Category Archives: News

Mark Valladares

17 October 2022 – (the rest of) today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 17th October 2022 - 11:20 pm
  • The British public don’t need more economic turmoil
  • Hunt’s out of touch advisory panel of asset managers
  • Hunt hints at windfall tax u-turn

The British public don’t need more economic turmoil

Responding to the news that the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is to fast-track measures to pay for Liz Truss’s mini-budget, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

The Conservative Party have used the British people as an economic football for far too long.

Jeremy Hunt now expects families and pensioners to cope with increased mortgage costs, soaring energy bills, sky-high petrol prices and rising food costs while the unfair bankers bonus is still in place.

As

…

Continue reading »
Also posted in Press releases | Tagged , and | Leave a comment
The Voice

Mini-Budget goes down with all hands…

By The Voice | Mon 17th October 2022 - 12:34 pm

The inevitable abandonment of the “Kamikwazi” budget by Jeremy Hunt has been greeted by the derision one might expect, even if there was no easy alternative. No cut in the basic rate of income tax, the withdrawal of IR35 changes and the withdrawal of guaranteed support for energy costs beyond April, none of this will win votes, even as it placates the markets.

Responding to Jeremy Hunt’s mini-budget statement, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

So much damage has already been done by these Conservatives and they will force millions of struggling families and pensioners to pay for it.

The Conservative

…

Continue reading »
Also posted in Press releases | Tagged and | 7 Comments
The Voice

Metropolitan Police – a welcome admission of past failings, but what next?

By The Voice | Mon 17th October 2022 - 10:29 am

Following the release of the Casey Report into the Metropolitan Police’s disciplinary systems, Liberal Democrats have been quick to respond.

Wendy Chamberlain, the only former female police officer in the Commons, said:

This devastating report must not be ignored. From decent vetting at the recruitment stage to real diversity, the Met must change dramatically and at lightning speed.

Investigations and whistle-blowing must be also prioritised and concluded quickly.The Home Secretary must come to Parliament and explain how the largest police force in the country has come to this under the Conservative’s watch.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, former Deputy Assistant Commissioner with the Metropolitan Police, and now Liberal Democrat Peer, Brian Paddick, was quick to highlight what the report means;

Continue reading »
Also posted in Press releases | Tagged , , and | Leave a comment
Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 17 October 2022 – as the S.S. Brexit sinks under the weight of its own contradictions…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 17th October 2022 - 7:47 am

Aside from the obvious crisis the Government is in, the past few weeks have demonstrated once and for all why Brexit was doomed to failure as a means to transform the nation for the better.

There were always three key arguments in favour of Brexit – sovereignty, immigration and deregulation. During the campaign, the fact that they were inevitably contradictory didn’t matter, for all that was needed was to harvest the votes sufficient to win. And whilst those of us on the losing side assumed that, having won, there was a strategy for handling the transition. As it turned out, what strategies existed were contradictory too.

But now, each of the arguments has been eviscerated, one by one.

Continue reading »
21 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Olney: Jeremy Hunt expects people to pay for Conservative mistakes

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 15th October 2022 - 12:15 pm

Jeremy Hunt’s media round this morning was sobering stuff. Tax rises and public spending cuts seem to be the order of the day.  While he might talk about protecting the most vulnerable, Conservatives have never been good at understanding how to do that.

Our Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney had this to say:

This may be a new Chancellor but it’s still the same old Conservative party whose failed economic experiment has cost this country billions.  Now Jeremy Hunt expects struggling families and pensioners to pay the price for those mistakes.

Thousands of families are facing increased mortgage costs and rising prices at the checkouts while our struggling public services will have their spending slashed.

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 41 Comments
Mary Reid

Lib Dems demand Parliament must sit tomorrow

By Mary Reid | Fri 14th October 2022 - 4:43 pm

On a fast moving day in Downing Street, Lib Dems have called for Parliament to sit tomorrow so that Jeremy Hunt can deliver a new fiscal statement. This is sorely needed to calm markets before they open on Monday.

Sarah Olney is our Treasury spokesperson and she says:

This government has overseen a slow-motion car crash as Britain’s economy barrels towards disaster. For weeks Ministers have sat on their hands as their mini-budget unfolded. Parliament must sit tomorrow so we can hear from this new Chancellor.

Every day this disastrous Conservative Government staggers on, it plunges Britain into more turbulence and pain. Rather than show leadership, they’ve just delivered more chaos and confusion. After shamefully cutting her press conference short this afternoon, the Prime Minister and her new Chancellor must come to the House of Commons tomorrow to face questions from MPs.

As the revolving door at Number 11 continues the very least the latest one can do is come to Parliament tomorrow and deliver an urgent statement putting the final nail in the coffin of this budget.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 1 Comment
Mary Reid

Reactions to the churn

By Mary Reid | Fri 14th October 2022 - 2:15 pm

So Kwasi Kwarteng is out and Jeremy Hunt is in. How long can Liz Truss last after today’s extraordinary moves?

Prominent Lib Dems have, of course, been giving us their take on the news:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think we can see a clear message here!

Tagged , , , , , and | 7 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey calls for General Election after Chancellor leaves office

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 14th October 2022 - 12:48 pm

We know now that Kwasi Kwarteng is out as Chancellor just hours after Downing Street told the BBC’s Chris Mason that he and Liz Truss were “in lockstep.” Whether he jumped or was pushed is for the journalists to work out.

I would be very surprised if we see them leaving Government in lockstep together, which seems unfair given that he was basically implementing the policies she put forward during her leadership campaign. In fact, he blinked first when the markets first went wild, putting out a statement after what was described at the time as a heated row between him and Truss.

It’s going to be interesting to see who she appoints as Chancellor – and who would be willing to do the job. Could we see Penny Mordaunt in No 11, or some  have suggested Jeremy Hunt.

We just have to wait to see what Liz Truss says at the press conference later this afternoon. She’s not a great one for humility and if there was ever an occasion that called for that in huge amounts, this is it.

While a u-turn, or partial u-turn (a j-turn?) on the Budget of Chaos will likely calm down the markets, the damage has been done to people’s mortgages and they will be feeling that for years to come.

Ed Davey has called for a General Election to get this lot out of office:

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , and | 11 Comments
NewsHound

Carmichael: Scottish Independence is a double dose of Brexit disease

By NewsHound | Fri 14th October 2022 - 11:20 am

Alistair Carmichael is in blistering form in a Scotsman article in which he argues that the SNP’s push for independence is like treating the Cold with Flu.

He compares Nicola Sturgeon’s pursuit of independence against all the evidence to Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s ideological trashing of the economy:

The accusation has never been that leaving the UK would be “too good” for our economy. The concern was that those advocating the nationalist cure-all were blithely or intentionally ignoring the harm to businesses and livelihoods.

In Brexit and the disruption of recent weeks, we have had an abject lesson in the harm caused by ignoring reality in favour of fervently held beliefs. The only surprise is the SNP think that these failures are an endorsement.

He reminds us all what the SNP Government does (or doesn’t) with the powers that they already have:

Set aside for a moment the cack-handed, indifferent approach taken by the SNP over the aspects of the economy they are already responsible for; the drip-drip of scandals around hundreds of millions spent on overdue ferries, the reckless gambling of our taxes in the Lochaber deal, or businesses’ struggles under their watch.

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 12 Comments
Mary Reid

Daisy Cooper on PMQs

By Mary Reid | Wed 12th October 2022 - 7:18 pm

Daisy Cooper had a question about hospitals with dangerous roofs at Prime Minister’s Questions today. Bizarrely Liz Truss seems to be answering a totally different question.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 3 Comments
Graham Lippiatt

Harold Wilson – The Winner

By Graham Lippiatt | Wed 12th October 2022 - 3:14 pm

The Lloyd George Society will be holding a meeting on the evening of Tuesday 18 October in The Lounge at the National Liberal Club starting at 7.30pm.

Our guest speaker will be the Labour MP for Torfaen and Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade, Nick Thomas-Symonds. Mr Thomas-Symonds, who is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, published a new biography of Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson in September: Harold Wilson – The Winner.

Mr Thomas- Symonds has already published biographies of Clement Attlee and Nye Bevan. His book on Wilson, which makes use of new and previously restricted material, aims to rehabilitate the politician’s widespread reputation for political chicanery and explore his numerous achievements in government as the only Labour leader to win four general elections. Nick will be talking about his book and we have asked him to comment on Wilson’s relationship with the Liberal Party over the years as part of his presentation.

The meeting will be chaired by Liberal Democrat peer, Baroness Smith of Newnham (Julie Smith). Please come along for what should be an entertaining and fascinating new insight into one the most successful practitioners in British politics in the post-war era.

Admission is free and open to all.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 1 Comment
Mary Reid

Candidates announced for internal party elections

By Mary Reid | Wed 12th October 2022 - 2:13 pm

Nominations for the party elections closed this week and the full list of candidates has now been published.

There are three candidates for Party President: Lucy Nethsingha, Mark Pack and Liz Webster, but only one for Vice President: Amna Ahmad.  Only three people have been nominated for the three places for Scottish representatives on the Federal Council, but all the other committee places are fully contested so we can expected lengthy ballot papers.

The ballots, which for most of us will be online, will be sent out on 25th October.

The makeup of each body is subject to diversity rules which you can read at the bottom of this page.

Note that this post is announcement only. We have turned off comments to avoid references to individual candidates.

Continue reading »
Tagged | Comments Off on Candidates announced for internal party elections
Mary Reid

How will the Coronation affect local elections?

By Mary Reid | Wed 12th October 2022 - 10:12 am

It has been announced that the Coronation of King Charles III will take place on Saturday 6th May 2023 (although that news on the BBC was quickly eclipsed by the information that he will be appearing in The Repair Shop).

So how will that affect the local elections due to take place on Thursday 4th May? These will include elections to a number of metropolitan, unitary, district and parish Councils that elect by thirds, together with many where the whole council will be elected, plus some directly elected Mayors.

There are several factors to take into account:

  1. Many Councils now do the count on Friday during the day, instead of overnight, and some carry on into the Saturday, especially where there are elections at several levels. Parish Councils are normally counted on Saturday.
  2. We would expect a day to be announced as a Bank Holiday in lieu of the Saturday. Could that be on the Friday?
  3. The week will be full of news on all media of the preparations for the Coronation which could deplete turnout.
  4. Is it possible that the coverage in the run-up to the event, with a lot of patriotic fervour, may sway voters?
  5. If the results are bad for the Conservatives – which would not be surprising! – this news will be conveniently buried.

Your thoughts, please.

Note that this is a post about the impact of a major national event on local elections – it is not about the monarchy itself. 

Continue reading »
8 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Liam McArthur wins right to bring forward Assisted Dying Bill to Scottish Parliament

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 11th October 2022 - 10:45 am

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has earned the right to introduce a Members’ Bill to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill people in the Scottish Parliament.

His proposal is supported by 36 out of the 129 MSPs.

Last month Liam  published the outcome of his public consultation on the proposals.  Out of 14,038 responses, 76% of individuals who responded expressed full support with a further 2% partially supporting a change in the law.

Mr McArthur will now work with the Scottish Parliament’s Non-Governmental Bills Unit to draft the actual bill which he hopes to introduce in Parliament next year.

Liam said:

“I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all MSPs who have put their names behind my proposed change in the law. The support among colleagues has been deeply heartening, and demonstrates the growing recognition that there is a need to end the ban on assisted dying in Scotland.

“The Scottish public has long been ahead of the parliament on this issue. The public consultation on these proposals, published last month, demonstrated that there is strong and passionate support for offering people more choice at the end of their life.

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 5 Comments
NewsHound

Lib Dems demand probe into Chancellor’s post-budget champagne party

By NewsHound | Sun 9th October 2022 - 4:32 pm

Christine Jardine, the Lib Dem spokesperson has written to the Cabinet Secretary to ask for an enquiry into whether the champagne bash Kwasi Kwarteng attended on the night of his budgetary earthquake breached the Ministerial Code:

From The Observer:

“The image of the chancellor quaffing champagne with bankers just hours after announcing his tax cuts for the very wealthiest in society is bad enough,” she said. “But it would be unforgivable if it turns out Kwasi Kwarteng discussed his plans with hedge fund managers who have since been profiting from the fall in the pound.

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 2 Comments
NewsHound

Three in four blame Kwasi Kwarteng budget for higher mortgages

By NewsHound | Thu 6th October 2022 - 11:59 pm

New polling commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed three in four (75%) blame the Government’s budget for higher than expected mortgage rates.

The findings reveal even the majority of Conservative voters (68%) blame the expected rise in rates on the Government’s budget last month, which sent the financial markets into turmoil.

The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates to as much as 6% next year, adding considerable costs to mortgages. This week Moneyfacts reported the typical two year fixed rate mortgage has topped 6% for the first time in 14 years.

Those who own their home with a mortgage also blame the likely rise on rates on the Government’s budget (76%).

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 3 Comments
Mary Reid

Vast majority of burglaries are unsolved

By Mary Reid | Wed 5th October 2022 - 10:18 am

You would think that police would be obliged to attend all household burglaries, wouldn’t you? Apparently they don’t. And even when they do the chances of them actually finding the criminal is very slim.

In England and Wales last year 73% of all domestic burglaries were unsolved. An even smaller percentage (3.5%) resulted in someone being charged. Put another way, in the last five years 1.4 million burglaries went unsolved. And the percentage resulting in a charge has gone down year on year so that by last year it was less than half that in 2017 (which was bad enough, anyway).

These figures were provided in a press release today from the Lib Dem Media Team. You can see the police figures, broken down by area, here.

So now we hear that police forces in England and Wales have pledged to attend every home burglary. This would appear to be the minimum expectation on a police force. I can’t imagine how devastating it would be for a person to come home to find their home has been broken into, and items stolen, but when they report it to the police no-one comes to investigate. However we have to ask whether this will increase the clear-up rate. Or more pertinently why the clear-up rate is so low.

We have a comment from Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael:

It is devastating for victims that the overwhelming majority of burglaries go unsolved.

While this is a positive step, without proper resources from the Government this pledge risks being nothing more than a box-ticking exercise.

The Conservatives are letting down victims and allowing burglaries to run rife.

Ministers must give police the officers, time and resources they need to properly investigate crime.

The fear of crime has a noxious effect on our social lives, whether it makes women afraid of going out after dark, or keeps people who live alone awake at night. Sales of home security systems with cameras have rocketed, but it seems that even where there is an image of a burglary or attempted burglary the chances of anyone being arrested are very low. Burglary must seem like an attractive career choice to some.

Continue reading »
7 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Just deserts at Conservative Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 4th October 2022 - 7:30 am

Last week Ed Davey called on the Conservatives to cancel their Conference and sort out the economic mess they had created.

After days of rebellion, doom and u-turns, I bet they wish they had listened to him.

They aren’t getting the best press, that’s for sure, but then they don’t deserve it.

Kwasi Kwarteng’s feeble attempts at humour in his speech belie any contrition. And I doubt many of those who are now condemned to years of high mortgage payments will feel that either he or Liz Truss truly do get it.

The u-turns on the 45p tax rate and the publication of the OBR forecasts, although major events, are not the only things that need to change.

The Conservatives are showing themselves up as way nastier than they were when Theresa May gave her warning to Conservative Conference a whole twenty years ago.  This generation of leaders seem to have taken it as encouragement to become even worse.

For example, party Chairman Jake Berry had this to say to people struggling to pay their bills this Winter:

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , and | 19 Comments
Mark Valladares

3 October 2022 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 4th October 2022 - 12:30 am
  • Departing Conservative ministers handed over £410,000 in redundancy pay
  • Davey: Kwasi Kwarteng must resign so botched Budget can be scrapped
  • Conservative ministers slammed for holding 67 parties as British economy implodes
  • Kwarteng speech: Laughing about the turbulence is an insult to millions

Departing Conservative ministers handed over £410,000 in redundancy pay

Former Conservative ministers are set to be handed more than £410,000 in redundancy payments, new analysis by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

This includes £18,860 for Boris Johnson, £16,876 for former cabinet ministers including Priti Patel and Michael Gove, and £14,491 for the former Solicitor General Alex Chalk.

The Liberal Democrats have called on Johnson and other outgoing ministers to forgo the thousands of pounds in redundancy payments, so the money can be used to support struggling families instead.

Under the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, those resigning from office are entitled to 25% of the annual salaries they were paid when holding that office. Analysis by the Liberal Democrats suggests that, across government, this will lead to a total bill to the taxpayer of at least £410,642.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office Spokesperson Christine Jardine, said

It is outrageous that as families cut back on food and heating, outgoing Conservative ministers are being awarded thousands of pounds, many of them after just a few weeks in the job.

It seems Liz Truss is against handouts for the British people, but not for her Conservative colleagues. Once again it’s one rule for Conservative MPs, another for everyone else.

Former ministers are given financial security, while struggling families and pensioners are facing economic chaos, higher bills and collapsing health services.

Outgoing Conservative ministers should do the decent thing and pass up their payoffs for the good of the country.

Davey: Kwasi Kwarteng must resign so botched Budget can be scrapped

Responding to Kwasi Kwarteng’s refusal to resign this morning despite his U-turn over the 45p tax rate, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Kwasi Kwarteng didn’t listen when people’s mortgages soared, the pound tanked and the economy nosedived. Now he’s only acting because of internal rows at the Conservative party conference.

It just shows the Conservatives are totally out of touch with the country.

The Chancellor has lost all credibility and must resign now. Then Parliament needs to be recalled so we can scrap this rotten Budget, offer extra help to struggling mortgage borrowers and ensure our NHS and schools get the funding they need.

Continue reading »
Also posted in Press releases | Tagged , , , , and | 3 Comments
The Voice

So, no abolition of the 45p rate after all…

By The Voice | Mon 3rd October 2022 - 8:45 am

45p tax cut U-turn: Now scrap corporation tax cut and bankers bonuses too

Responding to Kwasi Kwarteng’s U-turn on abolishing the 45p rate of tax, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

This humiliating U-turn comes too late for the millions seeing their mortgage rates soar because of this botched budget.

The Conservatives must now cancel their conference and recall Parliament, to sort out this mess for the sake of the country.

The corporation tax cut and the bankers bonus rise need to be scrapped and we need a clear plan to help mortgage borrowers cope with eye-watering interest rate rises. It can’t be

…

Continue reading »
Also posted in Press releases | Tagged | 24 Comments
Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 3 October 2022 – any fool can cut taxes…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 3rd October 2022 - 7:41 am

And so it becomes clear that, in order to cut taxes in a way that “disproportionately benefits the wealthy”, there will have to be cuts in public spending. In truth, that’s exactly what you’d expect from the boys at the Institute of Economic Affairs, given their belief in a small state.

The problem is that, instead of dealing with economic models and “rational behaviour”, the proponents of the policies coming out of Downing Street are faced with people and a vast array of existing inequalities. The societal model is not perfect at the outset, and thus the theoretical concept is flawed. It is not possible for people to simply work more hours, or get better paid jobs, if those hours, those jobs, are not available or accessible.

Continue reading »
5 Comments
Charles Quinn

ALDC By-Election Report

By Charles Quinn | Sun 2nd October 2022 - 2:20 pm

It was a busy week for by-elections with 9 principal Council seats up for grabs – and some great Lib Dem results.

We start with a brilliant double victory in Warrington. Two Lib Dem held seats were being contested in Grapenhall ward and both were brilliantly retained by new Lib Dem councillors Helen Speed and Mark Browne who together polled over 56.4% of the vote (almost a 10% increase in Lib Dem vote share. Well done to Helen, Mark and the local team in Warrington!

Warrington MBC, Grapenhall ward
Liberal Democrat (Helen Speed and Mark Browne): 1073 & 1047
Conservative: 524 & 462
Labour: 193
Independent: 60

We had another great Lib Dem hold on Harborough DC as Lib Dem Geraldine Whitmore won Market Harborough Logan ward – increasing the Lib Dem vote share by over 10%! Well done and congratulations to Cllr Whitmore and the local Lib Dem in Harborough.

Harborough DC, Market Harborough Logan ward
Liberal Democrat (Geraldine Whitmore): 582
Conservative: 382
Labour: 250
Independent: 60

Continue reading »
Also posted in Council by-elections | Tagged , , , , and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dems mark Black History Month

By The Voice | Sat 1st October 2022 - 1:55 pm

Black History Month starts today and this year its theme is “Time for Change: Action not words”

From the Black History Month UK website:

To get to a better tomorrow, we can’t just focus on the past. The past is in the past. We can acknowledge and learn from it, but to improve the future, we need action, not words. We need to come together around a shared common goal to achieve a better world for everyone.

This year’s Black History Month in October is more important than ever. It’s not just a month to celebrate the continued achievements and contributions of Black people to the UK and around the world. It’s also a time for continued action to tackle racism, reclaim Black history, and ensure Black history is represented and celebrated all year round.

For those of us looking to be better allies, the message is clear:

Being an ally means moving beyond short-term or performative gestures and taking real, long-term action. In the workplace, in places of education and learning, and in the public sphere, this means having policies in place that achieve real outcomes.  As an individual, it means actually practising what you preach. In the wake of 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests, many organisations and individuals committed to tackling racism.

This was done around the world by taking the time to learn about the black experience and additionally, in the UK, this included learning about the historical legacy of colonialism and slavery. That was an important step forward, but it won’t fundamentally change institutional racism today.A number of recent reports have called out racism across a range of sectors, from international aid and education to healthcare and policing. As a society, we all know there is a problem with institutional racism. Now we need to work together to tackle it.

Stonewall have produced a really good guide on being a good ally to black LGBT+ people.

Lib Dem AM Hina Bokhari set out what Black History Month means to her:

Continue reading »
Tagged and | Leave a comment
NewsHound

Tim Farron set to run London Marathon for air ambulance charity

By NewsHound | Sat 1st October 2022 - 12:35 pm

Our former leader really is a glutton for punishment. Last year he ran the London Marathon, raising over £5000 for the Brathay Trust, a social enterprise supporting young people in Cumbria.

And tomorrow he plans to do it all again:

This time, he’s fundraising for the Great North Air Ambulance and has already raised more than £3000.

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Lib Dem social media ad calls on Conservatives to cancel conference and sort out their mess

By The Voice | Sat 1st October 2022 - 10:58 am

On Thursday we reported on Ed Davey’s call for the Conservatives to cancel their Conference and get on with sorting out the mess they have created in the economy. We will all feel the effects of their recklessness in the months and years to come.

The party’s comms teams have backed this up with this social media ad. If you haven’t seen it in your feeds, that’s probably a good thing as party members and supporters aren’t usually the target audience of our campaigns.

Conferences are supposed to be a moment to showcase the best your party has to offer, to make the most of that spot in the media. The sight of Conservatives drinking champagne while people face soaring bills and find it increasingly difficult to get a mortgage will not, we suspect, go down particularly well with voters.

Continue reading »
10 Comments
Mark Valladares

30 September 2022 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 30th September 2022 - 10:30 pm
  • Truss urged to hold mortgage lender summit in Number 10 as millions left in “anxious limbo”
  • OBR forecasts: Economy left “flying blind” for two months
  • Calls reiterated for Welsh Government to Close Qatar Offices After Death of British National

Truss urged to hold mortgage lender summit in Number 10 as millions left in “anxious limbo”

The Liberal Democrats are urging the Prime Minister Liz Truss to host an emergency summit with mortgage lenders in Number 10 this weekend, instead of heading off to Conservative Party conference.

The call comes as hundreds of mortgage products have been withdrawn from sale since the Government presented its mini budget last week.

Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

The Conservatives have plunged our country into an economic crisis and what’s worse is that the damage is purely self inflicted.

Rather than head off on a jolly to party conference this weekend, Liz Truss should hold an emergency meeting with mortgage lenders in Number 10 to fix the chaos caused by her budget.

Millions of people are being left in an anxious limbo. Some are struggling to get the mortgages they need to get on the housing ladder while others are being left worried sick about losing their homes, all because of this Government’s catastrophic failure.

It would be unforgivable for Conservative ministers to sit around talking amongst themselves instead of taking action to sort out this mess.

The buck stops with the Prime Minister, she must not leave innocent mortgage borrowers to pick up the bill.

Continue reading »
Also posted in Press releases | Tagged , , , , , and | Leave a comment
NewsHound

Tory councillors walk out of cost of living debate

By NewsHound | Fri 30th September 2022 - 5:09 pm

So this is what happened at Westmorland and Furness when Liberal Democrats tabled a motion on the cost of living crisis.

The motion was passed and fully supported by all the remaining councillors.

Tim commented:

Our country is facing the biggest cost of living crisis in a generation – politicians of all stripes need to work together.

For Conservative councillors to abandon the meeting is an appalling dereliction of duty and sadly shows how out of touch their party is with the needs of people in Westmorland, Furness and Eden.

The Conservative Group explained that “the meeting had exceeded its time limit and the chair had invited members of the group to leave the meeting which they did due to having other commitments.” Strange then that it didn’t apply to all the other councillors.

Continue reading »
Tagged | Leave a comment
Mary Reid

“The Tories are the most economically right-wing major party in the developed world”

By Mary Reid | Fri 30th September 2022 - 3:00 pm

According to John Burn-Murdoch in the FT “The Tories have become unmoored from the British people“. The charts are very telling and worth looking at. You can see them here but best to go to the FT itself.

Through the mini-Budget Liz Truss has moved the Conservatives to the right of Brothers of Italy and US Republicans, and even to the right of Bolsonaro’s party in Brazil.

This is set alongside a chart showing the position of British voters on the two axes of social and economic values. Even the most right wing of Conservative voters are not in sympathy with Trussonomics. Lib Dem and Labour voters lie even further to the left, of course. In numerical terms, the Truss Government scores 9.4 out of 10 (far right), whereas Conservative voters average 4.2, and British voters overall have an average score of 3.2.

The Tories have plotted a course to the very edge of the economic map, and when they scan the horizon there is nobody to be seen.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 6 Comments
Mary Reid

What does the economic chaos mean for us?

By Mary Reid | Fri 30th September 2022 - 9:12 am

Yesterday’s YouGov poll gave Labour an unprecedented 33 point lead over the Tories. With Lib Dems dropping to 7% you might think that is bad news for us, but, as we all know, polling is granular, and it actually increases our chances in Blue wall seats.

In the Guardian, Gaby Hinchcliffe reports on our chances in Surrey, driven by fears over fracking as well as the cost of living (which has now gone far beyond high energy prices).

For in his (Jeremy Hunt’s) South West Surrey seat and Dominic Raab’s Esher and Walton, plus neighbouring Guildford and Woking, Lib Dems are snapping closer to Tory heels.

Seats like this only really wobble in a crisis, as happened in the mid-1970s after economic turmoil under Ted Heath, and in the 1990s after the last sterling crisis. The combination of economic chaos and threats to the green belt is theoretically a gift to them. But is it enough to collapse the “blue wall”, that small but strategically important set of Tory-held seats where Labour can’t win but the Lib Dems just might?

Neil Sherlock, a former adviser to Nick Clegg, fought South West Surrey for the Lib Dems in 1992. He remembers the thrill of feeling the tide running his way, until the last few days when voters suddenly got cold feet. “They’d say, ‘I’d love to vote for you, but we’re not having that Neil Kinnock’,” he recalls. The Lib Dems thrive under opposition leaders who don’t scare their voters, a description that increasingly fits Keir Starmer. But still, though they came within a few hundred votes of snatching South West Surrey in 2001, it’s always hovered just beyond reach.

The YouGov poll may be a bit of an outlier, so we need to watch the general trend, of course. However the vultures are gathering.

For example, a petition to Parliament to “Call an immediate general election to end the chaos of the current government” is already well past the 100,000 threshold that triggers a debate in Parliament.

As we reported yesterday, Ed Davey has called on Liz Truss to cancel the Conservative conference and recall Parliament so MPs can debate the economic crisis.

And there are rumours that letters of no confidence in Liz Truss have already been sent to the 1922 Committee. Although the rules state that a leader should not be challenged for at least a year after a contest, there is nothing to stop the Committee changing the rules.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 14 Comments
Mark Valladares

29 September 2022 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 29th September 2022 - 10:30 pm
  • Davey: Truss must cancel Conservative conference to deal with economic crisis
  • Revealed: 32 crumbling hospital buildings including in PM’s backyard
  • Truss in complete denial on BBC Local Radio round
  • Liz Truss refuses to guarantee people’s pensions are safe
  • Fracking interview: Truss shows contempt for rural communities

Davey: Truss must cancel Conservative conference to deal with economic crisis

Ed Davey demands Liz Truss and her ministers spend time fixing the budget as new research finds Government energy bill support will be wiped out by higher mortgage bills

Typical family faces £2,000 rise in mortgage bills following last week’s disastrous budget

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on Liz Truss to cancel the Conservative party conference this weekend, and instead recall Parliament to vote to fix the disastrous mini-budget. The party is also calling on the Government to bring forward a rescue package for homeowners unable to pay higher mortgage bills as a result of last week’s budget.

Ahead of the energy price cap rising on Saturday (1st October), new analysis by the Liberal Democrats reveals the predicted rise in mortgage bills is more than double what the Government has offered to support households with their energy bills.

The Government has pledged to freeze energy prices at £2,500 for the average household, which would have equated to around £1,000 support for the average household.

However, the fallout from last week’s budget is predicted to force the Bank of England to raise interest rates to as much as 5% next year, costing the average mortgage borrower on a Standard Variable Rate a staggering £2,100 per year. Those on an average tracker mortgage would face an even higher annual increase of £3,000 per year if interest rates rise to the predicted 5% next year.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

There is no way the Conservative Party can hold their conference whilst the British economy nosedives. The arrogance of Liz Truss and Conservative Ministers is frankly an insult to millions who now face higher bills as a direct result of last week’s budget. From this weekend they will abandon their posts in Downing Street, leaving a mess behind them and heading for the cocktail parties and mutual back-patting of the classic conference season.

In one fell swoop, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng crashed the economy, trashed the pound and paved the way for record interest rate rises.

Innocent mortgage borrowers will be left to pick up the bill of this gross incompetence. It is time Parliament is recalled and new measures passed to save families and pensioners unable to cope with this mortgage crisis. This botched budget cannot survive any longer.

Revealed: 32 crumbling hospital buildings including in PM’s backyard

  • Dangerous roofs not set to be replaced until 2035, Freedom of Information request reveals.
  • Hospitals in the Prime Minister’s and Health Secretary’s local areas have roofs at risk of collapse.
  • Liberal Democrats call on Government to fix the budget to save NHS from real-terms cuts amid rising inflation

32 hospital buildings across the country are fitted with dangerous roofs at risk of sudden collapse, data uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

The Freedom of Information request has revealed that 32 buildings at 19 NHS Trusts are fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) which is said to be ‘structurally weaker’, ‘lightweight’ and ‘cheaper’ than a regular fitting. NHS England has also revealed that the dangerous roofs are not set to be fully replaced until 2035.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, near Liz Truss’s constituency, is the worst in the country with four buildings fitted with the dangerous material. The chief executive of the hospital has previously likened the material to a “chocolate Aero bar” with bubbles that could break and collapse at any point. Liz Truss this morning refused to guarantee that the hospital would be fixed in an interview with BBC Norfolk, adding that she couldn’t make any promises on the Health Secretary’s behalf.

Continue reading »
Also posted in Press releases | Tagged , , , , , , and | 1 Comment
Advert

Recent Comments

  • paul barker
    Nine By-elections since May 7th & Reform have only won one, perhaps a sign of hope....
  • George Thomas
    I think this article is well written, thank you. This past week has seen a reminder in two different ways of when the LGBTQ+ community supported the miners and ...
  • Nick Baird
    Ajax should of course have been cancelled years ago. Unfortunately due to the sunk costs the MOD and Government seem to be converging on a plan to spend another...
  • Peter Chambers
    > The standout project is Ajax, which should be immediately cancelled. Oh if only! Ben Wallace confided that "the money is spent" and that if the programme...
  • Tristan Ward
    It has been perfectly obvious since the start of trump's second term that UK defence spending must rise. The political difficulty is equally obvious given th...