Tag Archives: alex brewer

Caron Lindsay

Labour’s WASPI betrayal – what are they thinking?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 18th December 2024 - 9:30 am

You know when politicians stand there with pledge boards and cosy up to campaigning organisations promising certain things if they should get into government?  And then don’t deliver on those promises? It doesn’t tend to end well. We in the Liberal Democrats know that more than most.

It took almost a decade of hard slog for us to recover from the damage to our reputation from the tuition fees debacle.  We learned that voters have long memories when they feel betrayed. You can’t do something bad in the first few months of an administration and get away with it.

Hot on the heels of taking away the Winter Fuel Payment from millions of pensioners on low incomes, Labour have betrayed the WASPI women they have been courting over the past decade. We’ve all seen the pictures of half the Cabinet beaming beside WASPI women. And yesterday DWP Secretary Liz Kendall said that Labour would not be paying them a penny in compensation.

This is a generation of women who started work before the Sex Discrimination Act of 1976. Many were forced to give up work – even in the Civil Service – when they got married. Others were sacked for getting pregnant. They have been at the sharp end of the Gender Pay Gap for their working lives. As well as bearing the brunt of caring responsibilities for the previous and next generations. That hasn’t changed that much in the past half century either.

And now you have the spectacle of a Government admitting that mistakes had been made and maladministration had happened but there was to be no redress.

When you think that Labour was responsible for a derisory 75p pension increase for pensioners the last time they were in power, you could be forgiven for thinking that they really were not that keen on older people.

I don’t think that that is the case for most Labour MPs and I suspect many of them will be feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

Lib Dem MPs have condemned the Government’s announcement. “A day of shame” our DWP spokesperson Steve Darling called it.

Today is a day of shame for the government.

The new government has turned its back on millions of pension-age women who were wronged through no fault of their own, ignoring the independent Ombudsman’s recommendations, and that is frankly disgraceful.

The Conservative party left our economy in a shambles, but asking wronged pensioners to pay the price of their mismanagement is simply wrong.

For years, Liberal Democrats have pushed the government to fairly compensate WASPI women in line with the Ombudsman’s recommendations. Today’s heartless decision cannot be allowed to stand and we will be pressing ministers to give those affected the fair treatment they deserve.

In his response to the Statement in the  Commons, Steve said:

First, and for the record, the Liberal Democrats played a significant part in government in introducing the triple lock for our pensioners—it is important that people acknowledge that.

The Government’s decision is nothing short of a betrayal of WASPI women. I know that, as in my constituency of Torbay, across the United Kingdom there will be millions of women who are shocked and horrified at that decision. That the Government have inherited an awful state for our economy is no excuse. That the women are being hit by the mistakes of the Tories and that the Labour Government are now using that as a shield is utterly wrong-headed. Will the Secretary of State reflect on the decision?

The matter went to the ombudsman for its considered review, and the Liberal Democrats have long supported the ombudsman’s findings. I am shocked that the Government are taking a pick-and-mix approach to those findings, and we therefore ask the Secretary of State to seriously reconsider the decision.

Twelve other Lib Dem MPs spoke in the session on the statement:

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Caron Lindsay

Starmer faces FIVE Lib Dems at PMQs

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 27th November 2024 - 8:42 pm

This Parliament, anything less than 3 Lib Dems at PMQs is a disappointment – a benefit of having 72 MPs.

For the third time since the General Election it was a Lib Dem who kicked off proceedings. Daisy Cooper took the opportunity to ask the PM about her local hospital:

West Hertfordshire teaching hospitals NHS trust has eliminated 65-week waits and has now met all three national cancer standards. Those remarkable achievements by the staff are happening despite their working in terrible buildings that are life-expired and crumbling. If the Government are looking for a project that is high-performing and shovel-ready, that is it. Will the Prime Minister give our trust the green light to build a new hospital without further delay?

The Prime Minister
I thank the hon. Lady for raising that issue, which is of importance to her constituents and beyond. The new hospital programme we inherited was a failure of the previous Government. We are committed to delivering, and we are reviewing to ensure that we can deliver. The Health Secretary will set out further details, but I am very happy for her to have a meeting with the relevant Minister if she wants to follow up on the specifics.

Then came Ed Davey with two hard-hitting questions on ending the Winter Fuel Payment and the hike in employers’ National Insurance contributions for hospices:

May I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks about the terrible impact of Storm Bert and all the flooding? Our thoughts are with all those affected, with thanks to our amazing emergency services.

Christine’s father was told that he needed end of life care, but after a few days it was removed due to funding cuts. He was told that he would not get it, and he died a few weeks later in excruciating pain. Christine says that it was terrible to watch him suffer. Does the Prime Minister agree that, whatever the House decides on Friday, it is urgent that we improve access to high-quality end of life care? Will he make that a key focus of the 10-year NHS plan, and will he now commit to protect hospices from the national insurance rise?

The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising that case, and I am sure the thoughts of the whole House are with the family involved. Obviously there is a very important vote on Friday, but whichever way that vote goes, we must invest properly in care across our health service. That is why, in addition to putting the NHS back on its feet, we are putting forward a 10-year plan to make sure that the NHS can give the care that everybody would expect across the spectrum, including end of life care.

Ed Davey
I thank the Prime Minister for his reply. I hope that we will hear more from Ministers, particularly on hospices and national insurance, in the days to come.

I turn to the cost of living crisis. On Friday, Ofgem said that energy bills will go up again in January, after last month’s 10% rise. Millions of people are really worried about how they will make ends meet this winter, not least hundreds of thousands of pensioners who are in poverty but above the pension credit limit, who will now lose winter fuel payments. With energy bills going up again, will the Prime Minister reconsider and restore winter fuel payments?

The Prime Minister
Obviously the whole House is concerned about energy bills, which are actually lower this year than they were last year. The long-term way to deal with this issue is to have clean power by 2030, to make sure that we drive energy bills down on a permanent basis, and that is what we will do. On the winter fuel allowance, the right hon. Gentleman knows very well what the Government’s position is; indeed, I have rehearsed it with him many times.

The fact that Keir just can’t be bothered defending himself any more makes Ed’s repeated returns to this issue all the more potent.

Mext up, Manuela Perteghella made her PMQ debut by raising the issue of a constituent of hers who is campaigning to end knife crime after her son was killed:

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Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Ed Davey question Keir Starmer on Trump re-election

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 6th November 2024 - 10:00 pm

Today at PMQs, Ed used his questions to challenge Keir Starmer on the UK Government’s approach to the incoming Trump administration.

The text is below:

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The Voice

Maiden speech: Alex Brewer MP for North East Hampshire

By The Voice | Thu 5th September 2024 - 10:25 am

We’re back on the maiden speeches of our new Lib Dem MPs now. Alex Brewer, our MP for N E Hampshire made hers on Monday in a debate on technology in public services. 

The full text is below:

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The Voice

Our new MPs: Joshua Reynolds, Alison Bennett, Lee Dillon, Alex Brewer, Alasdair Pinkerton

By The Voice | Sat 6th July 2024 - 9:48 pm

We thought you might like to find out a little bit about our new MPs. We didn’t think we’d have quite so many, but this is a lovely problem to have. All details come from the party website or the MPs’ social media. We’ll get to know them more over the next wee while, but here’s a taster. 

Our editor sleepily compiled a Twitter list of all our MPs’ accounts she could find. You can follow it here. 

Joshua Reynolds MP: Maidenhead

Joshua Reynolds is a familiar face across Maidenhead. Elected to the council in 2019, and now a cabinet member, Josh grew up in Courthouse Road and went to Alwyn, Courthouse and Furze Platt Senior Schools, only leaving to study in Cardiff where he graduated with a first-class degree in Business and Management Studies. On his return, he successfully managed a chain of supermarkets before taking the decision to devote himself full time to public service.

Joshua’s time in retail gave him a valuable insight into the cost-of-living crisis. He saw first hand how the crisis impacted his shoppers, and how the increase in shoplifting has hit local businesses.

He is also campaigning to see the walk-in centre re-opened at St Mark’s Hospital and the improvement and expansion of health services there and around the constituency to support the fast-growing population.

Joshua sees river pollution as another key issue and is calling for the water companies to be held to account for polluting our waterways. He fully supports the Lib Dem pledge to transform water companies into public benefit companies, ban bonuses for water bosses until the pollution ends, and replace Ofwat with a tough new regulator with much greater powers.

Twitter: @joshreynoldsSL6

Alison Bennett MP: Mid Sussex

Alison is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mid Sussex where she has lived for the last 12 years.

When Alison graduated from Cambridge in 1999 a career in politics was not anticipated. But as a young executive at British Airways, Alison proved an able problem solver in marketing, strategy, and business planning.

Later, at E.on, Alison confronted social challenges, working on products aimed at supporting people in fuel poverty. “I learnt much that has been valuable as a local politician in understanding what matters to people and the pinch points in their lives.”

Her commitment to public service was sparked when she became a parent. “I wanted my children to grow up knowing that regardless of who your parents are, everyone should have a fair chance of achieving their potential, and that when we see things aren’t right, we can step up and find a better way.”

Over the last nine years Alison has turned around the Mid Sussex Lib Dems’ fortunes. Having had no councillors in 2015, by 2019, she became leader of 13 Lib Dems on the district council. Then in May 2023, the party succeeded in leapfrogging the Conservatives to becoming the largest on the council.

Her pragmatic and collaborative approach emphasises building relationships across party lines. Alison underscores the importance of teamwork, stating, “One person alone can’t achieve things in politics. You have to motivate people, build a team, and pull in the same direction.” Her journey stands as a testament to the transformative power of tenacity and optimism in leadership.

Twitter: @alisonebennett

Lee Dillon MP: Newbury

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