• Lib Dems: Dishonest to promise more nurses under Boris Johnson
• Human Rights Act on the line in this election
• Farage takes credit for the terrible Tory manifesto

Lib Dems: Dishonest to promise more nurses under Boris Johnson

Responding to the Conservative Party manifesto commitment to 50,000 more nurses, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Social Care Luciana Berger said:

It is dishonest to promise there will be more nurses under Boris Johnson’s Conservatives. Our NHS has been consistently hit by the Conservatives’ NHS and social care cuts, putting the lives of loved ones right across the country at risk.

It is insulting to the public and all those who work in the NHS for Boris Johnson to celebrate the return of nurse bursaries. It was the Tories who scrapped them in the first place.

What the Tories have actually promised at this election is to tax our nurses. By extending the Immigration health surcharge and immigration visa fee to EU health professionals, more and more of EU nurses will see little reason to stay here in the UK. Our NHS currently relies on 20,000 EU nurses, 10,000 EU doctors, and we’ve already lost more than 5,000 EU nurses in the last 2 years.

A Liberal Democrat government will introduce a national NHS recruitment strategy and ring-fence £7 billion a year through putting a penny on the pound on income tax. Only the Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit and build a brighter future for our NHS and those who work in it.

Human Rights Act on the line in this election

The Liberal Democrats have vowed to defend the Human Rights Act, after the Conservative manifesto pledged to “update” the legislation.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Christine Jardine said:

We’ve known for years that the Conservatives want to undermine the Human Rights Act that safeguards our individual freedoms, and their manifesto confirms it.

When the Tories say they will ‘update’ the Act, there’s no doubt that they mean weaken it.

They tried during the coalition, but the Liberal Democrats stopped them. We will stop them again if they try now.

Liberal Democrats will build a brighter future where everyone’s rights and liberties are protected.

Farage takes credit for the terrible Tory manifesto

Responding to the comments by Nigel Farage that much of the Tory manifesto was in fact in the Ukip 2015 manifesto, Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake said:

These comments from Nigel Farage show that he is the real author of the Tory manifesto.

This confirms what we already knew: the Tories have become the Brexit party.

It’s not too late to stop Johnson and Farage from dragging us back to the past and imposing their destructive Brexit on the country.

The Liberal Democrats are the only party in this election who can deprive Boris Johnson of a majority, giving voters the opportunity to stop Brexit and build a brighter future.