Tag Archives: coronavirus restrictions

Mark Valladares

Pandemic restrictions are over… sort of… Where do we go from here?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 19th July 2021 - 11:23 am

You might find yourself wondering why, when the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Health are all self-isolating, and new cases have reached the peak levels seen last over the New Year, today is a good day to declare as “Freedom Day”. And yet, for all of the bombast that the Prime Minister offered in the days leading up to today, even he is now quoted as saying;

So please, please, please be cautious. Go forward tomorrow into the next step with all the right prudence and respect for other people and the risks that the disease continues to present.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 20 Comments
Kylie Belchamber

Don’t cherry pick your data: Facts on COVID-19

By Kylie Belchamber | Mon 2nd November 2020 - 12:46 pm

There has been a great amount of robust debate on all aspects of coronavirus response. This is, of course, healthy – within the bounds of the available science, politicians have had to pick from many possible actions. We don’t have perfect knowledge of this pandemic (we don’t have perfect knowledge of anything) – people have had to make decisions, and these are open to criticism.

This debate has also had another side – a deluge of dangerous misinformation. Misinformation has been linked to hundreds of deaths, as well as protests against public health measures and even the deliberate arson of 5G phone masts.

Science itself has also become a target – through the misrepresentation of data, amplification of discredited scientific theories, or outright attacking the scientific process. This is not healthy debate – facts should be disproven, they cannot simply be denied or misrepresented.

As a scientist I would like to bring some facts to the debate, and address some misinformation that has appeared here on Lib Dem Voice recently:

Lockdown works

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Posted in Op-eds | 104 Comments
Mark Valladares

PM must properly plan ahead to protect jobs and lives, warns Davey

By Mark Valladares | Sat 31st October 2020 - 6:46 pm

Responding to the Prime Minister’s announcement that England will go into a second national lockdown until 2 December, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

Yet again, Boris Johnson dithered, delayed, and ignored expert advice. He was too slow in March and too slow again now, and his failure to lead has cost lives and jobs.

People across our country have sacrificed so much, waiting for Ministers to act and keep our families safe. Instead, the Government asks even more despite failing to deliver an effective test, trace and isolate system.

The priority must be keeping people safe and ensuring no

…

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Posted in News and Press releases | Also tagged | 42 Comments
Mark Valladares

30 October 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 30th October 2020 - 10:30 pm
  • Government meetings must produce results for families over the festive season
  • Welsh Liberal Democrats welcome progress on Christmas Travel

Government meetings must produce results for families over the festive season

Responding to reports that the UK Government will hold meetings to try to develop a UK-wide approach to restrictions for the festive period, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

It is welcome that the governments of the four nations are listening to the Liberal Democrats’ calls. With so many families desperate to be back together this festive season, we simply cannot allow political bickering and fractured guidance to confuse and divide people.

These meetings must be more than just a publicity stunt. They must result in comprehensive uniform guidance for family gatherings, as well as a common approach to transport, student return and asymptomatic testing – and it must happen urgently.

Ultimately, if we are to both keep people safe and ensure families have any chance of spending holidays such as Diwali, Hanukkah and Christmas together, then Ministers across these isles must also get a grip on the failing test, trace and isolate trace system.

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Mark Valladares

29 October 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 29th October 2020 - 10:30 pm
  • PM must implement an immediate national circuit breaker
  • Liberal Democrats: Government must fix failing test and trace system

PM must implement an immediate national circuit breaker

The Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has today called for an immediate national circuit breaker to “correct the failing test, trace and isolate system” and keep people safe.

The call follows annoucements in both France and Germany of new nationwide lockdowns. The Liberal Democrats have also called for a united approach to keeping family gatherings safe during the festive season, now backed by Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

The Government has been badly prepared and slow to act at every stage throughout this health and jobs crisis. That can’t happen again, especially in the run up to Christmas.

That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to start an immediate national circuit breaker across the UK. This is the only chance we now have to get the virus under control and save Christmas for millions of families across the UK.

The Government must use this national circuit breaker as a time to correct the failing test, trace and isolate system which is crucial to keeping people safe, minimising hospital admissions and restarting the UK economy.

Liberal Democrats are also calling on all the governments of the four nations to work together to create common guidelines across the UK so families can get as much clarity as possible as we head into the festive period.

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Mark Valladares

28 October 2020 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Wed 28th October 2020 - 7:30 am

Four nations summit needed to keep families safe at Christmas, liberals warn

Liberal Democrats in Scotland, Wales and England have joined with the Alliance Party in calling for a “four nations summit” to consider a united approach to keeping family gatherings safe during the festive season.

In a joint letter to the four governments of the UK, the Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey, Scottish Leader Willie Rennie, Welsh Leader Jane Dodds and Alliance Deputy Leader Stephen Farry MP warned the “interlinked nature of life in the United Kingdom means no one government can devise guidance for the festive season in isolation.”

The letter follows uncertainty about students returning for Christmas and conflicting comments about family gatherings, with Scotland’s National Clinical Director Jason Leitch branding multi-household gatherings “fiction” while the Prime Minister indicated rules could be relaxed.

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Mark Valladares

19 October 2020 – today’s press release

By Mark Valladares | Mon 19th October 2020 - 9:30 pm

Liberal Democrats: PM must get a grip of coronavirus spread in the North

Today, Liberal Democrats from across the North of England, including four council leaders, Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron, and Liberal Democrat Leader in the Lords Dick Newby, have written to the Prime Minister stating that the North has been “overlooked by a London-centric government”.

The letter calls for a raft measures to be implemented urgently to help stop the spread of the virus across vast swathes of the country.

Some of the measures include:

  • Rapidly funding local authorities to enable a local scale-up of the failing test, trace and isolate system
  • Increasing

…

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Mark Valladares

15 October 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 15th October 2020 - 10:30 pm
  • Liberal Democrats: London lockdown further evidence Govt have lost control
  • Liberal Democrats vote against “dangerous” Government crimes Bill

Liberal Democrats: London lockdown further evidence Govt have lost control

Responding to reports that London will face Tier 2 Covid restrictions from Saturday, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

The Government have completely lost control of coronavirus across vast swathes of the country, and the situation in London is looking very difficult.

In the north of England, and now in London, the sacrifices of millions of people have been squandered by this Government. Because of Boris Johnson’s failure to ensure our test, trace and isolate system worked, millions of people will have to make those sacrifices again.

We need to understand the science behind the tier system immediately, otherwise there will be fears that this fresh wave of restrictions will do very little to help stop the spread of the virus. We need a circuit-breaker introduced now, on the condition that government overhaul the failing test and trace system – otherwise restrictions will need to remain in place for the foreseeable future.

The government must do much more to protect jobs and livelihoods and keep people safe.

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Mark Valladares

12 October 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 12th October 2020 - 10:30 pm
  • Liberal Democrats: Tories must stop dragging their feet on ethnicity pay gaps
  • PM has failed the north of England and the whole country

Liberal Democrats: Tories must stop dragging their feet on ethnicity pay gaps

The Liberal Democrats are calling on Conservative Ministers to “stop dragging their feet” and require large employers to publish their ethnicity pay gaps, as new figures released today from the Office for National Statistics show that, on average, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and certain mixed-race groups are paid 15% less than white people.

Liberal Democrat Equalities Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said:

Too many people’s lives are blighted by discrimination and inequality. Black and Asian children are more likely to grow up in poverty than other children, and ethnicity pay gaps contribute to that injustice.

Gender pay gap reporting, introduced by the Liberal Democrats in Government, has been incredibly powerful to help force employers to take steps to improve gender equality in the workplace. Now we must do the same for ethnicity pay gaps.

It’s now two years since the Government launched a consultation on requiring large employers to publish their ethnicity pay gaps, but they have still not introduced it. It’s time Conservative Ministers stop dragging their feet and act.

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Mark Valladares

17 July 2020 – today’s press release

By Mark Valladares | Fri 17th July 2020 - 10:30 pm

PM change to guidance is reckless and flies in the face of experts

Responding to the Prime Minister’s announcement on the change to guidance on using public transport and going to workplaces in England, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

While we all want life to get back to normal as soon as possible, people remain rightly worried about coronavirus. The Prime Minister’s plan to change current guidance for working at home and public transport use is utterly reckless and flies in the face of experts, including the UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser.

With Government testing and tracing plans in an

…

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Mark Valladares

Daily View 2×2: 1 June 2020

By Mark Valladares | Mon 1st June 2020 - 7:30 am

2 big stories

It is an exaggeration to say that America’s cities are in flames, and despite President Trump’s inflammatory comments, in most places, demonstrations remain peaceful, if tense. And protests against the death of George Floyd have spread beyond America too. Unfortunately, there is little doubt that the only difference between policing in the United States and here is that, at least here, the police are unarmed and the courts less perfunctory and politicised, thus deaths are thankfully rarer, but BAME citizens, especially black ones, are more likely to be the subjects of police activity, even if they aren’t actually doing anything that would attract attention if done by a white person.

We can, as of today, partake in a whole slew of activities hitherto restricted, thanks to the Government. But so much for following the science, for the Association of Directors of Public Health has urged them to reverse the decision;

But Jeanelle de Gruchy, president of the ADPH, said her colleagues across England were “increasingly concerned that the government is misjudging the balance of risk between more social interaction and the risk of a resurgence of the virus, and is easing too many restrictions too quickly”.

Can it really be that the Government is willing to risk thousands of lives to draw our attention away from Dominic Cummings? Or are they simply incompetent and dishonest? Of course, “both” is an option here…

2 social media posts

There’s a definite sense of romance in the air today. First, Monroe Palmer has posted this on Facebook…

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Mark Valladares

Daily View 2×2: 5 May 2020

By Mark Valladares | Tue 5th May 2020 - 7:30 am

There’s almost too much going on at the moment. Certainly, there’s too much going on for the Government to cope with, given its evident bandwidth problems…

2 big stories

Buzzfeed News is claiming an exclusive insight into the Goverment’s proposed ideas in terms of relaxing the current restrictions and, on the face of it, they look fairly sensible. But, as I commented yesterday, are the British public willing to return to the ‘old normal’ so soon? My sense is that they generally aren’t, but the Government needs to change that mindset if their desire to taper down the level of support …

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Posted in Daily View | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
James Baillie

Threats to ban outdoor exercise are dangerous – and show us our mission now

By James Baillie | Mon 6th April 2020 - 3:42 pm

Government threats to ban exercise outside the home are dangerous, illiberal, and utterly foolish on medical grounds. “Never threaten something you can’t carry through on.” is a good rule of negotiating generally – and following through on this would break the UK’s virus effort.

On purely practical grounds, it’s unenforceable. Even if patrolled by martial law, you can’t coop people up across the hundreds upon hundreds of miles of rural England and Scotland. The manpower isn’t there. And doing it only in cities would very reasonably breed resentment – and thus it breeds contempt for the whole lockdown and erodes public …

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Posted in Op-eds | 93 Comments
Paul Walter

How should we interpret the official advice as to whether a short drive to a walk is permissable?

By Paul Walter | Mon 30th March 2020 - 9:35 am


Footpath Stile - geograph.org.uk - 244071

West Berkshire Liberal Democrat Councillor Tony Vickers has written the following on a public Coronavirus Facebook group:

I would contest the advice of TVP (Thames Valley Police). Where do these Regulations say anything about not using a car or limiting the distance one can travel to take exercise?

…There is some confusion about how to interpret the official advice on staying at home when it comes to one of the four allowed exceptions : to “do one form of exercise”. As the Council’s appointee on the Local Access Forum (LAF), which has a statutory duty to advise all public bodies on access to the countryside, I am personally interpreting this as follows. This advice only applies to people feeling well and with no special risk factors.

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