Category Archives: News

Mark Valladares

22 September 2022 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 22nd September 2022 - 11:30 pm
  • Fracking: Rural areas treated like guinea pigs
  • Interest rates: Homeowners being punished by Government failure to control inflation
  • Recession: Blame lies with Conservative MPs
  • NHS announcement an ‘A, B, C of failure’
  • Lib Dems table motion to cancel Parliament recess and scrutinise mini Budget
  • Kwarteng growth plan: Shocking admission of Conservative failure

Fracking: Rural areas treated like guinea pigs

Responding to the British Geological Survey’s Report on fracking, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said:

The government’s own experts have refused to say fracking is safe. That they choose to plough on regardless shows a callous disregard for our communities and countryside. From Surrey to Somerset, the government are treating people in rural areas like guinea pigs.

The Conservatives obsession with fracking lays bare that they don’t actually think that Climate change is happening and are not willing to take the urgent action needed. They are delaying climate action at every corner. The mask has finally slipped and is revealing Liz Truss and Jacob Reece Mogg as climate change deniers. It is bizarre that this has become their priority, rather than renewables: the cheapest and most popular form of energy.

If people suffer polluted water and dangerous earthquakes, this decision will prove unforgivable.

Interest rates: Homeowners being punished by Government failure to control inflation

Responding to the Bank of England raising interest rates by 0.5%, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

This a hammer blow to struggling homeowners who are being punished by the Government’s failure to control inflation. This monster rate rise could have been avoided if Conservative Ministers bothered to take action sooner on energy bills and the rising cost of living. Instead, the Bank of England is left with no choice but to hike mortgage costs for millions.

It is first time buyers I fear for the most, who have scrimped and saved for their first house. Tomorrow Liz Truss has to clean up the mess made by this Conservative Government and bailout families and pensioners who will suffer as a result of this mortgage hike. This should start with re-installing an Emergency Mortgage Support Fund which was cruelly scrapped by Conservative Ministers.

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NewsHound

Lib Dem MPs respond to energy and tax proposals

By NewsHound | Thu 22nd September 2022 - 3:30 pm

Lib Dems have been commenting on the plans by Liz Truss, Kwasi Kwarteng and Jacob Rees Mogg to prevent household and business bills zoom out of control over the winter.

This morning Kay Burley interviewed Sir Ed Davey on Sky News about the government’s proposals for business and household relief. Davey said he was worried about the plans to cut corporation tax. Banks and bankers are among those that will get the lion’s share of that.

They are refusing to put taxes up, which I do support. Oil and gas companies are making huge profit… There should be a windfall tax on

…

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The Voice

Jane Dodds: Cost-Of-Living, the NHS and Housing Should Be This Senedd’s Priorities

By The Voice | Thu 22nd September 2022 - 7:30 am

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS has today outlined her key priorities for the Senedd to address during its new term. These priorities are:

  • Addressing the cost-of-living crisis.
  • Tackling backlogs in the NHS and NHS dentistry.
  • Fixing problems in the Welsh housing sector.

Jane Dodds warned that the Welsh Labour-Plaid Cymru partnership in Cardiff Bay was failing to tackle these key issues and emphasised that strong action needed to be taken immediately.

Despite an announcement of an energy price freeze by UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, energy bills are still expected to be double that of last winter for most families and businesses in …

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Mark Valladares

21 September 2022 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 21st September 2022 - 10:30 pm
  • Business energy bills announcement: a temporary sticking plaster
  • IFS debt analysis: Taxpayers footing the bill for Truss’s ideological obsessions
  • Conservatives handing banks a £6 billion tax cut, new research reveals
  • Calls for an Investigation into Failed Welsh Government Insulation Schemes
  • Demands Welsh Government ‘Names and Shame’ Property Developers Failing to Act on the Building Safety Scandal
  • Dental Crisis: Only 34% of Patients in Southwark Have Been Seen by an NHS Dentist in Past Two Years

Business energy bills announcement: a temporary sticking plaster

Responding to the government announcement on bills for businesses and the public sector, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, Sarah Olney MP said:

This temporary sticking plaster comes too late for the many small businesses that already closed their doors for the last time because they couldn’t afford soaring bills.

The Conservatives have sat on their hands for months while treasured pubs, cafes and high street shops went to the wall.

This delayed announcement will leave our small businesses, schools and hospitals under a cloud of damaging uncertainty. The government have no plan beyond these next six months, paralysing businesses who need to make decisions for the long term. Support for high streets and public services should be in place for at least the next year and include measures to improve energy efficiency and cut bills in the long term.

The announcement shows the Conservatives have no plan and no understanding of the pressures facing our businesses and public services.

IFS debt analysis: Taxpayers footing the bill for Truss’s ideological obsessions

Responding to IFS analysis which shows debt is being left on an unsustainable path by the government, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney said:

Liz Truss is asking hard-pressed taxpayers to fund her ideological obsessions in the middle of the biggest cost of living crisis in a generation. This is no way to govern Britain.

The Conservatives are prioritising record oil company profits and bankers’ bonuses whilst families struggle to pay their own heating bills.

This Government has lost all sense of fiscal responsibility. Future generations will be paying off the Conservatives’ debt for years to come with no guarantee of economic growth.

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Caron Lindsay

Scottish Conference to debate a 4 day working week and nuclear power

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 20th September 2022 - 1:30 pm

Regional and national conferences will give Liberal Democrat members a much needed chance to get together over the next couple of months.

Last week, the preliminary agenda for Scottish Conference was published. The three day event will take place in Hamilton between 28 and 30 October.

There are going to be some controversial debates.  Proposals to reverse our long standing opposition to new nuclear power stations,  backing a 4 day working week, and a new model requiring local authorities to provide new homes for social buy sit alongside  more classical liberal fare on restricting employers rights to snoop on employees working at home and giving more powers to local government.

Conference will also debate a constitutional amendment, proposed by current leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, that future Scottish leaders should be allowed to be either an MP or MSP and future deputy leaders could be councillors as well as parliamentarians.

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Caron Lindsay

Martin Thomas reflects on Royal Deeside

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 18th September 2022 - 4:45 pm

When I was a student, my Summer job was as a youth hostel warden in Braemar. In July, I wandered round the gardens of Balmoral when they were open to the public. In August, if I was off on a Sunday morning, I’d take the bus to Crathie Kirk to see the Royal Family go to Church and was actually able to attend the service myself.

I was used to seeing members of the Royal Family in the village. Locals were keen to give them privacy on their much needed break.

Martin writes of his own love of Royal Deeside. He’s felt the benefit of its restorative qualities for decades, in good times and bad. I have my own reasons to be grateful to this beautiful part of the world. I met my husband there. He walked into the hostel for a night, stayed for a week and a half and left with a lot more than he had bargained for.

Anyway, back to Martin’s tribute:

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The Voice

William Wallace: Social change during the Queen’s Reign

By The Voice | Sun 18th September 2022 - 3:15 pm

Next in our series of tributes to the Queen from Lib Dem parliamentarians is from William Wallace. He has a unique perspective. Like Mary Reid, he remembers the death of her father and as a Westminster Abbey chorister sang when his coffin arrived in Westminster Hall and at the Queen’s coronation. He talks about the social change that the Queen helped along during her reign.

My Lords, I am conscious that admitting that I can remember the monarchy before Queen Elizabeth is to admit that I am well over the average age, even in this House. My first image of the monarchy was, indeed, of the Queen’s grandmother, Queen Mary, who used to come to listen to sermons in Westminster Abbey whenever a particularly radical canon, Canon Marriott, was preaching the social gospel—something which would now be considered far too left-wing for any current bishop to talk about. I learned a little more when, as a junior chorister, I sang when the coffin of George VI arrived at Westminster Hall for the lying-in-state, and rather more about the symbolic importance of the monarchy when, as a more senior chorister, I sang at the Coronation.

People have talked a lot about how much the country has changed since then. When I think back to that period, it is astonishing what sort of change we have been through. As I walked past the abbey this morning, I remembered that it was black in 1952, covered in soot. Outside, a gallery had been built for people to watch from over a bomb site, which is now the Queen Elizabeth II Centre. Inside, nearly a thousand Peers were in the north transept, in their full robes and with their coronets, and nearly a thousand Peeresses were in the south transept. In a few months’ time, when the ballot for perhaps 100 of us who wish to attend the next Coronation arrives, we should remember that social deference has ended and the social order in this country is different from what it was then.

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The Voice

Joan Walmsley: The Queen was on my side and your side

By The Voice | Sun 18th September 2022 - 1:45 pm

The next in our series of tributes to the Queen from our parliamentarians comes from Joan Walmsley.

My Lords, I shall say a few words from these Benches on behalf of myself and my co-deputy leader, my noble friend Lord Dholakia, who is unable to be with us today.

Her late Majesty, like many women, was thrown into a difficult role at a time when she least expected it, yet, like many women, she pulled herself together despite her grief and got on with her job—or her calling, as she saw it. She did it in her own way, as I am sure our new King, King Charles, will also do, adapting her approach as appropriate over the years. As the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, just said, she managed to achieve a balance between consistency and flexibility, and she did it with grace, charm, dignity and dedication. She was at the heart of her family and the nation, and supported us all in good times and in bad. We will miss her among us, as she has so often been.

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The Voice

Brian Paddick: The servant Queen

By The Voice | Sun 18th September 2022 - 12:15 pm

We are publishing tributes to the Queen from Liberal Democrat parliamentarians across the UK in the run-up to her funeral tomorrow. This is from Brian Paddick.

My Lords, I have been trying to make sense of all this, as someone who never met Her late Majesty. My mother was seven years older than Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, but when I lost my own personal life anchor, when my mother died, I felt that I still had Her Majesty the Queen.

Her late Majesty was the safest of a safe pair of hands. She was the most reliable of the people upon whom we relied; she was the greatest example of duty and dedication. I was concerned in recent years that the Queen could not possibly continue to the very end without having to abdicate as old age took its toll, yet she served to the very end—something that I feel sure she would have been very happy to achieve. Our Lord Jesus Christ is sometimes described as the servant king. Her late Majesty was surely the servant Queen. May she rest in peace.

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The Voice

Jane Dodds: She was a stateswoman like no other

By The Voice | Sun 18th September 2022 - 10:45 am

Jane Dodds paid tribute to the Queen in the Senedd.

The text is below:

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The Voice

Christine Jardine: The Queen shared our thoughts, our memories and our pain

By The Voice | Sun 18th September 2022 - 9:21 am

Our parliamentarians paid tribute to The Queen in debates held last weekend. Here is Christine Jardine’s speech:

The text, from Hansard, is below:

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George Cunningham

A special Lib Dem Winter Crisis Conference

By George Cunningham | Thu 15th September 2022 - 8:50 am

We are most likely heading into a bleak winter. The UK is in dire shape – the loss of our Queen, a lacklustre government, the economic downturn, energy and cost of living crises, strikes, ongoing Brexit consequences – maybe even the return of some COVID variant. Public support for Ukraine under these difficult circumstances must also be maintained.

This is the moment for the Lib Dems to show Britain that we have policies to deal with these critical issues. The answer could be a Special Lib Dem Conference on the Winter Crisis, as permitted by our constitution, to be held in November, just at the onset of winter, in substitution for our lost Autumn Conference.

The Federal Board and Federal Conference Committee rightly decided that the Autumn Conference could not go ahead at a time the country was in mourning. But what was unexpected was a single all-encompassing decision to completely cancel the conference rather than reschedule.

We cannot be absent ourselves from the political scene at this critical moment. The two main parties are proceeding with their conferences. The Trade Unions have postponed and will have theirs later. The FCC suggested that our parliamentary spokespersons could cover this off. But we need to take decisions and only the party membership can authorise policy through a fully-fledged decision-taking conference.

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The Voice

Refunds for Autumn Conference

By The Voice | Tue 13th September 2022 - 2:24 pm

Everyone who has registered for Conference should have received an email from Nick Da Costa, Chair of the Federal Conference Committee.

Here is an updated version of his email:

Dear All,

Rail and Accommodation update

Those of you registered from Conference will shortly receive the below email following updates from National Rail and Visit Brighton. Visit Brighton have also reached out directly to people who have booked hotels.

The Conference Team will also be reaching out soon regarding registrations, but I wanted to give you an update on this items in the first instance. There will be more updates from the team when we can

…

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Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 12 September 2022 – a time to reflect…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 12th September 2022 - 7:30 am

In my professional life, I have been expected to answer incoming calls with “Her Majesty’s…” and, for most of my thirty-six years of service, that’s what I’ve done, with a degree of pride, both in my organisation but also a reflection of the fact that I serve the monarch, albeit through her government. It is slightly odd to realise that I’m going to have to change that.

But change, I guess, is inevitable. And, whilst intellectually it was obvious that the Queen would eventually die, there was that curious sense that she wouldn’t because, what it would be like without her? …

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Caron Lindsay

Dick Newby: The Queen championed community, generosity, kindness and service to others

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 11th September 2022 - 2:30 pm

The next in our series of tributes to the Queen comes from our Leader in the Lords, Dick Newby. He talked of her serenity in times of trauma and the values of

My Lords, it is only a matter of weeks since your Lordships’ House met to pay tribute to the Queen on the occasion of her Platinum Jubilee. On that occasion, we knew that the Queen was already in frail health, but nobody contemplated that her reign had such a short period ahead of it. Because the Queen is the only monarch most people have known and was a permanent, reassuring presence in a challenging and rapidly changing world, her death has clearly come to millions as a great shock. For all but the oldest among us, a hitherto ever-present feature of British life has been removed and a deep sense of loss is felt not just by my generation, but by many of our children and grandchildren, for whom one might have thought that the Queen was a distant and possibly irrelevant figure.

What was the basis of this universal appeal? I suggest that it is because she demonstrated qualities that appeal across and down the ages. She was constant. As the world changed, as Prime Ministers and Presidents came and went, she exuded a sense of serenity and calm and, in times of national trauma and tragedy, a sense that these difficulties were surmountable, that they should be met with fortitude and that they would pass. She was unwavering in her commitment to the service of the nation and to her duty to represent its traditions and values, but she was sensitive to changing times, realising that the monarchy too had to change—had to be more open, more accessible and more accountable for everything it did. She was empathetic. For someone whose daily life was as different as it is possible to be from that of the vast majority of her subjects, she had an ability to communicate with them as individuals, to put them at ease and to make them feel truly special.

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The Voice

Alistair Carmichael recounts being told off by the Queen over horse show clash

By The Voice | Sun 11th September 2022 - 11:47 am

Next up in our Parliamentarians’ tributes to the Queen is Alistair Carmichael who has some very funny stories to tell about the Queen, including the time when she expressed disapproval about the State Opening of Parliament clashing with the first day of the Windsor Horse Show:

The text is below:

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Michal Siewniak

Queen Elizabeth II – a truly remarkable individual

By Michal Siewniak | Sun 11th September 2022 - 8:32 am

I almost remember like it was yesterday. In June 2012, literally after leaving hospital, I had an opportunity to meet the Queen in Hatfield House. I am certain, whether someone is a royalist or not, meeting the Queen is quite a special moment. I was invited as a result of my work with the Polish community in Welwyn Hatfield. My short encounter with the British Monarch lasted maybe 2 minutes. She asked me about my nationality, what I did for a living and whether I was happy to move to the UK from Poland. At that time, she was already 86. Apart from me, she met another 20-30 people. She looked “intellectually sharp” and genuinely interested in what I was saying. Her gentle smile, “down to earth” personality and a simple “being in the moment” with some strangers; I was impressed. 

Moreover, only less than a week ago, on Saturday 3rd September, I was visiting Aberdeen and my Polish cousin, who has just completed his Degree in dentistry. We actually visited Balmoral Castle, which feels now, at least for me, like a historical moment…

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Richard Gadsden

How to get a refund for Advance Train Tickets to Conference

By Richard Gadsden | Sat 10th September 2022 - 9:19 pm

Like many Liberal Democrats, I booked train tickets for the just-cancelled Conference in Brighton many months ago to save money. Advance tickets are not normally refundable, so when conference was cancelled, I was concerned that I was going to be out of pocket for the price of return tickets.

When I checked, though, it turns out that there is still a COVID policy until 30 September 2022: Advance tickets can be exchanged for rail travel vouchers for any reason, so you get a full refund for the value of the ticket. I’ll be using my vouchers to travel to York in the Spring, and I hope this will help more of you to be able to afford to be there so I can see you all, and in the words of the Queen: “We’ll meet again”.

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Caron Lindsay

Autumn Conference is cancelled

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 10th September 2022 - 7:46 pm

This afternoon, Federal Board met to discuss a recommendation from Federal Conference Committee that our  Autumn Conference should be cancelled. It was due to take place in Brighton from 17-20 September. The sad death of the Queen, and her funeral on 19th September, on the penultimate day, meant that  FCC had to think about what to do. They spent a lot of time looking at all sorts of options, working with party staff.

Both Federal Board and Federal Conference Committee are made up of people who love going to Conference. It’s one of the great loves of my life. There is nothing like the joy of being amongst the Lib Dem family. It’s not something I would take away from anyone lightly. And that is exactly the same for everyone else involved in the decision.

At the heart of our discussions was the impact on members, emotional and financial and the Conference Access Fund will be pressed into operation to help those with unrefundable costs. The more donations it gets, the more people it can help. Had I been going, I’d have been going out for dinner and drinking in the bar, so I will certainly be donating some of that money that I would have spent anyway to help others.

Nick Da Costa, the Chair of FCC, sent this email to members registered for Conference earlier. The text is below.

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Caron Lindsay

Layla Moran’ shares constituents’ memories of the Queen

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 10th September 2022 - 2:30 pm

Next up in our parliamentarians’ tributes to the Queen is Layla Moran. She shared some memories of the Queen sent to her by constituents, including her response to a wee girl who asked her why she wasn’t wearing a crown.

 

The full text is below:

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The Voice

Tim Farron tells of the top tip the Queen gave him

By The Voice | Sat 10th September 2022 - 11:19 am

MPs and peers have been paying tribute to HM the Queen. We’ll post the videos and text over the next few days. Here is Tim Farron’s in which he tells of a good piece of advice the Queen gave him when he was a new MP.

The full text is below:

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The Voice

Ed Davey’s tribute in the House of Commons today

By The Voice | Fri 9th September 2022 - 3:45 pm

Ed Davey spoke movingly in the Commons today.

 

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The Voice

HM Queen Elizabeth II 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022

By The Voice | Thu 8th September 2022 - 6:55 pm

It is a moment that we all knew was going to come at some point in the not too distant future. Even so, the announcement of the Queen’s passing comes as a shock. It’s hard to take in that someone whose face you have seen every day of your life in some form is no longer with us.

Senior Liberal Democrats have remarked on her passing.

Ed Davey said:

We are all deeply mourning the profound loss of a great monarch, who served our country so faithfully all her life and who was loved the world over.

“For many people, including myself, The Queen was an ever-fixed mark in our lives. As the world changed around us and politicians came and went, The Queen was our nation’s constant.

“The Queen represented duty and courage, as well as warmth and compassion. She was a living reminder of our collective past, of the greatest generation and their sacrifices for our freedom.

“My thoughts and prayers today go especially to the Royal Family. And they also go to people in every corner of the world whose lives she touched. Today our family of nations is in mourning, as we also remember the steadfastness, resolve and love Queen Elizabeth brought to the world.”

Welsh Lib Dem Leader Jane Dodds said:

I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. My thoughts are with the King, her majesty’s other children, grandchildren and all those close to her at this difficult time.

“Her Majesty’s passing, without a doubt, does mark the end of a very long, and indeed a seminal chapter in the history of our nations and for most people her presence has been one of the few constants throughout their lives.

“Throughout her life, Her Majesty served the country with the absolute greatest dedication, honour and dignity. From serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War Two, to taking the time to speak to local schoolchildren at the opening of the Senedd last year, she never once shied away from public duty.

“Her life will forever be interlinked with that of a period of great change within the UK and although many today would struggle to recognise the world she had been born into, she always seemed to belong very much here today in the present.

“Her Majesty was always a great friend to Wales and she will be deeply missed within the UK, the Commonwealth and further afield. I pray that her journey into the next stage has been peaceful and that she is at rest.”

Scottish Lib Dem Leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

Queen Elizabeth II represented perhaps the greatest life of public service in the history of our country. Our family of nations is in mourning.

“For seven decades she has been our country’s most recognisable ambassador. Whether it be her wartime service, her patronage of more than 600 charities or her Covid-19 broadcast to the nation, she has been a beacon for so many people. The Queen was loved and touched lives the world over.

“She will be remembered not only as the longest reigning monarch these isles have ever seen but as a steadfast and loyal sovereign, devoted to the wellbeing of her people,

“In 1947, the 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth declared to the British Commonwealth that her whole life, whether it be long or short, would be devoted to its service. By any measure that promise has been more than fulfilled.

“The thoughts of myself, my family and all of the Scottish Liberal Democrats are with the Queen’s family and friends at this time.

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Caron Lindsay

“Phony Freeze” – Ed Davey calls out Government as bills double from last year

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 8th September 2022 - 12:59 pm

Ed Davey has accused the Conservatives of bringing in a “phony freeze” on energy bills, after it emerged the average family will see their heating costs almost double this winter compared to last year.

Here he is challenging the Prime Minister:

Under the plans set out by Liz Truss today, energy costs will be capped at £2,500 a year for the average home, almost double the £1,277 the cap was set at last October. It is also an increase of over £500 on the current price cap.

Liberal Democrats were the first to call for energy bills to be properly frozen by keeping the current cap in place, funded by a tougher windfall tax on the record profits of oil and gas companies.

Ed said:

This phony freeze will still leave struggling families and pensioners facing impossible choices this winter as energy bills almost double.

Liz Truss and the Conservatives are choosing to allow this huge hike to people’s heating costs, while refusing to properly tax the eye-watering profits of oil and gas companies.

This is a deliberate choice and it is the wrong one. People are furious that once again the Conservatives are on the side of oil and gas giants making record profits rather than families struggling to make ends meet.

The point about a cap being funded at least in part by a windfall tax is an important one. Why should huge energy companies get an unexpected £170 billion bonanza and not have to contribute at all, yet a household on the average wage gets a huge hike in their bills this Winter?

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The Voice

Liam McArthur lodges Assisted Dying Bill

By The Voice | Thu 8th September 2022 - 8:37 am

Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney,  will today lodge a final proposal in the Scottish Parliament for his Members Bill  which would enable assisted dying in Scotland if passed.

A report detailing the responses to the public consultation on the bill’s proposals will also be published. In total, 14,038 consultation responses were received – the highest number of responses received to date for a consultation on a proposed Members Bill.

The report’s findings include:

  • A clear majority of respondents, 76%, were fully supportive of the proposal, with a further 2% partially supportive.
  • Many respondents gave first-hand experiences of living with, and caring for, family, friends and patients with a terminal illness who had experienced great pain and suffered what was often described as a “bad death”.
  • The majority of respondents believe that assisted dying should be available for terminally ill people in Scotland, as it is in other parts of the world, and that a humane society should make provision to spare its dying people from unbearable pain and suffering and allow them the autonomy to legally choose to end their lives in a safe and regulated manner.
  • Many supportive respondents believe the proposal is an improvement on previous attempts to legislate for assisted dying and are fully satisfied with the proposed safeguards. Many believe that the proposal successfully balances the provision of a right to assisted death for competent terminally ill adults with a clear and appropriate set of safeguards built in to every step of the process, together with a right for health professionals involved to conscientiously object.

Liam said:

The public consultation received an overwhelming response and I am grateful to everyone who took the time to engage in this vitally important process.

It is clear that a majority of people who responded are in favour of a new assisted dying law in Scotland and that the choices we have around how we die is an issue that needs addressing.

As well as thoughtful perspectives on how an assisted dying law would work in Scotland, I have heard from dying people who would very much like to have this choice available to them as their illness progresses. People who, right now, face a series of unimaginable choices and would have peace of mind in their final months knowing that if they need it when the time comes they can have a peaceful death that is right for them.

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Mark Valladares

7 September 2022 – today’s (other) press release

By Mark Valladares | Wed 7th September 2022 - 10:30 pm

Rural families in fuel poverty risk becoming “forgotten victims” as they face £450 bigger hit from energy price rise

Families living in fuel poverty in rural areas are set to be left £450 poorer than urban ones by October’s energy price rise, research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The analysis by the House of Commons Library shows that the average “fuel poverty gap,” the additional income that would be needed to bring a household to the point of not being fuel poor, is set to rise to a staggering £1,050 in rural areas in October. This compares to a projected fuel poverty gap of £600 in urban areas. It means fuel poor homes in rural areas will need around twice as much support to bring them out of fuel poverty than those in urban areas.

Meanwhile, rural households with the poorest insulation rating (energy efficiency rating of F or G) are expected to see a shocking average fuel poverty gap of £3,350.

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Mary Reid

Helen Morgan poses question at PMQs

By Mary Reid | Wed 7th September 2022 - 1:21 pm

Helen Morgan asked a question of Liz Truss at her first Prime Minister’s Questions.

Helen referred to the waiting times for ambulances and said:

Will the Prime Minister get a grip on this grave situation and commission the CQC to investigate the causes of and the solutions to the ambulance service’s delays?

In response the PM agreed that people should not have to wait as long as they are for ambulances, and stated that it was one of the priorities laid out by the new Health Secretary Thérèse Coffey. I suppose that was the least she could have said, but there was no commitment to taking an obvious route and getting the Care Quality Commission to carry out an investigation.

Yesterday Liz Truss outlined her own three main priorities – sorting out the economy, dealing with the energy crisis and making sure everyone can get an appointment with a GP and get the services they need. Given the many problems in the NHS at the moment that third commitment seemed curiously lacking in ambition. Whilst she elaborated on the other two priorities, on the NHS all she said was “We will put our health service on a firm footing.”

No mention of the dangerous delays for ambulances to arrive followed by long, long waits outside hospitals or inside in A&E. No mention of the critical shortage of medical staff. No mention of the backlog in discharges from hospitals because of lack of capacity in care homes. No mention of the huge waiting lists for surgery and other treatments.

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Mark Valladares

6 September 2022 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 6th September 2022 - 11:15 pm
  • Davey: Make energy bosses pay for freezing of bills, not our children
  • Truss Speech: Only way to end crisis is to get the Conservatives out of power
  • Chope appointment to Partygate inquiry – government backs down

Davey: Make energy bosses pay for freezing of bills, not our children

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has warned that Liz Truss’ plan to make taxpayers pay for the freezing of energy bills would “make our children pick up the tab”, while letting the oil and gas companies raking in record profits off the hook.

It comes as the Liberal Democrat Leader introduces legislation in Parliament today to bring in a tougher windfall tax on companies like BP and Shell that are raking in huge profits, to fund the freezing of energy bills.

The proposed Liberal Democrat Bill would prohibit Ofgem from increasing the energy price cap above its current level in October, funded by extending and backdating the windfall tax. It also calls for small businesses to be supported with their bills, paid for by reversing Conservative tax breaks for banks.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Liz Truss spent weeks during this summer leadership contest leaving families and pensioners worried and in limbo by refusing to set out her plans to tackle soaring energy bills. Now she seems set to make our children pick up the tab for this mess, while letting oil and gas firms making record profits off the hook.

It shows Liz Truss and the Conservatives are completely out of touch with the British people.

The Liberal Democrats have today tabled legislation to protect people and businesses from sky-high heating bills this winter. This would be paid for by a tougher windfall tax on oil and gas companies and the scrapping of Conservative tax cuts for big banks.

That would be a much fairer and more responsible way to tackle rising energy bills than even more borrowing for taxpayers to pay back in the future.

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The Voice

Daisy Cooper slams Truss speech and Ed Davey calls for General Election

By The Voice | Tue 6th September 2022 - 8:04 pm

Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper has absolutely slammed Liz Truss’s speech on the steps of Number 10.

It did nothing, she said, for the business owners who were scared that they might have to close their businesses in days if not weeks.

She criticised the reported Truss plan on energy bills, saying that she should pay for it by taxing the energy companies’ massive profits rather than through general taxation.

Ed Davey was up early this morning. A friend of mine on Twitter saw him keeping warm with a Pret coffee. He explained to BBC Breakfast why the Government should tax energy firms:

 

Ed also called for a General Election to get the Tories out of power once and for all:

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Ben Lawrie

Reflections on my first year as Drugs Policy spokesperson

By Ben Lawrie | Tue 6th September 2022 - 10:55 am

It’s been a year since Alex Cole-Hamilton appointed me  Scottish Lib Dem  spokesperson for Drugs Policy. This is a new portfolio shadowing the Minister for Drugs Policy Angela Constance in response to an increasing trend of drug-related deaths in Scotland that has made us the Overdose Capital of Europe.

Since my appointment I have sought to learn, make connections and speak to people most affected by substance misuse while putting forward common sense proposals such as accelerating the rollout of Naloxone (overdose prevention kits), introducing supervised consumption centres, and calling for widespread drug law reform at the UK level. Here’s one TV interview with GB News where I put forward such proposals:

My primary focus  is reducing overdoses and drug-related deaths.  My first job involved travelling to Holyrood to attend a vigil  for Overdose Awareness Day.

I spoke to people who have lived with addictions and families who have lost loved ones to overdose. I even had the honour of meeting Peter Krykant, a former addict who took action into his own hands to start up Scotland’s first ever mobile overdose prevention centre in the back of a van. After being shown around the back of Peter’s old ambulance which  he’s modified into a mobile safe consumption centre, and upon hearing about all the lives he had saved, I was struck by the power of direct action, and how often it’s ordinary people taking matters in to their own hands who achieve far more than Government Ministers ever can.

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