Category Archives: News

The Voice

WATCH: Ed Davey’s Easter message

By The Voice | Sun 31st March 2024 - 7:01 pm

Watch Ed Davey’s Easter message below:

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News Meerkat

Ed Davey: “The Lib Dems and Labour aren’t fighting each other”

By News Meerkat | Sat 30th March 2024 - 11:28 am

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There’s a very interesting article over on the New Statesman website. George Eaton writes on his interview with Ed Davey.

The article covers a variety of fascinating topics – how many seats the LibDems will win the general election, working with other parties, the chances of Reform UK, Keir Starmer, John Rawls, the Orange Book, the Post Office scandal, and where the LibDems sit on the political spectrum:

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Mark Valladares

29 March 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 29th March 2024 - 10:30 pm
  • Travel chaos: 237,000 rush hour trains cancelled since 2019
  • Blue light bill bombshell as emergency services face £144m fuel and insurance costs

Travel chaos: 237,000 rush hour trains cancelled since 2019

  • Average of 130 morning rush hour trains cancelled every day since 2019
  • Most cancelled train in Britain is the 6.40am from Cardiff to Nottingham
  • Lib Dems warn “passengers are having to roll the dice every day” as trains cancelled at short notice

A shocking 237,000 morning rush hour trains have faced cancellations since 2019, figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

This is equivalent to an average of 130 morning service trains being cancelled per day. The data, obtained from Network Rail through a Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrats, shows the total number of trains between 6am and 9am that have been either been fully or partly cancelled since 2019.

2023 saw 55,829 morning rush hour train services either fully or partly cancelled, a 10% rise on the previous year and the worst of any year since 2019. The most cancelled service was the 06:40 train from Cardiff Central to Nottingham, with passengers facing a staggering 68 cancellations in 2023, more than once every five days. The train operator with the worst record was Northern Trains with 25,578 morning services cancelled since 2019.

It comes as passengers are hit with painful rail price hikes, with fares rising by 5% in 2024 and 5.9% in 2023. The Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to tighten powers to sanction failing train operators, along with a freeze on rail fares.

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Transport, Wera Hobhouse MP said:

The Conservative Government has hammered passengers with rail fare hikes and a train network that simply cannot be relied upon. Passengers are having to roll the dice every day, uncertain as to whether they will get to their final destinations on time, or even at all.

To add insult to injury, instead of sorting out the near unusable network, ministers have punished passengers with ever higher ticket prices.

This Conservative Government has let rail operators fail their customers without any fear of punishment. It’s time for the government to freeze rail fares for passengers, and sanction train companies who are running rail services into the ground.

Blue light bill bombshell as emergency services face £144m fuel and insurance costs

Emergency services are set to pay an “eye-watering” £24.6 million more in fuel and insurance costs compared to costs five years ago.

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The Voice

By-election success – 28th March

By The Voice | Fri 29th March 2024 - 7:01 pm

We have not received a by-election report directly from ALDC today – it is a Bank Holiday, after all – but they have given the results on their website.

Somerset Council, Somerton

Liberal Democrats (Stephen Page): 1212 (50.1%, -1%)
Conservative: 878 (36.3%, -2.2%)
Labour: 174 (7.2%, -0.5%)
Green Party: 154 (6.4%, new)

Liberal Democrat HOLD

Many congratulations to Stephen Page and the campaign team.

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Mark Valladares

28 March 2024 – today’s press releases (part 2)

By Mark Valladares | Fri 29th March 2024 - 5:48 pm
  • Lib Dems call on Government to block Thames Water bill rises
  • 40% increase in hours of sewage dumped by Dwr Cymru last year
  • Renters reform: Gove caves in to Conservative MPs as manifesto promise left in tatters

Lib Dems call on Government to block Thames Water bill rises

  • The party is calling for a Ministerial intervention to block the proposals which could see customer bills rise by at least 40%
  • The Liberal Democrats have also demanded the Chancellor hold an urgent Downing Street summit with Thames Water bosses

Following the news that Thames Water’s shareholders have refused to inject £500 million of funding into the company unless water bills rise by 40% or more, the Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to block these proposals and ensure customers are not on the hook for the firm’s financial negligence.

The calls come after reports revealed that Thames Water is pushing the water regulator, Ofwat, to allow them to introduce large increases to customer bills in an effort to stay afloat.

The Liberal Democrats have also demanded for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to hold an urgent Downing Street summit with Thames Water bosses to provide reassurance to taxpayers that they will not be liable should the company go bust.

This follows calls made by the party for the firm to be put into special administration and restructured into a public benefit company. This would ensure Thames Water becomes stable again and no longer be reliant on its failing board, forcing it to work in the interest of customers.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, Sarah Olney MP said:

Thames Water are a polluting giant which has accrued billions in debt whilst pumping our rivers full of rotten sewage.

Ministers must intervene today and block any attempt by Thames Water to saddle customers with extortionate bill increases. Customers can’t be bailing them out of their own mess.

Jeremy Hunt should also call a Downing Street summit with Thames Water’s bosses to reassure taxpayers they will not be on the hook should the company go down.

Yet all this could still be avoided if Ministers put Thames Water into special administration immediately and reform it into a public benefit company. That’s the best way to ensure this polluting giant will begin working for its customers again.

40% increase in hours of sewage dumped by Dwr Cymru last year

New figures released by the Environment Agency have shown that Dwr Cymru discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 23,354 hours last year, a 40% increase on 2022.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in Welsh waterways.

The party has also called for a halt on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.

Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle the crisis.

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Mark Valladares

28 March 2024 – today’s press releases (part 1)

By Mark Valladares | Thu 28th March 2024 - 2:09 pm
  • GDP stats: Rishi’s recession confirmed
  • Thames Water: Broken firm needs to be taken into special administration
  • McArthur’s Assisted Dying Bill published by Scottish Parliament
  • Blackie unveils plan to “Green” the Silvertown Tunnel

GDP stats: Rishi’s recession confirmed

Responding to this morning’s ONS figures confirming the UK economy did go into recession last year, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

These damning figures confirm the damage done to the UK economy by Rishi’s recession. This Conservative government has no plan for growth or to help families paying the price for years of economic chaos through soaring mortgages and rents.

The Liberal Democrats have a bold plan to get the economy growing again, fix our broken trading relationship with Europe and support small businesses on the brink. It’s clear the best thing for the economy would be a general election, so we can kick the Conservative Party out of power and offer the real change the country needs.

Thames Water: Broken firm needs to be taken into special administration

Responding to the news that Thames Water’s shareholders will not be injecting the first £500 million of funding that was agreed last summer, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson and MP for Richmond Park Sarah Olney said:

Thames Water is a broken firm. It is teetering on the brink of collapse and it is clear that things cannot go on as they are.

Drastic action is needed to keep the taps running for millions of customers. Execs have pocketed sky-high bonuses, given billions to overseas investors whilst watching their infrastructure crumble. The board should hang their heads in shame.

No longer should this firm be allowed to mistreat customers and destroy our environment with their filthy sewage.

That is why ministers must use their powers to put Thames Water into special administration immediately, to then be reformed into a public benefit company. Only that way can we ensure this polluting giant will begin working for its customers again.

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Mark Valladares

27 March 2024 – today’s press releases (part 2)

By Mark Valladares | Wed 27th March 2024 - 10:30 pm
  • Ed Davey warns Sunak facing sewage local elections backlash on campaign visit to Dorset
  • Khan already failing on Met recruitment
  • Sewage spills rise: 21,660 “disgusting” sewage dumps in 2023
  • Scottish Liberal Democrats respond to Housing Bill
  • Cole-Hamilton responds to hackers’ threat of publishing NHS stolen data
  • Rennie: Ministers’ fingerprints all over Tydeman sacking

Ed Davey warns Sunak facing sewage local elections backlash on campaign visit to Dorset

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will today warn that Rishi Sunak is facing a “sewage backlash” at the ballot box in May’s local elections, on a visit to West Dorset as part of his campaign tour of the West Country.

Ed Davey will be meeting CEO of Surfers Against Sewage, Giles Bristow, and visiting West Bay beach, a popular tourist destination where pollution alerts were put in place after raw sewage was discharged last year.

The Liberal Democrats have led the campaign in Westminster to tackle the sewage scandal since 2021, and it’s been a key issue in their big victories in previous local election campaigns and four parliamentary by-election wins.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the water industry to be “ripped up from top to bottom” to ensure profit is no longer put above environmental goals, and the creation of a new tougher regulator to replace Ofwat. Since the Liberal Democrats were the first party to call for a ban on water firm executive bonuses over two years ago, a number of water CEOs have given theirs up.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Rishi Sunak and Conservative MPs are facing a sewage backlash after years of blocking tough measures to crack down on water firms. The water industry needs to be ripped up from top to bottom, to stop profits and shareholders’ dividends driving everything. It is time to start again.

Sunak may have bottled a General Election, but he cannot hide from voters in the local elections where communities will voice real anger at this environmental scandal.

From Dorset to Yorkshire, lifelong Conservative voters across the country are switching to the Liberal Democrats because they’re fed up with seeing their rivers and beaches ruined by sewage.

Under this Conservative government both sewage in our rivers and water company profits have increased hand in hand. Enough is enough: it is clear the only way to end this sewage scandal is to boot the Conservatives out of government.

Khan already failing on Met recruitment

Responding to Sadiq Khan’s announcement that a possible Labour Government would give London more resources to recruit police officers, Lib Dem Mayoral Candidate Rob Blackie said:

This smacks of another pre-election gimmick from the Mayor. Surely any future Government wouldn’t deny London the resources it needs if it decides to elect a different party into the Mayoralty?

In any case, the Mayor is already failing on police recruitment. Numbers are going backwards and he has had to hand money back to the Government for his lack of success. So Londoners will be sceptical. Sadiq Khan has made similar promises before and not delivered.

Under Sadiq Khan’s leadership, a police officer told the Casey enquiry into the Met police that detection rates for sexual offences and rape had fallen so low that ‘it may as well be legal’ in London.

Today the Metropolitan police are catching rapists half as often as when Sadiq Khan became Mayor in 2016. And 6,000 police are stuck in the back office instead of the frontline.

This is not a policing record to be proud of. The Liberal Democrats’ top priority will be to fix the Met.

Sewage spills rise: 21,660 “disgusting” sewage dumps in 2023

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today demanded that the SNP and Greens stop defending outdated sewage standards as new Scottish Water figures revealed a 10% increase in the number of sewage dumps in 2023.

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Mark Valladares

27 March 2024 – today’s press releases (part 1)

By Mark Valladares | Wed 27th March 2024 - 9:30 pm
  • NHS satisfaction survey: Govt can’t be trusted with NHS
  • Sewage spills rise: Ed Davey calls for national environmental emergency to be declared
  • Lib Dem comment on E.coli in Thames
  • Scotland’s sewage crisis 40% worse than previously thought
  • Bus journeys plummet by 31%

NHS satisfaction survey: Govt can’t be trusted with NHS

Responding to the British Social Attitudes survey on NHS satisfaction, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

This is a damning assessment of the Government’s management of the NHS. Years and years of neglect and incompetence has run our NHS into the ground.

NHS staff work around the clock to see thousands and thousands of patients but the public are understandably frustrated that they’re often waiting too long to see a GP, or to get a hospital appointments for diagnosis and treatment.

The public know this Conservative Government cannot be trusted with our NHS, and they will want to deliver their verdict at the next general election.

Sewage spills rise: Ed Davey calls for national environmental emergency to be declared

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on the government to declare a national environmental emergency after the number of sewage spills in 2023 increased by 54% on the previous year, putting ecosystems already at breaking point on the brink of collapse.

As part of this national environmental emergency, the Liberal Democrats are calling for an urgent meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) to review the impact of sewage spills on human health – for river and sea swimmers in particular. Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage released a report last year showing almost 2,000 people reported getting sick last year after swimming in the sea or rivers.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The Liberal Democrats have been warning this Conservative government for years that the sewage scandal is ruining the country’s rivers and beaches and pushing ecosystems to the brink of collapse.

Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party have failed to listen and as a result sewage spills are increasing, our precious countryside is being destroyed and swimmers are falling sick.

It is time for this Conservative government to finally deal with this disgraceful situation and declare a national environmental emergency. That must include convening an urgent SAGE meeting to look into the impact of sewage spills on people’s health.

Only by treating the sewage scandal with the urgency it demands can we save our rivers and beaches for future generations to enjoy.

Lib Dem comment on E.coli in Thames

Commenting on findings of high E.coli levels in the Thames by River Action today, Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Rob Blackie said:

This is the consequence of 72 billion litres of raw sewage pumped into the Thames in London since 2020.

It amounts to an environment catastrophe in the capital.

The Conservative government have let water companies get away with polluting for too long. It must crack down on Thames Water.

Instead of action, we have seen huge increases in sewage dumped into the river.

If elected I will work to stop sewage being dumped into our rivers and campaign to make water companies pay for the damage they’ve done.

Scotland’s sewage crisis 40% worse than previously thought

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today accused the Scottish Government of being “defenders of outdated sewage standards” as figures published by Scottish Water revealed that that there were an additional 5,668 sewage dumps in Scotland in 2022, on top of the initial 14,008 that were reported in March.

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Mark Valladares

26 March 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 26th March 2024 - 11:00 pm
  • No progress on A&E after a year of Humza Yousaf as FM
  • Rennie responds to David Tydeman sacking
  • Scottish Liberal Democrats respond to housing figures

No progress on A&E after a year of Humza Yousaf as FM

Responding to new figures showing only 62.9% of people attending A&E were seen within the 4 hour target in the week ending 17th March, just as bad as when Humza Yousaf became First Minister, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

Waiting times in A&E are just as bad as they were a year ago when Humza Yousaf moved from being Health Secretary to First

…

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News Meerkat

Scottish cancer waiting times amongst some of the worst ever

By News Meerkat | Tue 26th March 2024 - 1:03 pm

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today warned the SNP Government that its new cancer strategy risks “becoming meaningless” as new figures show that waiting times for cancer treatment are amongst some of the worst ever.

Public Health Scotland figures reveal that in the quarter ending 31st December 2023, only 71.1% of patients were treated within the target of 62 days from referral. This is a mere 2% increase from when figures were at their worst ever level in the quarter ending 31st March 2023, when just 69.4% were seen within the standard.

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The Voice

LibLink: Richard Foord MP demands a better deal on pharmacies

By The Voice | Tue 26th March 2024 - 10:25 am

Over on the Midweek Herald, Richard Foord MP writes about the threat to high street pharmacies:

…these important facilities are under threat, and we are risk seeing them disappear from some of our high streets altogether. More than 1,000 pharmacies across England have shut their doors since 2015 and many more are facing an uncertain future as funding for these services has been cut by 30 per cent in real terms over the past seven years. There’s a vacancy rate of 14 per cent in community pharmacies in the West Country, compared to eight per cent across the UK. Communities like Axminster have already seen one of their pharmacies closed, leaving residents having to queue out of the door to get help from the sole remaining pharmacy in town, and in Sidmouth the news that Boots was giving up on their Woolbrook Road pharmacy caused considerable concern.

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Mark Valladares

25 March 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 25th March 2024 - 11:15 pm
  • Cameron must address the Commons not just Tory MPs on 1922 Committee
  • Lib Dems welcome motion passed by UN Security Council
  • Rennie responds to former Scottish Government adviser dismantling independence claims

Cameron must address the Commons not just Tory MPs on 1922 Committee

Commenting on the reports that the only Conservative MPs on the 1922 Committee will be given the opportunity to question Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron this afternoon, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran MP said:

When we’re facing such serious national security threats, it is outrageous that only Conservative backbenchers will hear from the Foreign Secretary and have the chance to question

…

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Mark Valladares

22 March 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 22nd March 2024 - 11:15 pm
  • Ed Davey statement regarding The Princess of Wales
  • “The system failed Kaylea, we cannot allow it to happen again”- Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds
  • Tory support in freefall – Rob offers London liberal choice
  • Scottish Liberal Democrats respond to publication of Fair Fares Review

Ed Davey statement regarding The Princess of Wales

Responding to the Princess of Wales’ video statement, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said:

What sad news. My thoughts and prayers are with the Princess of Wales tonight.

Liberal Democrats join the whole country in wishing her a speedy recovery and hope the Royal Family will be given space and privacy at this difficult time.

“The system failed Kaylea, we cannot allow it to happen again”- Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds

This week in the Senedd, the Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds urged the Welsh Government to learn from the tragic case of Kaylea Titford and improve the child safeguarding system here in Wales.

The disabled 16-year-old passed away in 2020 after being found in conditions that were described as “unsuitable for an animal”.

Kalyea’s parents were both charged with manslaughter by gross negligence and are currently serving a combined total of 18 years behind bars.

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Charles Quinn

ALDC by-election Report 21st March

By Charles Quinn | Fri 22nd March 2024 - 1:46 pm

There were 4 principal council by-elections on Thursday night. The Liberal Democrats stood candidates in 3 of them and there was a lot of success to enjoy with a superb gain from the Conservatives and really good performances in places where we did not stand in the previous election.

Our gain came on Cambridgeshire County Council in Yaxley and Farcet ward. Here Councillor Andrew Wood overturned a 700 vote Conservative majority to win in a close three way contest. The win also makes the Lib Dems the largest group on the Council which was balanced at 22 councillors each for us and the Conservatives. We now have 23 to their 21 and continue to run the council as a joint administration with Labour and Independents. Congratulations to Councillor Wood and the Cambridgeshire Lib Dem team.

Cambridgeshire CC, Yaxley and Farcet
Liberal Democrats (Andrew Wood): 509 (31%, +5.6)
Conservative: 470 (28.6%, -28.3%)
Independent: 448 (27.3%, new)
Labour: 175 (10.6%, -7.1%)
Green Party: 42 (2.6%, +2.6%)

In the East Midlands, we contested Heckington Rural ward of North Kesteven District Council and finished a very strong third place having not stood here in the previous elections. Well done to Lib Dem candidate Susan Hislop for winning over 27% of the vote and finishing just 80 votes behind the winning Conservative candidate. From not standing last time that is an amazing accomplishment and puts us in a great position for the next election. Well done again to Susan and the team.

North Kesteven DC, Heckington Rural
Conservative: 425 (36.7%, -27.0%)
Independent: 369 (29.2%, new)
Liberal Democrats (Susan Hislop): 345 (27.3%, new)
Labour: 123 (9.6%, -29.3%)

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Mark Valladares

21 March 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 21st March 2024 - 10:00 pm
  • Interest rates: Families are still facing a mortgage cliff edge
  • Khan ‘failing’ on Met Police reform – Lib Dems slam mayor’s record on first anniversary of Casey report
  • Cole-Hamilton challenges Yousaf on SNP Government’s climate record
  • Rennie responds to poverty statistics
  • Water Industry Commission for Scotland branded an embarrassment

Interest rates: Families are still facing a mortgage cliff edge

Responding to the Bank of England’s decision to keep interest rates at 5.25%, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

This is cold comfort for millions of homeowners who still face massive hikes in their mortgage bills after Liz Truss crashed the economy. Many families still face a mortgage cliff edge despite this news.

Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget and the Conservative party’s economic vandalism has put intolerable pressure on people’s finances.

This Conservative government has no good story to tell on the economy.

The only way to break this cycle of stagnation and financial hardship is to kick this out of touch government out of office. Rishi Sunak needs to stop his desperate attempt to cling on to power and call an election.

Khan ‘failing’ on Met Police reform – Lib Dems slam mayor’s record on first anniversary of Casey report

A year on from the publication of Baroness Casey’s damning report on the Met police, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has made “no or only slow progress on key issues”, according to analysis by the Lib Dems.

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Mary Reid

PPC withdraws because of abuse

By Mary Reid | Thu 21st March 2024 - 2:05 pm

Chris Nelson was first selected as our PPC for Kettering for the 2010 General Election. He was selected again for the forthcoming election. Sadly he has had to stand down because of the abuse he has received as a stammerer.

He spoke to STAMMA – a charity that supports people with a stammer. Chris says he is used to a certain level of abuse but was shocked at how personal and unpleasant it became once he stepped into public life. Clips of him stammering were circulated by political opponents , and some imitated him “as a joke”. He felt supported by his Lib Dem colleagues, but they probably weren’t aware of the accumulated effect over time of many minor comments made to and about him.

This is pretty shocking. Stammering is a disability and it is astonishing that people seem to be able to get away with bullying. Chris points out that you don’t see stammerers on television, while other forms of disability are being increasingly represented in the media.

President Joe Biden has a stammer and has been the butt of mocking comments himself, from Donald Trump (surprise) among others.

My heart goes out to Chris, and I hope he finds other ways of using his undoubted skills in the community. But we really do need people like him in our party and in Parliament.

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Mark Valladares

20 March 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 20th March 2024 - 11:55 pm
  • Ed Davey launches local election campaign with hourglass stunt
  • SEPA log thousands of complaints about state of Scottish waterways
  • Welsh Lib Dems raise concerns over future of dentistry in Wales
  • “Communities must benefit from new grid developments” – Welsh Lib Dems

Ed Davey launches local election campaign with hourglass stunt

  • Lib Dem Leader unveils hourglass stunt in Blue Wall Hertfordshire, declaring “Time’s running out for Rishi Sunak”
  • Ed Davey focusses his party’s campaign on local health and social care services, sewage pollution in rivers and the cost of living crisis.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has launched his party’s English local elections campaign with an hourglass stunt, declaring “Time’s running out for Rishi Sunak”, and calling on the country to vote for change in May.

Ed Davey visited the Blue Wall battleground of Harpenden in Hertfordshire, which is set to be a marginal constituency at the next election. He will begin his local election tour this week, visiting every corner of the country as the party looks to make further gains on local councils.

The Liberal Democrats made major gains across Hertfordshire from the Conservative party in last year’s local elections. In 2023, the Liberal Democrats gained over 400 council seats across the country.

At today’s launch, Ed Davey unveiled a blue and gold hourglass in front of Liberal Democrat activists. After turning it upside down, the sand revealed the words ‘Time’s Running Out Rishi!’ He was joined by St.Albans MP and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats Daisy Cooper, and Victoria Collins, the party’s parliamentary candidate for Harpenden and Berkhamsted.

The Liberal Democrats will focus their local elections campaign on local health and social care services, as well as the local environment and the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Speaking after the stunt, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Time’s running out for Rishi Sunak. He might have bottled a May General Election.

He might hope the tide will turn, squatting in Downing Street for a few more months.

But even the Prime Minister can’t deny people across England the chance to have their say in local elections on the Second of May.

Rishi Sunak’s government is running out of road because people know it is time for change.

And people are voting for us because it is time for the Liberal Democrats.

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The Voice

Ed Davey launches Lib Dem local election campaign

By The Voice | Wed 20th March 2024 - 8:55 pm

Good coverage for Ed Davey on the BBC as he launched our local elections campaign in Hertfordshire this morning. Our campaign geniuses came up trumps again with an hourglass which revealed a message for Rishi Sunak.

Ed said:

Time’s running out for Rishi Sunak.

He might have bottled a May General Election

He might hope the tide will turn, squatting in Downing Street for a few more months

But even the Prime Minister can’t deny people across England the chance to have their say in local elections on the Second of May.

When I speak to lifelong Conservative voters, they tell me that the party no longer speaks for them. Time and time again, they are being failed by this appalling Conservative Government.

This Government has plunged our NHS into crisis. Left vulnerable people waiting hours for an ambulance, weeks to see a GP or a dentist, and months to start treatment for cancer.

They’ve made the cost-of-living crisis so much worse.

Sending mortgage rates soaring.

Hitting families with unfair tax rises.

And leaving out pensioners altogether in their Budget this month.

They’ve trashed our precious natural environment, letting water companies get away scot-free, as they dump millions of tonnes of raw sewage into our rivers and onto our beaches.

Rishi Sunak’s government is running out of road because people know it is time for change.

And people are voting for us because it is time for the Liberal Democrats.

We are listening.

This year we’ve already knocked on more than a million doors –

We’ve heard from you about all the things that are broken in our country right now.

We’re ready to get to work and fix them.

And we’re hearing too that so many people, in all parts of the country, are switching to the Liberal Democrats.

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The Voice

Rob Blackie’s London Mayoral Campaign launch – let’s fix the Met

By The Voice | Wed 20th March 2024 - 7:55 pm

Lib Dem London Mayoral Candidate, Rob Blackie, launched his campaign yesterday with a pledge to ‘fix the Met’.

Credit: Sillett Photography

The event took place at Pop Brixton, located in the neighbourhood where Rob has spent much of the past 20 years raising his family.

Rob told the media and a group of close supporters that Sadiq Khan does “not deserve” a third term due to his record on crime. He also dismissed the Conservative chances, accusing the party of giving up on London after selecting a Trump-backing candidate.

He added that Sadiq Khan’s failure on crime is the reason he is standing as mayor.

In his speech, he talked about the struggles Londoners are facing with the cost of living crisis and rising crime. With him as Mayor, City Hall would be building houses for social rent, sorting out the Met, changing the culture within the Met and meeting climate change goals.

The full text of the speech is below:

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The Voice

WATCH: Alistair Carmichael’s speech to Conference

By The Voice | Wed 20th March 2024 - 1:30 pm

On Sunday morning, Alistair Carmichael gave his keynote speech to Conference. It was as funny, liberal and hard=hitting as you would think.

Governments and babies’ nappies need changing often, much for the same reason, he said.

Liberal Democrats will have no truck with the demonisation of desperate people. We will crush the people smuggling market by giving people safe and legal routes to get here, he promised.

 

He said that Liberal Democrats mustn’t just tell people what we’re against. We must say what we are for. We champion the rights of the individual to do what they like as long as it doesn’t harm others.  We also understand that meaningful freedom means pooling freedoms to form communities and upwards to nation states.

We are a party of law and order, he said, because we can’t be free if we don’t feel safe to leave our homes as he attacked the Conservative record on community policing.

He highlighted how the Conservatives are upping use of facial recognition technology like that used in China and how that had never been authorised properly by Parliament. Any influence we have in the next Parliament will be used to put the money wasted on this into frontline policing.

He warned that we might be sleepwalking into a surveillance state. He tackled that line much favoured by those who want to lead us down an increasingly authoritarian path “If you’ve nothing to hide, you’ve nothing to fear.” We are all perfectly entitled to hide things. It’s called privacy.

He reminded us of some of Labour’s failings on civil liberties – their “authoritarian streak a mile wide” with DNA databases and 90 day detention. We will not support any of that agenda should they go into power.

Liberal Democrats are not about splitting the difference between the Tories and Labour. We trust the people, they want to control them. We demand a change in the way we are governed. We demand a stronger, greener, fairer and more United Kingdom.

We need to get out there and fight of that door by door and street by street as if the future of our nation depends on it – because it does.

Watch the whole thing here:

The full text is below.

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The Voice

WATCH: Ed Davey’s speech to Spring Conference

By The Voice | Wed 20th March 2024 - 11:07 am

There were some very interesting nuggets from Ed Davey’s speech on Saturday. At last we seem to be showing a bit of what we’re about. And what better a place to start than with sorting out our democracy by showing people the harm the current system does to them:

It distorts democracy.

It leaves millions of people feeling powerless and excluded.

Unable to hold those in power properly to account.

Conference, we know proportional representation would be so much fairer…

So much better for our politics and our country.

And a majority of the British people now back electoral reform.

So why hasn’t it changed? Why are we still the only party fighting for political change?

He also mentioned the word Europe in such a way as to send the Daily Telegraph into a tailspin:

Only Liberal Democrats have a clear plan to rebuild this relationship with a better deal for Britain.

To renew the ties of trust and friendship,

To set us on the path back to the Single Market.

Our plan to repair the damage the Conservatives have done,

And, in time, to restore Britain’s place at the heart of Europe. Where we belong.

There’s nothing new in there. It’s been our policy since 2021, but he did say the single market phrase out loud.

Watch here.

The text is below:

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Mark Valladares

Tonight! Join online for the kick-off of the “Renew Europe Now” Platform campaign!

By Mark Valladares | Wed 20th March 2024 - 10:08 am

This evening, at 6 p.m., the ALDE Party and other members of the “Renew Europe Now” platform kick-off their European Campaign, and you can watch from the comfort of your own home…

  • Hear from inspiring Liberal leaders from around the EU like Prime Ministers Alexander De Croo, Kaja Kallas, European Commisioners Margrethe Vestager, Věra Jourová, Thierry Breton, Didier Reynders and Kadri Simson and other speakers.
  • Meet the Renew Europe Platform lead candidates from ALDE Party, Renaissance and EDP, and find out their plan for Europe.
  • Discover the next wave of Liberal leaders who will fight against the artisans of European

…

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Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Layla Moran’s speech to Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th March 2024 - 8:55 am

I wasn’t in the hall for this but you can tell the quality of a speech from people’s faces as they came out. They were full of admiration for Layla, whose wisdom and compassion has impressed people across not just the UK but the world.

Layla’s Mum Randa was in the audience to watch her.

She described her family’s pre 1948 life in Palestine and the catastrophe that followed.

She said that the war was serving the wicked fusion  of Netanyahu’s government, calling their rhetoric genocidal.

Just as Hamas can’t remain in power, she said, Netanyahu and all who back his government must go too. They are all dangers and blockers to peace.

She reaffirmed the Liberal Democrats commitent to an International Criminal Couet investigation.  This is a fight between the extremists and the peacemakers and it’s spilling on to our streets, she said. She said that those flames were being fanned by the Conservative Party as much as anyone else.

Liberal Democrats do not pick a side she said, we stand for compassion, humanity and peace.

She talked about her deep despair for the Gazans who are trapped, her relatives who have spent the  past 5 months seeking refuge in a church. When she went to the area a few months ago, she described how an Israeli peace activist comforted her. She said she was astounded by how many people met chose not the path of anger, but to strive for peace.

She talked about the importance of  UNWRA in distributing aid in Gaza and called on the Government to restore funding to the agency.

She set out the Liberal Democrat approach and announced we are now calling on sanctions to apply to anyone who supports  and enables the “insidious settler movement.”

“No longer should acting with impunity go without consequence. When we say we believe in international law, we mean it.”

She says she is proud of our party and how our MPs have voted for a bilateral ceasefire at every opportunity. She condemned those who played petty party politics with Palestinian and Israeli lives with harsh words for SNP, Labour (who put electoral gain before its moral compass) and the Conservatives. The country, and the world, needs the Liberal Democrats more than ever.

It’s an incredible speech.  I defy you to watch it without getting something in your eye.

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Mark Valladares

20 March 2024 – the overnight press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 20th March 2024 - 7:30 am
  • Chamberlain to lead debate on electoral fairness and calls out attempts to “rig the rules”
  • PAC report on Social Care: Too many vulnerable people struggling to get the care they need
  • McArthur sets out response to embargoed climate report
  • Rennie comments on new claims from Pregnant Then Screwed

Chamberlain to lead debate on electoral fairness and calls out attempts to “rig the rules”

Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain MP will lead a debate in Westminster Hall on Wednesday about strengthening electoral fairness and preventing parties from “rigging the rules,” following recent moves by the Conservative Party to introduce certain changes ahead of the upcoming General Election.

The debate will take place in Westminster Hall tomorrow (Wednesday) and is expected to begin at 11am. Ms Chamberlain will pick up on a variety of changes recently introduced by the Conservatives, including compulsory Voter ID requirements and almost doubling the spending limit for UK elections to around £35 million.

In November, the UK election watchdog, the Electoral Commission, said it had “not seen evidence” to support changes to spending limits.

Ms Chamberlain’s debate comes just one week after her party called for the Conservatives to return donations from Frank Hester, a Tory party donor who reportedly said that the MP Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women.”

Speaking ahead of the debate, Ms Chamberlain said:

I am concerned that some of the latest moves by this Conservative Government represent a desperate and dirty attempt to rig the rules in their favour because they know they’ve lost the support of the public.

Last year, thousands of people were denied at a voice at the local elections because of the Voter ID rules ushered in by the Tories. Hundreds of thousands of people now risk being turned away at the next election at a cost to the taxpayer of £120,000,000 over the next decade.

Their unjustified doubling of the national spending limits points to the Conservatives Party’s eagerness to design the system and play it to their advantage. We also know from the Frank Hester scandal that they will excuse the inexcusable if it means bringing in big money and clinging onto power.

Liberal Democrats have been and continue to be long-standing advocates for fairness, transparency and electoral reform. I want to show that our politics should not be tilted towards those with the deepest pockets, and that we need constructive discussions about how to make the system better and work in the interests of all.

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Mark Valladares

19 March 2024 – today’s press releases (part 2)

By Mark Valladares | Tue 19th March 2024 - 10:30 pm
  • Almost 20,000 older people waited over four hours for an ambulance after falls last year
  • Half of places on secondary postgrad teaching courses unfilled
  • Almost a third of pupils missing school and decline in support for teachers and pupils

Almost 20,000 older people waited over four hours for an ambulance after falls last year

  • The Liberal Democrats launch their local election campaign unveiling shocking new figures of elderly patients waiting too long for an ambulance
  • Ed Davey to visit Hertfordshire where he will declare this May “the chance to send this out of touch Conservative government a message”
  • Number of older patients waiting over 4 hours for an ambulance after falling has almost doubled since 2019/20
  • One patient waited close to three days for an ambulance to arrive after a fall

Almost 20,000 older people in England waited more than four hours for an ambulance to arrive after having a fall last year, more than double the number in 2019/20, figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

The Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will visit the Blue Wall battleground of Hertfordshire to launch his party’s local election campaign. Ed Davey will focus his party’s campaign on local health services.

The new data was uncovered by the Liberal Democrats through Freedom of Information requests to ambulance trusts in England. It shows there were 19,904 incidents in 2022/23 where someone aged over 65 had a fall and had to wait more than four hours for an ambulance to arrive, or an average of 54 people a day.

This is a stark 96.5% rise since before the pandemic in 2019/20 for the trusts that provided data across the full four years.

Even more shockingly, 1,411 older patients waited over 12 hours for an ambulance to arrive after falling last year, a more than tenfold increase compared to 2019/20. The East of England Ambulance Trust had the worst record with nearly 8,000 incidents that took longer than four hours and 769 that took longer than 12 hours to respond last year.

The West Midlands had an average response time for elderly falls of one hour 54 minutes and in that region a patient waited close to three days after experiencing a fall.

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Mark Valladares

19 March 2024 – today’s press releases (part 1)

By Mark Valladares | Tue 19th March 2024 - 9:45 pm
  • London Lib Dem Launch – Blackie slams Khan record on crime
  • Cole-Hamilton: Patients deserve better than the SNP’s new normal
  • “Our Welsh workers are not collateral damage”-Welsh Lib Dems call for clarification on jobs following Tata Steel oven closure
  • Cole-Hamilton attacks SNP ministers as opioids continue to blight Scotland

London Lib Dem Launch – Blackie slams Khan record on crime

Mayoral Candidate, Rob Blackie, has launched the London Liberal Democrat today with a pledge to ‘fix the Met’.

The party launched its campaign at Pop Brixton, located in the neighbourhood Rob has spent much of the past 20 years raising his family.

Blackie told the media and a group of close supporters that Sadiq Khan does “not deserve” a third term due to his record on crime. He also dismissed the Conservative chances, accusing the party of giving up on London after selecting a Trump-backing candidate.

Blackie said Sadiq Khan’s failure on crime is the reason he is standing as mayor.

Seasoned campaigner, Blackie, 50, described how he became a victim of crime himself. His neck was broken in a vicious gang mugging in Vauxhall, and he now has a titanium neck.

Speaking to journalists in Brixton this morning (Tuesday), Blackie said:

My top priority is crime and policing.

Sadiq Khan’s failure on those issues is the main reason I am standing against him.

Violent crime has risen by 30 percent in London since Mr Khan has been in office.

Sexual offence clear-up rates have halved in the last eight years.

Let me just read one shocking sentence from Baroness Casey’s report on the Met Police, published last year – the account of a serving police officer, who said: ‘If you look at our performance around rape, serious sexual offences, the detection rate is so low you may as well say it’s legal in London.’

Just let that sink in… ‘You may as well say it’s legal in London.’

It is just shameful.

Sadiq Khan blames everyone else for this but himself. The buck stops with him and we will call him out in this campaign.

In his speech, Blackie described how he grew up in London playing on the street with neighbouring children from all over the world. He added:

I love living and working in the most cosmopolitan city on the planet.

That is the London I love, and the London we want to ‘get back’.

He also took a swipe at the London Conservatives, describing Susan Hall as “beyond the pale”. He said:

Far from embracing London, she attacks it. Liking tweets that call our city Londonistan and venerate Enoch Powell.

Does she even like London? She certainly doesn’t love our great city. When the Conservatives chose her as their candidate, they gave up on this election.

Cole-Hamilton: Patients deserve better than the SNP’s new normal

Responding to new figures showing only 65.2% of people attending A&E were seen within the 4 hour target in the week ending 10th March, while 2,943 people waited over 8 hours, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

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Caron Lindsay

Sunday at Conference: What’s on?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 17th March 2024 - 6:55 am

Top o’ the morning to you this St Patrick’s Day!

Here’s what’s on on the last day of our Spring Conference in York. All details, including the text of motions are in the agenda.

09.00-09.45 F16 Emergency motion

Navalny and sorting our pitiful, cruel, brutal asylum system out

09.45-10.25 F17 Report: Federal Board

F18 Report: Campaign for Gender Balance

F19 Report: Federal Communications and Elections Committee

F20 Report: Federal International Relations Committee

F21 Report: Federal Council

10.25-10.40 F22 Speech: Alistair Carmichael MP

10.40-11.25 F23 Policy motion: The Funding Crisis in Local Government

Another one that’s a potential flashpoint. Tony Vickers writes here why he thinks the motion is not …

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Charles Quinn

ALDC by-election report 14th March

By Charles Quinn | Fri 15th March 2024 - 5:42 pm

This week has been a quiet one for principal council by-elections with just two being contested – including a resounding win.

We were defending Cricklade and Latton ward on Wiltshire Council. Not only did newly elected Councillor Nick Dye hold the ward for the Lib Dems – he did it in some style. Increasing the Lib Dem vote share by 14% and taking a staggering 76% of the vote. Considering the Conservatives, Labour and the Green Party all stood that is a truly impressive result. Congratulations to Councillor Dye and the whole Lib Dem team in Wiltshire.

Wiltshire UA, Cricklade and Latton
Liberal Democrats (Nick Dye): 1030 (76%, +13.9%)
Conservative: 253 (18.7%, -19.2%)
Labour: 45 (3.3%, new)
Green Party: 27 (2%, new)

The other by-election this week was on Lancaster City Council where the Green Party retained Castle ward. Thank you to Cormac Evans for flying the flag for us here and making sure that Lib Dem supporters were represented in the election.

Lancaster City Council, Castle
Green Party: 524 (65%, +6.4%)
Labour: 212 (26.3%, -3%)
Conservative: 43 (5.3%, -1.8%)
Liberal Democrats (Cormac Evans): 27 (3.3%, -1.7%)

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Mary Reid

Caroline Pidgeon steps down

By Mary Reid | Fri 15th March 2024 - 2:53 pm


Liberal Democrats Party Autumn Conference at Bournemouth International Centre – Caroline Pidgeon

Caroline Pidgeon has led the Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly for 14 years, and has been a member for 16. Today was her last day in the chamber, because the London elections kick into action next week and she is not standing again.

Caroline has been Co-Chair of the Transport Committee for 16 years, and has asked an amazing 8,235 Mayoral Questions (the most of any Assembly Member ever since its establishment in 2000).

This morning Sadiq Khan paid a …

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Changes to the party’s Complaints procedure

By Candy Piercy | Thu 14th March 2024 - 12:40 pm

At Conference, members will have the chance to approve updated rules to the party’s Independent Complaints process.

These changes are informed by feedback from complainants, respondents and people involved at all stages of the complaints process over the last few years.

They aim to clarify parts of the process that were unclear, simplify much of the language used and ensure that the Complaints process is well-run.

But we appreciate that reading two extremely long documents to compare for changes is an arduous task – and often won’t explain why we made many of the changes.

We also appreciate that most members maybe don’t live and breathe the minutiae of the party’s Complaints Process, like the Disciplinary Sub-Group do.

So, to help make the changes more understandable and explain why, we’ve produced a video that explains both the process as a whole and this latest round of changes to it.

You can watch that here:

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