

What’s on in our Parliaments this week?

By The Voice | Sun 6th March 2022 - 4:00 pm

Lib Dem Highlights

On Tuesday at 9:30 am, Sarah Olney holds a Westminster Hall debate on reports of misogyny and sexual harassment in the Metropolitan Police – a sobering start to International Women’s Day.

Also on Tuesday, Jenny Randerson has a question on funding for bus improvement plans.

Westminster

Commons

Monday sees all the stages of the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill which sets up a register of all those non UK people and entities who own property in the UK and strengthens Unexplained Wealth Orders. The Commons Library briefing explains the measures in more detail.  While Labour are supporting it, Transparency International has concerns about the 18 month implementation period and possible loopholes.

On Tuesday we have a Labour opposition day and Wednesday after PMQs is Estimates Day – debates around spending of individual government departments with defence and education coming under the spotlight. The main business on Thursday is a backbench business debate for International Women’s Day.

Lords

The Health and Care Bill gets its report stage on Monday and the Nuclear Energy Financing Bill on Tuesday with various orders and regulations, such as social security uprating and goods vehicle rules coming under scrutiny.

Expect Lib Dem peers to be in action on Thursday against the Elections Bill, which might as well be called the Diminution of Democracy Bill, as it gets its line by line scrutiny.

The full timetable is here.

Holyrood

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The Voice

Wera Hobhouse: We need to do more to tackle violence against women and girls

By The Voice | Sun 6th March 2022 - 2:00 pm

This week, Lib Dem Women and Equalities Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse spoke in a parliamentary debate on preventing violence against women and girls. She spoke about the need for age appropriate sex education to help tackle sexual harassment in schools, the need for local authorities to be given sufficient funding to help victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse, the failure of the criminal justice system in this area and the need to make misogyny a hate crime.

She said:

It is a real pleasure and privilege to speak in this debate. We have talked about this issue many times, and I could not agree more with the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) that the time for talking should be over and we need to see a lot more action.

I want to praise the organisations in Bath that are working on tackling violence against women and girls: the Southside project, which supports families affected by domestic violence and abuse; Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support, or SARSAS, a specialist support service for women and girls who have experienced any form of sexual violence at any point in their lives; and Voices, a survivor-led charity supporting those living with and beyond domestic abuse to recover from their trauma, which redoubled its efforts during the pandemic to make sure that no one was forgotten. I was delighted to recognise Voices with the first Best of Bath award last year.

But we should not leave it to charities to tackle violence against women and girls. We must do a lot more not only to support survivors but to prevent the terrible violence from occurring in the first place. We absolutely need to improve police training so that victims and survivors are properly supported. Many crimes do not even enter the criminal justice system. Over 600,000 women are sexually assaulted each year, but only one in six of those assaults is reported to the police. We must give women and girls the reassurance that their concerns are taken seriously whenever they report crimes of assault or domestic abuse.

I would like to add something to the motion before us today. Supporting victims of violence and sexual abuse begins at a local level. The Government must support local authorities to perform this vital task by giving them the duty and funding to provide accommodation for survivors of abuse. Our criminal justice system is failing women. It takes an incredible amount of bravery to not only report sexual abuse but then to relive that trauma in the courts. To add insult to injury, 1.6% of reported rapes lead to a charge. I need to repeat that: 1.6% of reported rapes lead to a charge. We are letting survivors down; it is shocking. We absolutely need better training and more resources for prosecutors and judges to punish perpetrators and deliver the justice that victims and survivors so desperately need.

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The Voice

Beatrice Wishart’s speech for International Women’s Day

By The Voice | Sat 5th March 2022 - 11:36 am

This week the Scottish Parliament held a debate for International Women’s Day, which happens on Tuesday 8th March.

Beatrice Wishart MSP spoke for the Liberal Democrats:

You can read her speech in full below and the link to the debate is here.

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The Voice

Cole-Hamilton praises public service broadcasters’ role in telling truth about Ukraine war

By The Voice | Sat 5th March 2022 - 9:34 am

Scottish Lib Dem Leader Alex Cole-Hamilton this week praised our public service broadcasters for their reporting of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He described how the BBC was keeping Ukrainian people informed through short wave broadcasts while Russian forces attacked other methods of communications. He pointed out that we don’t get that level of service from Netflix subscription.

His whole speech is below:

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The Voice

LibLink: Ed Davey and Sal Brinton on the end to free Covid tests

By The Voice | Wed 2nd March 2022 - 12:32 pm

Ed Davey has penned a piece for the Yorkshire Post: End to free Covid tests is like a tax on carers.

Boris Johnson’s determination to remove all Covid precautions and his insistence that the public will have to take personal responsibility whilst removing their ability to assess the level of risk around them is absurd.

How on earth are people supposed to take responsibility for themselves when they may be forced to pay up to £600 a year for lateral flow tests at a time when the cost of living is skyrocketing?

Although Covid is not the threat it once was, thanks to heroic work of our NHS staff and care workers, as well as the scientists that invented vaccines in record time, it is still dangerous to the elderly and to those who are vulnerable.

Many of these people rely on carers, often family and friends, to support them, and if not shielding, are taking extra precautions.

What use is a free test for these vulnerable people if the carer they rely on daily cannot visit them for lack of affordable testing?

This week, I calculated that a carer doing just two tests a week would lead to costs of £622.96 a year. That’s nearly 20 per cent of their annual carer’s allowance of £3,500.

For the unpaid carers to endure so much throughout the pandemic and its aftermath, to then be slapped with this huge Covid test bill is disgraceful.

He summarises it thus:

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