Rishi Sunak will (not) be kissing the King’s hand this morning.
Here’s some of the Lib Dem reaction to Sunak’s elevation:
The Conservatives have trashed our economy, pushed health services to the brink, and added hundreds of pounds to people’s mortgage payments.
Now Conservative MPs have installed another out-of-touch Prime Minister without giving you a say.
We need General Election NOW.
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) October 24, 2022
Lib Dems table Bill calling for general election by December
The Liberal Democrats have tabled a Bill in Parliament today calling for an early general election by 1st December 2022.
The Bill will be tabled in Parliament today (Monday 24th October) and will be given its First Reading on Wednesday after Prime Minister’s Questions.
The Liberal Democrats are urging Conservative MPs to back the …
Quite extraordinary times. Immediate reactions from journalists from all countries around the globe. Some joy, uncertainty, consternation and a bit of hope. Most certainly a mixture of emotions.
If someone told me that the last Prime Minister will last less than 50 days, I would not believe it. If someone told me that a new Prime Minister, who actually lost to Liz Truss only 6 weeks ago, will become the new Leader of Britain, I would also not believe.
I suppose that the election of the new Leader of the Conservative Party and the Prime Minister can be looked at from …
And so, true to form, a man without loyalty to anyone but himself bails out, leaving his supporters in the lurch. Given how many times he did exactly that as Prime Minister, one does wonder how, indeed why, people keep falling for his schtick.
Does this mean that we have a coronation for the leadership of the Conservative Party, or will Johnson supporters opt to switch to Penny Mordaunt in the hope of denying Rishi? Time is short, but such a thing isn’t impossible and, given the membership’s proven judgement, could Rishi win over the members? If the individual who …
Rishi standing: The Chancellor that hiked taxes on hardworking families and lost billions of pounds
Responding to Rishi Sunak’s announcement that he is standing in the Conservative leadership election, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Daisy Cooper MP said
Rishi Sunak cannot be trusted to steer our country through this cost of living crisis. He was the Chancellor that hiked taxes on hardworking families and lost billions of pounds of taxpayers money to covid
…
If I were Rishi Sunak, I wouldn’t feel too happy about Boris Johnson’s statement tonight. The disgraced former PM said that he had 102 MPs willing to nominate him, though only a few shy of 60 have been willing to own that publicly. However, he said that he was not going to submit his nomination because:
You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.
There’s an undercurrent of “and neither can you, Rishi.”
He is showing the likely soon to be PM that he is going to have some shenanigans to deal with in the parliamentary party.
And look how he puts in people’s minds that Rishi is a wee bit short of democratic legitimacy:
I have been attracted because I led our party into a massive election victory less than three years ago – and I believe I am therefore uniquely placed to avert a general election now.
A general election would be a further disastrous distraction just when the government must focus on the economic pressures faced by families across the country.
Whether his group of acolytes would actually force a general election remains to be seen, but he’s making sure that Rishi knows that he could if we wanted to.
Some will think that this was his cunning plan all along – to show off his own power.
This way he gets to lie on Caribbean beaches when he should be in Parliament, and make a fortune on the speaking circuit in the States, while being a thorn in the side of his successor. He might consider that a good position to be in.
For the rest of us, it signals more political chaos and distraction from what the people of this country need.
Our Deputy Leader, Daisy Cooper, has repeated our call for a General Election now, calling the Tory leadership contest a farce:
Such a crazy time in UK politics might tempt us to look to the USA mid-term elections for some light relief. Sadly, disappointment awaits us at the other side of the pond.
I doubt whether the US mid-term election results will provide any light. Indeed, a great deal of heat and frustration is likely to accompany the outcome.
I won’t, for a second, make any predictions, aside from advising all to adopt the brace position. Prepare for whatever you perceive as the worst outcome.
t’s tempting seeing the fall in the Tory poll ratings and the turmoil in Government as presaging a disastrous General Election for them. But we have been here before – in the early summer of 2019 they were regular getting polls ratings in the 17-24% range and they lost 1,300 councillors that May and yet they went on to win a General Election a few months later.
If there is one thing we know about the electorate it is that it has become hugely volatile with voters much more willing to switch parties which is great in many ways but may still work against us.
Nor can we assume a continuous economic crisis: The EY Item Club Forecast has inflation dropping to 1.8% in 2024 with growth of 2.4%. There is plenty of economic pain in store for 2023 with average earnings continuing to fall but we should not under estimate the Tory’s ability to present lower inflation as an achievement of theirs.
The Tories are probably the most electorally successful party in the world: they have an extraordinary ability to reinvent themselves -helped of course by vast amounts of money and a formidable lack of scruples in how they fight elections.
Good news/bad news on the Ukraine front.
Good news is that Ukrainian military are now making progress. It is also good news that Vladimir Putin has declared martial law in the parts of Ukraine he recently annexed and imposed lesser but still severe restrictions on other parts of Russia. The crackdown is a sure sign of lack of public support.
Bad news that the Russians have started bombing Ukrainian power generating and water pumping stations. So far about a third of the country has lost power. It will be a dark, cold winter for Ukrainians who may also lose water supplies.
Good news on the economic front. The Ukrainian economy is actually growing. This is mainly due to a stable banking system backed up by $23 billion in Western loans to secure currency reserves. But the loans would have been ineffective if the Ukrainians had not cleaned up their banking system which a few years ago was one of the most corrupt in Europe.
Good and Bad News also on the EU front. They are having another summit as I write this and at the top of the agenda will be how Europe can weather the energy crisis. The bad news is that the European Council has to discuss this issue because the richer countries are bowing to domestic demands to outbid the poorer EU countries for gas and oil supplies. The good news is that they are at least discussing the problem.
Other bad news is that it appears that Iran is involving itself in Ukraine on the Russian side. The drones attacking Ukrainian power stations were made in Iran and there are reports that Tehran is also supplying Russia with trainers and surface to air missiles. The Iranians publicly disapprove of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but, more importantly, they hate America.
President Emmanuel Macron had developed a reputation for being more interested in locating Putin’s golden exit ramp than prosecuting the war. As such he was not Volodomyr Zelensky’s most popular Western leader. That perception is changing. This week France announced that they were sending a quarter of their high-tech Caesar cannon to Ukraine. They also announced training facilities for 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers and the dispatch of French anti-aircraft systems and radar. The French still lag well behind the British and Germans, but they are now committing themselves to increased military backing for Ukraine.
Until the 2019 General Election, David Gauke had been Conservative MP for South West Hertfordshire for 14 years. One of the voices of reason on Brexit, he ended up losing the Conservative whip just before Boris Johnson’s illegal prorogation of Parliament when the opposition seized control of the parliamentary timetable to pass Hilary Benn’s Act aimed at preventing a no deal Brexit.
Like most of the country, he recognises the dangers of allowing Boris Johnson to return to Number 10 and has come up with an idea. He wants Ed Davey and Keir Starmer to invite Johnson’s opponents amongst Conservative MPs to force a General Election. In return, Labour and the Lib Dems would not oppose those Conservative MPs with majorities over 10,000 in that election if they stood as Independents against new Conservative candidates.
Mr Gauke set out his thinking in a Twitter thread:
If Boris Johnson became PM again, given the views of many Tory MPs, this is what I’d be tempted to say if I was Keir Starmer or Ed Davey: “The PM is not fit for office. Nor is the Tory Party. We know that many honourable Tory MPs feel the same way. Now is the time for all MPs who put the national interest first to come together & force a General Election. It is a lot to ask Tory MPs to do this but, because this is a national emergency, we are prepared to make a bold & generous offer. We say to those Tory MPs with majorities bigger than , who are motivated by national interest & not just saving their seat, that if they vote with us in supporting a GE, we will not stand against them in their seats if they run as independents.
This offer might just persuade a sufficient number of Conservative MPs – who cannot face being led by Johnson again – to leave the party & back a GE. The other parties might be foregoing some seats they’d win but they’d get their GE (and plenty more seats).
I get where he is coming from. Between us, Lib Dems, Labour and Greens took over 14,900 votes in South West Herts in 2019. Gauke, standing as an Independent, was beaten by the Conservative by 14,200. We are agreed that we must have a General Election now, but Lib Dems would argue that whoever is the Conservative leader, not just Boris.
Britain’s political classes have finally recognised the elephant in the room. It is now safe again to utter the B-word.
Brexit was embraced (narrowly) first in the 2016 referendum and then again in the 2017 general election.
Political leaders decided that the issue was decided and to press for a return to the EU would damage electoral chances.
The Labour Party decided to work on the basis of trying to achieve the best of a bad job. The Liberal Democrats, who had led the charge against Brexit, remain committed to EU membership as a “long-term aim” but have shelved it for the short and medium term.
But then they had not foreseen the logical consequence of Brexit—the disastrous mini-premiership of Liz Truss.
They should have. Truss clearly stated her plans in her campaign for the Conservative Party leadership. And before that it was outlined in detail in the 2012 book “Britannia Unchained” written by Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng along with Chris Skidmore, Priti Patel and Dominic Raab – all ministers in Boris Johnson’s “Get Brexit Done” government.
Truss has repeatedly stated that Britain is a “bloated state with high taxes and excessive regulation” and that the country’s workers are “among the worst idlers in the world” Her solution—and that of the libertarian right-wing of the Conservative Party—was cut taxes, throw out regulations, reduce public spending, and establish tax-free enterprise zones to attract foreign companies. Controlling immigration was not a core policy. It was a useful sidecar bandwagon which could be used to attract voters.
None of the above could be done as members of the European Union. Brussels is a maze of regulations designed to protect workers’ rights, the environment, consumer rights, freedom of movement and competition between member states and their companies.
The only way for the libertarian Tories to achieve their aims was by “taking back control” from Brussels.
Block Boris: Parliamentary motion tabled to stop Boris Johnson
The Liberal Democrats have tabled a motion in Parliament to block Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister again.
The motion seeks to stop MPs who were found to have broken the law while in government from becoming Prime Minister. The Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper has described Johnson as “Britain’s Berlusconi” and said he is not fit to govern Britain.
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said:
Boris Johnson is Britain’s Berlusconi. Conservative MPs are
…
It has been a slightly mixed week for the Lib Dems in by-elections – with both fantastic gains and some tough losses. A huge positive is there were Liberal Democrat candidates in all 5 principal by-elections on Thursday night.
It’s important to stand a candidate in all by-elections and give voters the opportunity to support the Lib Dems – and we did this in every by-election this week. So thank you to everyone who stood for us.
We start the roundup with a superb gain on Guildford Borough Council from the Conservatives. Congratulations to Councillor Richard Morris and the local team for gaining Tillingbourne ward with a 16% increase in the vote.
Guildford BC, Tillingbourne ward
Liberal Democrat (Richard Morris): 636
Conservative: 293
Residents for Guildford & Villages: 185
Green: 168
Labour: 85
We were extremely unlucky in Fareham Borough Council as we lost Porchester East ward by just 25 votes. It is always gutting to lose out by such a tiny margin. Thank you the our candidate Ciaran Urry-Tuttiett and the Lib Dem team there for all your hard work.
Fareham BC, Porchester East ward
Conservative: 957
Liberal Democrat (Ciaran Urry-Tuttiett): 932
Labour: 379
Independent: 275
The Westminster model of politics and government is broken. A change of prime minister will make little difference to the deep divisions within both our major parties, and the deterioration in the quality of policy-making. A change of government can only make things a bit better, but sadly not that much. We need a major set of changes in the framework of constitutional government.
That’s not at all easy, in spite of the polling evidence of popular disillusion with Westminster politics, particularly among young people, the decline in membership of all parties, growing discontent with government instability in the business world and painful awareness in Whitehall that British prestige and international influence is slipping. Nor that unless we change our structure and methods of government, both Scotland and Northern Ireland will probably leave the UK within the next 10-15 years. Keir Starmer, the most likely prime minister after the next election, is cautious, concerned to hold his fractious party together, looking forward to grasping the levers of central government without weakening the powers of No.10.
Labour, of course, is part of the problem. Its leaders cling to the current political and electoral systems because they guarantee Labour a shot at power when our governing Conservatives fall apart. They look across the Channel at what happened to social democratic parties in France, Italy and elsewhere and cling to a system with high barriers against alternative parties, holding in place two centrally-funded organizations which parachute their favoured candidates into seats across the country.
Yes, Labour constituency parties voted in favour of a more open system of voting. But the party leadership doesn’t want to press that case, and (rightly in current circumstances) gives higher priority to effective government in the context of a national emergency, a war in eastern Europe and a global recession. So we are going to have to work hard to persuade the incoming government, the commentariat and the wider public that rebuilding public trust in democracy, and strengthening the checks and balances that make for stable constitutional government – which Boris Johnson did so much to weaken – need to be part of the next government’s agenda.
We will have to work with friends across parties to make the case for political reform. Yes, PR is an essential part of any reform, but we shouldn’t start with that if we want to win over the hesitant, but explain why it’s important to include it in any political reform package. And we shouldn’t talk about ‘PR’, an offputting acronym: offer the choice between the Scottish and the Irish systems, both of which work and neither of which confuse their voters.
Today Wendy Chamberlain spoke on her Carer’s Leave Bill, which has cross-party support and passed its second reading.
It was a great privilege to lead a debate on my Carer's Leave Bill today and to have it pass onto the next stage of becoming law.
The Bill would create a right would give an estimated 2.3 million carers across the UK a statutory right to take five days of unpaid leave per year. pic.twitter.com/zjScrQEGcN
— Wendy Chamberlain MP (@wendychambLD) October 21, 2022
Carer’s UK have described this as a ‘landmark’ piece of legislation which would help carers to better balance work and care.
Last month Wendy held an event with major employers to explain her proposals, which were met with widespread support. She points out this is only a small step to recognise the vitally important work of unpaid carers but one that will be appreciated. There are already systems in place to support parents in their caring responsibilities, but nothing for those who care for adults, usually family members.
Scottish Lib Dems added their support.
"Millions of carers across the UK have to juggle their work with the responsibilities of looking after of loved ones.
This Bill would give them some much-needed flexibility to cope with these challenges."@wendychambLD pic.twitter.com/W2UeeB6NK4
— Scottish Lib Dems (@scotlibdems) October 21, 2022
Lib Dems have been busy today dealing with the fallout from the resignation of Britain’s shortest ever Prime Minister. I’ll rephrase that – the British Prime Minister who served for the shortest time in office EVER (although the original version is probably also true, if of no political significance).
First, all departing Prime Ministers are entitled to an annual allowance for the rest of their lives of £115,000 to cover office costs. This was covered in a press release yesterday, where Christine Jardine is urging her not to take it. Today Ed Davey told LBC radio:
Most people have to work at least 35 years to get a full state pension. I think working 45 days shouldn’t give you a pension that is many many times what ordinary people out there get after a lifetime of work.
Second, traditionally Prime Ministers can hand out peerages and other honours in a resignation list. Boris Johnson has only just honoured 29 people in that way. Another tranche following so soon from Liz Truss would be completely inappropriate. Wendy Chamberlain, Lib Dem Chief Whip, has written to the Chair of Parliamentary and Political Service Committee:
As you know, it is traditional upon a Prime Minister’s departure from office for them to issue a ‘Resignation Honours’ list. This list signifies individuals who are to be rewarded with an honour from the King which, in turn, would be considered by your committee.
However, because of the unprecedented circumstances surrounding Liz Truss’s tenure and resignation, I am writing to urge you and the committee to reject any Resignation Honours list put forward by her.
Liz Truss will be the shortest serving Prime Minister in British political history. It is possible that by the time she formally resigns, she will not have held office for more than 50 days.
I do not believe that it would be appropriate for Liz Truss to be permitted to issue a resignation honours list, given the extremely short length of her tenure.
I urge you to make it clear that you and your fellow committee members would not sign off on any such honours, which would be the second list in a matter of months.
Third, there is a lot of concern that Boris Johnson is thinking of entering the leadership contest. This was, of course, the Prime Minister who was only persuaded to stand down after 50 ministers resigned. As also mentioned in press releases our MPs have now tabled a motion to stop anyone who has broken the law while in Government from ever becoming Prime Minister. It reads:
That this House believes that the upholding of standards by its Members is of vital importance to the functioning of UK democracy; believes that it is vital that the Prime Minister and Ministers uphold these standards; and therefore resolves that any honourable or right honourable member that is found to have broken the law whilst in Government should be barred from holding Prime Ministerial Office.
It may be tempting for the Liberal Democrats to move to the right to capture support from Conservative voters following the collapse of their party at Westminster. But let’s not do that. Remember what happened the last time we moved in with the Tories – years of austerity and near oblivion for our party.
Instead we should see the opportunity presented by the Conservatives’ collapse as a chance to become the party of new ideas. Ideas like decentralisation, green growth and an economy which is an equal partnership between the government and independent organisations. Successful modern economies across Europe are moving towards a 50/50 relationship between the state and commercial companies, social enterprises and charities.
The Truss government proved once and for all that the “low tax, high growth” model does not work. Even the financial markets don’t believe in it any more.
We need to shake off the nostalgic picture we have of Britain as a manufacturing and exporting country. We are a service-based economy. Manufacturing only accounts for 10 per cent of our national income, exports account for only a third, and most of those are services, such as finance, insurance, scientific expertise, education and tourism.
We should expose the Tory myth that foreign investment, or indeed any commercial investment, is the key to growth. Companies will only invest if there is a demand for their products or services and that depends on enough people having enough spending power. Tax rates are only a consideration once you have made a profit.
And while we are at it, let’s destroy another Tory myth, that the only way to tackle poverty is by growing the economy. We could just divide up the existing cake more fairly.
In short, the Liberal Democrats should become the party that tells the truth.
Chamberlain to lead debate on Carer’s Leave Bill
North East Fife MP Wendy Chamberlain will tomorrow lead a debate in the House of Commons on her Carer’s Leave Bill, after which it will be voted on by MPs. The Bill would give carers the right to take unpaid leave and has cross-party support.
Ms Chamberlain’s Private Member’s Bill would give an estimated 2.3 million carers across the UK a statutory right to take five days of unpaid leave per year. Carer’s UK have described this as a ‘landmark’ piece of legislation which would help carers to better balance work and care.
The Bill …
You don’t expect press releases to become obsolete quite so quickly but the past forty-eight hours have been historic (or hysterical, depending upon your perspective), so these, published in chronological order, perhaps sum up the events of the day…
Trevelyan refuses to back Truss: Conservatives way past their sell by date
Responding to the latest Conservative chaos, with Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan failing to to answer whether Liz Truss will lead the Conservatives into the next election, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain said:
Liz Truss and the Conservatives are way past their sell by date. This is a government that can’t govern, led by a prime minister whose authority has been totally shredded.
People worried sick about how to pay the bills are looking on aghast at this never ending chaos and incompetence. The Conservatives must stop clinging to power and give the country the general election it needs.
NHS waiting list in Wales hits three-quarters of a million as health service “brought to its knees”
Responding to the news that the NHS Wales backlog has now hit 750,000 Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:
Behind these figures are countless human tragedies. In every corner of the country people are frightened, suffering and waiting in pain because our NHS can no longer cope.
Labour is letting the NHS fall to its knees and patients are paying the price. Wales routinely has the worse health figures in Britain despite all nations facing similar challenges. This cannot go on.
The Government must come forward with a proper plan to bring down waiting times and recruit and retain more NHS staff. The Welsh Liberal Democrats will continue to call for greater investment in primary healthcare facilities, GPs and social care.
We must prevent people from getting so ill they require either treatment in A&E or complex treatment paths if we are to reduce pressures on the system, this starts at ensuring people can access their GP easily. We also need to ensure patients can be discharged safely once their treatment is finished.
Truss resigns: Conservatives must do patriotic duty and back election
Responding to Liz Truss resigning as Prime Minister, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
“I have just publicly congratulated a lettuce.” Now there’s a sentence I never thought I would write. But after six weeks in which the Government had descended into a destructive and self-destructive parody, it seemed appropriate. The Daily Star’s “Can Liz Truss outlast a lettuce” livestream was childish, but appealed to our sense of the ridiculous as our politics became more absurd.
My plan for yesterday evening was to watch the Doctor Who Easter special. I knew it would shred my emotions, so I’d been putting it off, but the thirteenth Doctor’s tenure ends on Sunday so I’d better get on with it. Anyway, Channel 4’s Gary Gibbon started to explain the bizarre events in the Commons voting lobbies and I ended up binging on the news channels until I fell asleep.
Of all the weird things about last night, the strangest was that the vote didn’t even matter. It was on an opposition motion, which the Government usually just ignores. What on earth possessed them to make such a big deal out of it when the Parliamentary Party was already in a highly sensitive state? Apparently making it an issue of confidence would nullify any of the rebels’ letters, but chucking them out of the parliamentary party would surely reduce the threshold and invite more letters from disgruntled MPs.
Not content with crashing the economy with the binfire budget, they turned in on themselves.
The Conservative Party is in so much pain that it is not capable of governing. It really needs to go and lie down in a darkened room for a few generations until it sorts itself out. Yet they are about to inflict their third PM in three years on to us.
I am not convinced that the 1922 Committee has thought through its high nomination requirement, which has presumably been set to keep out Boris Johnson. There is every possibility that you have one person with the backing of 100 MPs, and two others just short of that. They will be just as split as ever and we have seen how they behave when they all hate each other.
The country shouldn’t have to deal with this. Every household in the country on low and middle incomes will be paying more for borrowing, energy, basic costs of living because of Liz Truss’s folly. And the folly of MPs who allowed her to go forward to the members.
Ed Davey, Daisy Cooper and Christine Jardine have been commenting on various aspects of the Conservative chaos
Ed has been doing the media rounds this afternoon making the case for a general election so that the country can finally get some decent government. Here he is on the BBC, Sky and ITV:
"Moving the deck chairs on the Titanic is not what this country needs"
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey says he thinks "there's a big movement in the country for a general election"
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) October 20, 2022
Jeepers. We needed this. But we didn’t need the continued instability. Liz Truss has rightly resigned this afternoon. She had no credibility when elected. She had no credibility in her few days in office.
The procedures for replacing Truss are uncertain. The Tories after a summer that saw potential candidates for the Tory leadership tearing each other and the Tory’s ability to govern the nation, govern anything was trashed.
In a statement outside No 10 today, Liz Truss resigned. She boasted of her low tax, high growth economy. She has submitted her resignation to King Charles.
The new Tory leader and the prime minister will be decided within the next week (by the Tories).
And here it is:
More and more people are turning to the Liberal Democrats because we work hard for your community and never take you for granted.
Join the Liberal Democrats today and help us win the fair deal the British people deserve. pic.twitter.com/1qnvHamxjm
— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) October 19, 2022
When we were children, we played games of fantasy. Believing we were nurses, fire fighters, astronauts. As adults we still play games, not always acting like we are grown up. The Conservative Party has become adept at this. It previously appointed a prime minister who fanaticised that rules didn’t apply to him. Its current fantasy prime minister claims she is running the country. And too many the party fanaticises that no matter what it does, people will still vote it into power.
Yesterday, the Conservative fantasy turned into farce. A pantomime. Party managers’ attempted to whip Tory MPs into voting in favour of fracking by turning it into a vote of confidence on Liz Truss. That failed big time, with around 40 Tory MPs failing to vote. Fracking is a contentious issue but for a prime minister to stake her job as prime minister on it when it was known that many Tory MPs will not support it was one of the most ill-considered decisions of modern government. And, as it proved, the stuff of nightmares.
And here are the rest (at the time of writing)…
Liberal Democrats Press Conservatives on HS2 Funding for Wales
During today’s Wales Office questions in Westminster, the Liberal Democrats continued to press the UK Conservative Government to release the £5 billion of consequential funding owed to Wales from HS2.
The HS2 rail line is currently classed by the UK Government as an “England and Wales project” despite not a single metre of the track being located in Wales and economic impact assessments showing that the rail line will result in a slight net loss to the Welsh economy. As a result, the UK Government is avoiding paying out over £5 billion in consequential funding to the Welsh Government, which could be spent on rail transport in Wales itself.
It’s been an “interesting” day, to say the least, and there have been so many press releases coming out of HQ that, rather than try to get them into one post, it’s probably easier to do it in two. Think of it as a display of governance and organisation…
Inflation figures: Truss must confirm rise in pensions and benefits today
In response to the announcement of an inflation rise of 10.1%, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney said:
In the midst of this cost of living catastrophe, pensioners and those relying on benefits cannot be undercut and left to struggle further.
Liz Truss must act today to reassure the public and confirm in Parliament that pensions and benefits will rise to match inflation.
Not one penny can be lost, to do so would be gross negligence and failure of our most vulnerable members of society.
Welsh Liberal Democrats Respond to Proposed Boundary Changes
While it was right for Jeremy Hunt in his statement on Monday to cancel £32bn of the mini-budget it was wrong to end in April 2023 the energy cap price freeze. It is predicted that the energy price will now increase to £4,347 in April 2023. This is an increase of 73.9% which is much higher than the 54.2% increase of April this year which might have been the cause of the 2% increase in inflation in April. Therefore by ending the energy cap price freeze inflation might increase by 3% in April 2023. Jeremy Hunt stated that the energy cap price freeze would have reduced inflation by 5%.
If the support is only for the poorest in society then average households will have to find £2247. For someone on average earnings of £32,084 this is about 8.7% of their net earnings. Most people can’t afford to find 8.7% of their salary to pay for energy on top of the general inflation rate in the economy of over 10%. These pressures on household income even without the Bank of England increasing interest rates making them worse will lead to an economic recession possibly in the region of a 5% decline in the size of the economy.
Jeremy Hunt has talked of public spending cuts and this will have a further adverse effect on the economy. He should have gone further with the mini-budget reversals and cancelled the changes to Stamp Duty, the increase in the Annual Investment Allowance to £1 million, and the wider reforms to investment taxes which next year would have increased government revenue by £3.8bn and more after that according to government figures.
Today at PMQs Ed Davey asked about carer’s allowances. He started by referring to the daily care that one disabled child needs and asked how carers can meet the additional costs this winter. In particular, he demanded that carer’s allowance should be raised in line with inflation.
Vulnerable people and family carers have suffered enough in this cost of living crisis. They cannot be left to pick up the tab for this government’s economic failure.
Yet the Prime Minister refuses to end their uncertainty and increase support in line with inflation. pic.twitter.com/K4aIl7Rs8h
— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) October 19, 2022
Mr Speaker, millions of family carers have been forced to cut back on food and heating. One told Carers UK: ‘My son is incontinent… if we don’t wash him in warm water several times a day this will cause him to physically decline. So how do we pay for the gas to heat the water if we are currently at max budget?’
Vulnerable people and carers are struggling enough already in this cost-of-living crisis, Mr Speaker. So will the Prime Minister guarantee that support for the vulnerable – including Carer’s Allowance – will rise by at least today’s inflation rate of 10.1%?
Update: Since this post was published we understand that the date for the hustings for England will be rearranged. We will update you as soon as we can.
Following on from the Newbies Guide to the party elections we now have the dates for the presidential hustings.
There are three candidates for President of the Liberal Democrats:
Three online hustings have been arranged, one each for England, Wales and Scotland.
These meetings are for members only. You do need to book here in order to receive the link to the online event.
It’s not long now until the internal party election season gets underway. Nominations have closed, but we have a few days until ballots go out by email. In the meantime, here’s a brief overview of what’s up for election, why they matter, and how you can vote, that the Lib Dem Newbies Admins have put together.
WHAT’S UP FOR ELECTION?
The main party committees, and the posts of President and Vice-President of the party. All the posts are elected by ranked-choice voting of the entire party’s membership, for a term of three years.
WHAT DO THEY ACTUALLY DO?
🔶 Party President (1 elected position out of 1) – Just as the Leader acts as the leader of the party in Parliament and the party overall, and the CEO acts as the leader of the party’s staff, the President acts as the leader of the party’s membership. The President sits on or chairs many of the important committees and stands in for the leader when if the leadership unexpectedly becomes vacant.
🔶 Party Vice-President (1/1) – Is specifically there to represent and work with ethnic minority groups and provide leadership for the party’s BAME inclusion efforts. There was only one candidate for this position (Amna Ahmad) so there won’t be an election for it. Congratulations to Amna!
🔶 Federal Board (3/15) – Is effectively the ruling council of the party as a whole, making key strategic decisions and electing some members of some committees which don’t have members directly elected by the party’s members (such as the Finance Committee and the People Development Committee).
🔶 Federal Council (21/34) – Is a scrutiny committee for the Federal Board, meeting four times a year and with the ability to call-in and even overturn decisions made by FB if a supermajority of the FC votes to. It’s newly-created, after the Thornhill Report after the 2019 election setback concluded that the old version of the Federal Board was too big to be effective.
🔶 Federal Policy Committee (15/29) – Is the policy research and drafting body of the party. Its members spend time developing new policies for the party and writing detailed papers like those often voted for at Conference; they also help write the party’s manifestos for elections.
🔶 Federal Conference Committee (12/22) – Organises, arranges, and runs the Spring and Autumn Federal Conferences, including deciding where and when they’re held, and what the agenda is, including which policies, papers, motions and amendments are accepted for debate.
🔶 Federal International Relations Committee (6/12) – Manages the Party’s relations with international bodies like the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe, Liberal International, and so on, as well as maintaining relations with other parties in other countries, like the Canadian Liberals, American Democrats, and D66 in the Netherlands.
🔶 ALDE Delegation (10) – Represents the Lib Dems to our pan-European political grouping, ALDE (the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe), which is the group our MEPs used to sit with in the European Parliament, and which the Lib Dems are still a member of.
WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHO’S STANDING?
Everyone who’s standing for positions has filled in a questionnaire and been invited to send in a manifesto, which you’ll be able to read along with your ballot. While Lib Dem Newbies and its related P&P group are internal-campaigning-free spaces, there is an unofficial Facebook group for internal elections where you might be able to ask candidates questions – though not all people standing are members of this group. Some candidates are also active on Twitter and on other social media platforms, and hustings will be held for the Party Presidency candidates.
HOW DO I VOTE?
Triple lock: Truss looks set to betray struggling pensioners in the middle of a cost of living crisis
Responding to the Prime Minister’s spokesperson refusing to say the Government is committed to the triple lock pension, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Work and Pensions Wendy Chamberlain MP said:
Liz Truss has trashed the economy and now looks set to betray struggling pensioners in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
This Conservative Government’s botched budget has already sent mortgage bills spiralling. It would be a kick in the teeth for millions of people if Truss now backtracks on her triple lock promise. The British public will never forgive the Conservative party if they break this promise.
This chaotic Government has to go. Britain needs a general election before Liz Truss and her Conservative Ministers do anymore damage.
Lib Dem Amendment Put to Vote to End Sleaze in Parliament
The Liberal Democrats have today led a cross-party Parliamentary effort to finally end the practice by which MPs are allowed to vote on motions regarding their own misconduct.
The Lib Dem Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain is today putting an amendment to a vote on the Government’s motion on standards, which the Government has tabled to implement recommendations from the Standards Committee, later this afternoon.
This practice was notoriously brought to attention by the Owen Paterson scandal, when he voted against his own suspension from the House of Commons in 2021 – a saga which ultimately resulted in a Liberal Democrat victory in the North Shropshire by-election.
The amendments, which have support from Conservatives (David Mundell, Alicia Kearns), Labour (Kim Leadbeater, Cat Smith) and the Green Party (Caroline Lucas), would prohibit members from voting on anything concerning their own conduct.
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