Tag Archives: cladding

7 October 2025 – today’s press releases

  • Lib Dems warn of ‘Trumpian purge’ as Jenrick targets 35 Judges
  • Lib Dems demand Labour publish any legal advice sought on alleged “blocking” of Chinese spy trial
  • Greene brings childcare debate to parliament
  • August 2025 the worst August on record at A&E
  • Operations activity stagnating below pre-pandemic levels
  • Cole-Hamilton: SNP have ripped up promises on delayed discharges
  • Rennie: SNP have barely moved an inch with cladding work
  • Rennie responds to survey showing teachers taking second jobs

Lib Dems warn of ‘Trumpian purge’ as Jenrick targets 35 Judges

Responding to reports that if the Conservatives were elected, Robert Jenrick would seek to dismiss 35 judges due to perceived activism, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller said:

Robert Jenrick’s comments on removing independently appointed judges are deeply troubling and show just how far some Conservatives are willing to go to undermine our judiciary. The Conservative Party claims to believe in the rule of law, but now seems to be actively undermining it.

The idea of making it easier to sack judges for perceived ‘activism’ is straight out of the Trump playbook. The fact Jenrick has named 35 judges for this Trumpian purge is more than alarming, it’s a chilling signal of the threat to the rule of law under any potential Conservative government.

Our judges must be free to interpret and apply the law without fear of political retribution. Undermining that principle strikes at the very foundation of British democracy, a principle the Liberal Democrats will fiercely defend.

Lib Dems demand Labour publish any legal advice sought on alleged “blocking” of Chinese spy trial

The Liberal Democrats are calling for Labour to publish any legal advice the Government sought on the planned trial of two men accused of spying for China, erstwhile parliamentary staffer Chris Cash and academic Christopher Berry.

The party is also calling on the Intelligence and Security Committee to launch an investigation into the abandoned prosecution. The committee oversees the operations of the UK intelligence community – including MI5, MI6 and GCHQ – and has access to classified evidence under the Official Secrets Act.

Calum Miller MP, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, said:

These latest revelations show that the Government would prefer to block an investigation into espionage at the heart of Westminster, rather than rock the boat with Beijing. Its campaign of cosying up to President Xi is now actively threatening our national security.

The Intelligence and Security Committee should launch an urgent review into this case. It’s also critical that the Government publishes any legal advice it sought and received.

Threats to our democracy cannot be swept under the rug. It’s time that this Government grew a backbone in its dealings with China. It was wrong not to recognise China’s threat and place it on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme – and should reverse that decision today.

Greene brings childcare debate to parliament

Speaking ahead of his members’ business debate on childcare, Scottish Liberal Democrat West Scotland MSP Jamie Greene said that many parents feel “unfairly treated” because of the gaps in funded places under the SNP.

Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Also tagged , , , , , , , , and | 1 Comment

Leaseholders still at risk of having to pay huge sums for cladding replacement

We don’t often reference the Daily Mail here on LDV. But this week they published a generally supportive article (with photos of both Ed Davey and Hina Bokhari): Campaigners call for more help for cladding-hit flat owners and a proper overhaul of leaseholds after latest vote on Building Safety Bill.

Leaseholders across the country, particularly in cities with high rise blocks of flats, are concerned that they will have to pay for the replacement of dangerous cladding.

The Government insists that leaseholders are protected from the costs of dangerous buildings.

Earlier this year, the Secretary of State for Housing Michael Gove said leaseholders ‘are blameless, and it is morally wrong that they should be the ones asked to pay the price’.

However, recent Government amendments to the Building Safety Bill include some caveats, meaning many leaseholders could still have to pay life-changing sums for the remediation work.

A recent survey by the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign of more than 2,200 properties in buildings over 11 metres suggested that 64 per cent of leaseholders outside of London and 83 per cent of leaseholders in London will not be protected from all costs to fix non-cladding fire safety defects.

The item includes a photo of Ed Davey addressing the rally outside Parliament earlier this week and two further ones of London Assembly member Hina Bokhari with protesters. Hina is quoted at length:

Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 4 Comments

WATCH: Daisy Cooper call for greater help for “innocent leaseholders caught in living nightmare”

Daisy Cooper has devoted a huge amount of time to pushing the Government to doing more to help leaseholders who have been caught in an impossible situation since the Grenfell Tower fire which killed 72 people. They face massive bills for additional fire safety measures, including insulation, firebreaks, balcony safety as well as cladding and the Government is doing precious little to support them.

Yesterday she spoke to Sky News about this after a leaked letter from Michael Gove suggested that the Government might introduce a limited grant scheme for cladding replacement. She made clear that this was inadequate.

She is also quoted in an Evening Standard article on the subject.

Posted in News | Also tagged and | 5 Comments

London Liberal Democrats call for action on cladding

Rightly, we expect Government to step in when the market has gone wrong. Through regulation or remediation, the state is there to protect its citizens.

And yet millions of leaseholders are being horribly let down by the Government. A government which is letting developers off the hook.

The Government and developers have now known for over four years that homes are unsafe – not just with dangerous cladding, but with all sorts of other fire risks which have been identified – and not just on high rise blocks, as I know too well from the local Worcester Park fire in my local area back in 2019 in which 23 low rise flats were destroyed by fire within minutes.

Posted in London and Op-eds | Also tagged | 4 Comments

We must keep pushing for action on the country’s cladding scandal

Cllr Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council, and the Liberal Democrat Deputy Chair of the LGA Fire Services Management Committee Cllr Keith Aspden Deputy Chair of the LGA Fire Services Management Committee

Since the Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017, Lib Dems across the country have been campaigning for greater protections for leaseholders and tenants who are currently living in blocks with Grenfell style cladding or blocks that were previously certified as compliant and safe but which now fail new standards after Grenfell. Our councillors, Lords, MPs and community campaigners have been leading calls to End Our Cladding Scandal. As one of our lead members at the Local Government Association, I have ensured that the LGA continues to represent the real extent of this crisis.

The current phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry is exploring and revealing the shortcomings of the regulatory system, confusion within the industry, and the deliberate acts to exploit that confusion that may have contributed to the current crisis. Throughout this, it has been made clear that the current system in place to identify and remediate cladding and fire safety issues, including dangerous cladding, is perilously slow, presenting significant safety risks and leaving thousands of leaseholders facing financial ruin.

Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged and | 11 Comments

Caroline Pidgeon: Government must act to avoid another Grenfell

Caroline Pidgeon was on Sunday Politics London today calling for action on cladding. Three years after the Grenfell tragedy, not enough has been done to remove the  cladding that caused the fire to spread so quickly. She described how people were frightened to go to sleep in their own homes.

Posted in News | Also tagged and | 4 Comments
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  • Ben Wood
    It is such sad news. I was lucky to get to know Micheal over the last few years (working on a book project for the John Stuart Mill Institute). He reaffirmed fo...
  • Ed Sanderson
    Very sad news. I remember many a lively evening of erudite discussion in Leeds - Michael was a true intellect - and a genuinely warm soul. My condolences to his...
  • Jack
    This is bang on. What is the point of a liberal party that won't stand up for rights, especially when both government and opposition want to make hay out of div...
  • Matt (Bristol)
    I totally understand this is a key issue for many Lib Dems (and I'm not speaking for Lib Dems myself, I'm an ex-member). But I don't understand how this 'vangua...
  • John Grout
    Fully agree with all of this. I've seen a few MPs' Pride Month posts reference Section 28 abolition and Same-Sex Marriage - we need to start talking about this...