Tag Archives: daisy cooper

Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems in the top 100 Women in Westminster

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 21st March 2026 - 12:00 pm

From the Archbishop of Canterbury to journalists and broadcasters to civil servants and political advisers to MPs and Peers, Politics Home announced its 100 Women in Westminster for 2026 which you can find here. Three Liberal Democrats made it in: Wendy Chamberlain, Daisy Cooper and Caroline Pidgeon.

Here’s what was said about them and you can see the entire 100 here.

Wendy Chamberlain

“Wendy is a considerate and hardworking constituency MP who combines genuine care for the people she represents with tireless dedication at Westminster,” one nominator told us. “Her thoughtful leadership as Chief Whip, her commitment to modernising Parliamentary culture and her unsung work for the History of Parliament Trust showcase her integrity and determination, making her an inspiring example as a role model for others.’

Daisy Cooper

“Daisy Cooper has been direct and authentic in communications, principles and conviction, not just standing for Liberal Democrat values but as an influential humanitarian,” one nominator wrote. “In these uncertain times, her Liberal Democratic voice is much needed and highly valued.”

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The Jenkinsite Group

A Jenkinsite debate on breaking up the Treasury

By The Jenkinsite Group | Thu 12th February 2026 - 1:03 pm

Daisy Cooper’s call to break up the Treasury and create a new Department for Growth is the kind of proposal that deserves more than reflex applause or suspicion. It is not simply a change of ministerial job titles, but a complete restructuring of the British state, and it raises the question of whether such restructuring helps or hinders long-term prosperity outside Westminster and London.

What follows is a friendly, Jenkinsite-based debate between two Liberal Democrats who agree on the destination: a Britain where wealth, power and opportunity are less concentrated, and where institutions are accountable to the whole country. Where we differ is on the mechanism; Jack argues that breaking up the treasury would begin shifting economic decision-making closer to the places that live with its consequences, whereas Andy is more cautious and asks whether restructuring Whitehall risks repeating old patterns unless it is matched by deeper decentralisation.

We both offer views in the spirit of liberal pluralism: serious, practical, and aimed at better outcomes.

Jack Meredith:

A Jenkinsite case for Daisy Cooper’s Department for Growth is simple: Britain cannot devolve prosperity while Whitehall retains the economic steering wheel. “Treasury brain” is not just a habit; it is a structure. When one department controls fiscal policy, economic policy and spending approvals, it naturally prizes what can be booked this year over what pays off over a decade. That bias has helped trap the country in low investment, weak productivity and regional imbalance.

Breaking up the Treasury is therefore a decentralising reform in practice, not only in rhetoric. A Department for Growth with a clear, long-term mandate would change incentives across government; growth becomes an organising principle, not an afterthought. Pairing it with the Department for Public Expenditure also clarifies responsibility: one institution drives prosperity; the other disciplines spending. That separation matters because it reduces the temptation to raid future growth for today’s headlines.

Basing the Growth Department in Birmingham strengthens the message. Location is policy. Moving a major economic department out of London signals that the UK’s economic story cannot be written from one postcode. It forces ministers, officials, and stakeholders to view the national economy as a network of places rather than as a single city with a hinterland.

This reform fits liberalism’s core purpose: dispersing power so that citizens and communities can shape their own futures. A growth department can be the engine room for “Team UK”; a single front door for business, trade, and investment, aligned with national priorities and better living standards. It can also sharpen Britain’s external focus, as a serious growth mission requires fewer trade barriers, especially with our nearest markets.

If we want to get Britain growing again, we should start by rebuilding the state around long-term prosperity and start moving economic power closer to the country it serves.

Andy Chandler:

I should perhaps begin with a small confession. When I first proposed to Jack that we write on the Liberal Democrats’ announcement to “break up” the Treasury from a Jenkinsite perspective, I was initially ambivalent. It did not feel like the bread-and-butter reform I had hoped for, though I broadly welcomed the principle of loosening the grip of the Treasury “blob,” which so often seems to restrain rather than enable. Yet when I learned Jack was favourable, I decided, for the sake of debate, to re-evaluate my position to see if I could articulate an opposing view.

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Tara Foster

What is the point of LibDem Conference?

By Tara Foster | Thu 12th February 2026 - 10:30 am

On Tuesday, a somewhat cryptic message went up on Lib Dem social media promising a “big announcement” at 09:00. Naturally, expectations were raised. When a Party primes its members and supporters like that, you assume something substantial is coming — a major defection, implementation of a flagship policy passed by Conference, or a decisive shift in direction.

Instead, what we got was… rebranding the Treasury as the “Department of Growth.”

A dull, inoffensive, and uninspiring ghost of New Labour if ever I saw one.

We’re told its functions will be reorganised and the whole department relocated to Birmingham. For a policy supposedly rooted in growth, this sounds like a costly exercise in administrative musical chairs. Moving a major Whitehall department is not cheap.  Rebranding is not cheap.  Structural upheaval is not cheap. If the goal is efficiency, this feels like a curious starting point.  And, I’m not going to lie, naming it the Department of Growth (DOG) sounds concerningly close to Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), and the last thing we need to do is to follow Labour into echoing MAGA slogans—though, at least, we haven’t paired red baseball caps with our resemblant new slogan. To me, it all sends entirely the wrong message.  

But, on top of this being a confusing policy move, the way this has been handled and communicated undermines the fundamental democratic foundations of the Party.  

As Liberal Democrats, we pride ourselves on being member-led and listening to our members.  Our Federal Committees, Federal Council, and Federal Board are formed of members who are elected to their positions.  They’re accountable to the membership and can be removed by the membership.  Meanwhile, policy is debated, amended, and adopted at Conference through a 1 member, 1 vote.  We all acknowledge that this is not an optional extra—it is the democratic heart of the Party and is what sets us apart from Reform, the Conservatives and in more recent years, the Labour Party.

So I am genuinely confused as to why this announcement has been presented as settled Party Policy when it does not appear to have been passed through Conference. Conference exists for a reason: to ensure that members, not just the Parliamentary Party, determine the Party’s direction. If we circumvent that process, even for something that might seem technical or presentational, we chip away at what makes us distinct. 

I have a massive problem when the Parliamentary Party just does stuff, and unilaterally writes its own brand new policy, rather than applying their own initiative to implement policy.  Not to bang the same drum, but I do find it suspect that very little noise is being made in the Parliamentary Party about recently passed Party Policy such as Free to Be Who You Are, as well as the several historic conference motions passed on Universal Basic Income.  It remains clear that Conference-approved policy is not treated as gospel, but as advisory rather than authoritative. 

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Caron Lindsay

UPDATED: Daisy Cooper announces new economic policy – Get Britain growing again

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 11th February 2026 - 10:11 am

In a major speech in the City of London this morning, Daisy Cooper has announced Liberal Democrat plans to break up the Treasury and move it to Birmingham.

A new Department for Growth would include the Department of Business and Trade’s responsibilities and would have a mandate to boost long term sustainable growth. It would be a single point of contact for business and investment.

A smaller department for public expenditure would control departmental spending

Stronger economic growth would be recognised as the only sustainable solution to the country’s problems. This would come alongside a better relationship with Europe.

This department would align tax policy so that Labour mistakes like the rise in employers’ National Insurance Contributions could never happen again.

Basing it in Birmingham would be a strong signal that we want to rebalance the economy across the whole country and as the only party with MPs spanning the Highlands and Islands to south west,  we see the differences in growth between the south east and everywhere else.

She argued that if we could close the productivity gap between Birmingham and London,we could boost tax revenue by $4 billion which could, for example, provide 80,000 teachers

She said that rising inequality and cost of living pressures were grinding people down. The C0nservatives and Labour have failed and the British public who are left wondering if anyone knows how to fix it.

This all comes with a slogan: Get Britain Growing Again.

Farage wants to break things, not fix them. Others want to hoard power in London. Conservatives are chasing Reform saying that moderates are not welcome in their party.

She said our future liberal economic vision are rooted in the values which have guided us for hundreds of years. We champion international trade, fair markets and wealth creation.

Wealth creation and social justice, she argued, are two sides of the same coin. She concluded:

We believe we can give people a sense of hope, end the cost of living crisis and build the UK’s future by all of us for all of us together.

She then took questions from journalists. The BBC’s Nick Eardley asked how she could justify the time and money to be spent on this. Daisy replied that the plan was  entirely consistent with existing plans to move civil servants out of London. We would prioritise this particular department. He followed up by asking why Birmingham rather than the north of England, Scotland, Wales?  Daisy’s answer: our second city has good combination of manufacturing and financial sectors and if we boost it will help other places around the UK too.

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Mark Valladares

8 January 2026 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 8th January 2026 - 10:30 pm
  • Corridor care: Govt has to treat this as a national emergency
  • Davey calls on PM to rule out use of UK bases to attack Greenland
  • Met vetting scandal: Lib Dems call on Conservatives to apologise for putting targets over public safety
  • Business rates change “last chance” for “treasured” pubs
  • Cole-Hamilton: £440m delayed discharge cost “utterly astonishing”
  • Woman in Far North stuck in hospital for over 400 days waiting for care

Corridor care: Govt has to treat this as a national emergency

Responding to reports that corridor care has become so normalised hospitals are fitting plugs in hallways, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

Corridor care is a disgraceful symptom of years of neglect in our NHS. It is completely scandalous that treatment on crammed corridors is now normalised with thousands of patients left on trolleys for hours or even days on end.

Enough. This horrific practice must end. The Government has to treat this as a national emergency. That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling for an Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, which includes a rapid expansion of hospital beds and fixes our broken GP and social care services, to finally bring an end to this shameful chapter.

Davey calls on PM to rule out use of UK bases to attack Greenland

Ed Davey has today called on Keir Starmer to categorically rule out the US using British military bases to support a US attack on Greenland, just hours after UK airfields supported the American operation to seize a shadow fleet vessel in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Liberal Democrat leader has demanded today UK soil must “never” host aggressors against a NATO ally, including Greenland.

The Government has so far failed to rule out that such an operation could be launched from British bases.

Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat Leader, said:

The UK must never play midwife to American aggression directed against our NATO allies.

I’m deeply concerned that our Prime Minister is yet to rule out the use of British bases to propel American troops onto the ground in Greenland – to take the territory by force.

Starmer must spell out to Trump and his lawless cabinet that the UK will never support such a dangerous act, and will abide by NATO and international law – even if they won’t.

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Mark Valladares

19 November 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 19th November 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Inflation stats: Chancellor must put households and high streets first
  • Lib Dems: Govt must go further and “ban surge pricing”
  • PMQs: Kemi Badenoch should apologise for £40bn of Conservative stealth tax hikes
  • Scottish Liberal Democrats call for World Cup fan parks and late night licenses
  • Stone secures meeting with Treasury to save high street banks

Inflation stats: Chancellor must put households and high streets first

Responding to the latest ONS inflation figures released this morning, Daisy Cooper, Deputy Leader and Treasury Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said:

As the cost-of-living crisis rages on, the Chancellor mustn’t look this small gift horse in the mouth.

Hitting people with a stealth tax at next week’s Budget would prolong the pain of higher taxes for much longer and unfairly pull poorer pensioners and low-income workers into paying tax for the first time.

We Liberal Democrats are calling for emergency measures to slash people’s energy bills, save our high streets with a VAT cut for hospitality and boost growth in every corner of the UK – funded fairly by taxing the banks. The Chancellor must put households and high streets first and put an end to the most vulnerable from having to choose between heating and eating.

Lib Dems: Govt must go further and “ban surge pricing”

Responding to the government’s announcement banning the reselling of tickets for profit, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport, Anna Sabine MP said:

Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to ban surge pricing – a practice that can see ticket prices skyrocketing for in-demand events, and require ticket resale platforms to verify that listed tickets actually exist before they are allowed to be sold.

So while this is a good opening act, let’s make sure the encore truly gives live events back to the fans, not the scalpers.

PMQs: Kemi Badenoch should apologise for £40bn of Conservative stealth tax hikes

The Liberal Democrats have blasted Kemi Badenoch’s hypocrisy on stealth taxes at PMQs, highlighting the £40bn stealth tax bombshell the Conservatives hit the public with during their time in office.

Between the stealth tax being announced in 2021 by the Conservatives, and the 2024-25 financial year at the end of the last Parliament, frozen income tax thresholds hit households with £38.7bn in total, according to figures from the OBR.

The Conservative freeze on income tax thresholds has meant that, by the end of the last Parliament, basic rate taxpayers had paid an additional £950 in total due to the freeze on the Personal Allowance, while higher rate taxpayers were hit with nearly £4,800, according to Liberal Democrat analysis of figures from the OBR.

Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:

Kemi Badenoch should apologise for the years of stealth taxes put in place by the Conservatives if she wants to be taken seriously by the public.

The Conservative government she loyally served hammered families with years of unfair tax hikes.

Both Labour and the Conservatives seem intent on punishing the public with endless tax hikes, instead of turbocharging our economy with a closer trade deal with the EU.

Scottish Liberal Democrats call for World Cup fan parks and late night licenses

Scottish Liberal Democrats have called for huge fan parks to be set up across the country so fans can gather to watch Scotland’s World Cup games and for pubs to get special dispensation to show their matches in the event that they are scheduled for late at night.

The party says stadiums and parks could host huge screens to beam back the games from the USA, Mexico and Canada.

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Mark Valladares

16 October 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 16th October 2025 - 10:52 pm
  • Lib Dems say China witness statements raise “more questions” than they answer and call for statutory inquiry
  • Hospices: Govt must reverse NI hike to deliver real change
  • GDP growth: Govt must kickstart growth and “quit slowcoach approach”
  • Lib Dems: Summon US ambassador over secretive meetings with Farage on rolling back women’s rights in UK
  • If China is a “daily threat” then “insane” not to cancel super-embassy, say Lib Dems
  • Chinese embassy plan must be “put out of its misery”

Lib Dems say China witness statements raise “more questions” than they answer and call for statutory inquiry

Responding to the Government publishing evidence regarding the collapsed China spy case, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Calum Miller MP, said:

These witness statements are only part of the puzzle and raise yet more unanswered questions.

Did emphasising the government’s desire for a positive relationship with China effectively cause this trial to collapse? What evidence was the CPS requesting which the government failed to provide?

And who was aware of these statements and the evidence being asked for both among ministers and in Number 10?

We clearly need a statutory public inquiry to get to the bottom of this whole fiasco.

Hospices: Govt must reverse NI hike to deliver real change

Commenting on the Government’s announcement on hospice funding, Liberal Democrat Care and Carers spokesperson Alison Bennett MP said:

While this announcement goes some way to help children’s hospices, it entirely ignores the profound issues in funding adult hospices. The Government must go much further to deliver the real change hospices are crying out for.

For starters, to have any chance of tackling this ticking time bomb, the Government must reverse their cruel National Insurance hike that cost hospices £34 million last year, and make sure funding keeps pace with local need.

For too long, the vital role played by hospices in our health and care system has been overlooked. The Liberal Democrats are campaigning to save the nation’s hospices. Everybody should have access to the very best palliative care, and to dignity at the end of life. This will never happen while government ministers are burying their heads in the sand.

GDP growth: Govt must kickstart growth and “quit slowcoach approach”

Responding to the news that GDP only grew by 0.1% in August, Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, said:

Today’s figures show the economy climbing slower than a sloth under a government simply not doing enough to kickstart growth.

The Chancellor must quit her slowcoach approach to the economy and finally drop her damaging national insurance hike, which has stifled business and hit high streets up and down the country.

The Government must take today’s news as a wakeup call and put an ambitious growth plan front and centre of their Budget later this Autumn – starting with a bespoke new UK-EU customs union which would unleash the potential of British exporters to trade more easily with our European neighbours.

Lib Dems: Summon US ambassador over secretive meetings with Farage on rolling back women’s rights in UK

The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to summon the US Ambassador to explain why the US embassy in London held secretive talks with Nigel Farage on rolling back women’s rights and online safety laws in the UK.

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Mark Valladares

15 October 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 15th October 2025 - 10:45 pm
  • Budget rumours: Reeves must rule out “cloak and dagger” efforts to drag people into paying more tax
  • China case: Lib Dems call for release of all legal advice — including evidence needed for spy case to proceed
  • Angus MacDonald MP calls for common sense on rural helipads
  • Murray presses PM over small business national insurance in East Dunbartonshire

Budget rumours: Reeves must rule out “cloak and dagger” efforts to drag people into paying more tax

Responding to Rachel Reeves admitting there may be more tax rises in this autumn’s Budget, Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, said:

Millions of people up and down the country are worried they could face more damaging tax hikes, after the Conservative party saddled them with a stealth tax and this Government hit them with an unfair jobs tax.

Prolonging this uncertainty for weeks will leave people deeply worried about what this could mean for their payslips and bills.

Rachel Reeves must rule out a cloak-and-dagger effort to raise revenue by extending the Conservatives’ stealth tax and dragging even more working people into higher tax rates. What we need is a proper growth plan and for the big banks, social media giants and gambling companies to pay their fair share of tax.

China case: Lib Dems call for release of all legal advice — including evidence needed for spy case to proceed

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of his plan to publish the witness statements by the deputy national security adviser on the China case, the Liberal Democrats are now calling on the Government to put the full legal advice they received on the public record.

The party is calling for the Government to publish advice including on what evidence would be needed for the spy case to proceed.

Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, said:

The public have had enough of the constant blame game between the Conservatives and Labour on the collapse of the China spy case.

The Government must bolster their publication of witness statements and put all the legal advice they’ve received on this case on the public record – including advice on what evidence would be needed for this trial to go ahead.

Number 10 must also urgently launch an independent inquiry so we can finally get to the bottom of what actually happened in this labyrinthine case.

Angus MacDonald MP calls for common sense on rural helipads

Angus MacDonald, MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, has called on the UK Government to cut through “bewildering” red tape that has stopped search and rescue helicopters from landing on community helipads in rural areas.

While leading a Westminster Hall debate on Access to Community Helipads in Rural Areas, Mr MacDonald raised the case of the Portree and Braes Community Trust helipad, which serves the north end of Skye, including the local hospital. Despite being purpose-built and refurbished to high safety standards, search and rescue helicopters operated by Bristow are not currently able to land there.

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Mark Valladares

8 October 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 8th October 2025 - 9:30 pm
  • Kemi Badenoch Speech: Lib Dems blast Tory economics as “laughable”
  • China spies case: Investigation needed on if Govt is doing enough to protect our democracy and national security
  • NHS/US Drug Price Increases: Ministers must come clean
  • Ed Davey urges One Nation Conservatives to join Lib Dems after Kemi Badenoch’s conference speech
  • Badenoch Speech: “Liz Truss on steroids”

Kemi Badenoch Speech: Lib Dems blast Tory economics as “laughable”

Responding to the Conservatives’ unveiling a new set of economic plans, announced by Party Leader Kemi Badenoch in her keynote speech today, a Liberal Democrat Spokesperson said:

The idea that the public would now trust the Conservative party with the economy is laughable. From almost crashing our economy to leaving public services on their knees, the Conservatives have shown their economics is almost as bad as their spelling.

Only the Liberal Democrats have a clear plan to make our economy thrive again, from halving energy bills to striking an ambitious trade deal with our European neighbours which would boost business and raise revenue.

China spies case: Investigation needed on if Govt is doing enough to protect our democracy and national security

Responding to reports that a case involving two men accused of spying for China collapsed because evidence could not be obtained from the Government referring to China as a national security threat, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said:

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Mark Valladares

6 October 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 6th October 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Reform DOGE unit in Kent a “spectacular failure” for which Yusuf must “personally apologise”
  • Lib Dems: Thames Water’s data protection “as leaky as its infrastructure” as party calls for company to be placed under special administration
  • Ed Davey statement marking Oct 7 anniversary: “We stand in solidarity”

Reform DOGE unit in Kent a “spectacular failure” for which Yusuf must “personally apologise”

Responding to reports that Reform’s DOGE unit in Kent has found no savings and is set to hike council tax, Daisy Cooper MP, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:

Reform’s pledge to slash millions from Kent Council’s budget has turned out to be nothing but smoke and mirrors.

Just like his idol Elon Musk, Zia Yusuf has spectacularly failed to deliver what DOGE promised. It turns out cribbing the notes of dodgy American tech billionaires is no way to run a council.

Zia Yusuf should personally apologise to the people of Kent for misleading them.

Lib Dems: Thames Water’s data protection “as leaky as its infrastructure” as party calls for company to be placed under special administration

Responding to reporting by BBC Radio 4 that Thames Water have been giving out customer information over the phone without completing adequate identity checks, Liberal Democrat MP for Witney and Thames Water campaigner Charlie Maynard said:

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Mark Valladares

13-14 September 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 14th September 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Government proposals for carer’s allowance compensation would be “victory” for carers and campaigners
  • Mandelson appointment: Lib Dems call for independent investigation with access to documents and messages
  • Farage must come clean on who’s bankrolling his US trips to “badmouth Britain”
  • Greene: Scotland is lagging behind in research and development investment
  • Greene urges all parties to support key victims’ proposals ahead of final vote

Government proposals for carer’s allowance compensation would be “victory” for carers and campaigners

Responding to reports that the Government is considering compensation payments to those caught up in the carer’s allowance scandal, Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat Leader, said:

I really hope the government will give the victims of this appalling scandal the compensation they deserve. It would be a milestone for carers across the country, and a victory for all those who have campaigned tirelessly for justice.

The government has a chance here not just to compensate the victims, but to overhaul carer’s allowance so it properly supports carers and doesn’t punish them for working. We will keep pushing ministers to seize that chance.

Mandelson appointment: Lib Dems call for independent investigation with access to documents and messages

The Liberal Democrats are calling for an independent inquiry into what was known about ex-US Ambassador Peter Mandelson’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein at the time of his appointment, saying that victims must be “put first.”

The party’s Cabinet Office Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said an independent investigation is needed to uncover what was known, when and by whom regarding Mandelson’s connections to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The Liberal Democrats are also calling for relevant text messages, WhatsApps and emails to be handed to the inquiry for proper independent scrutiny of how the appointment was made.

It comes as Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, claimed in an interview with Laura Kuennsberg this morning that “if we had known the information we know now, it is highly unlikely that would have been appointed”, calling the new information “materially different” from the content reviewed during vetting.

Sarah Olney, Cabinet Office Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said:

The Government has serious questions to answer about what they knew when. The current explanations just don’t add up.

Number Ten must put the victims of Jeffrey Epstein first, not their own reputation. We need an urgent, independent inquiry into how details of Mandelson’s ties with a convicted paedophile slipped through the cracks of Government vetting.

This inquiry must be given access to all the relevant messages, texts and documents so it can get to the bottom of this appalling mess.

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Mark Valladares

12 September 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 12th September 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • GDP: Govt must scrap their growth-crashing jobs tax
  • Mandelson: Lib Dems call for Parliament to vet next US Ambassador
  • Lib Dems reveal rate of agricultural, forestry and fishing business closures is increasing

GDP: Govt must scrap their growth-crashing jobs tax

Responding to the latest GDP figures showing 0% growth for July, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

The Government talks of going full throttle on growth but the reality is they have left the handbrake on.

Their growth-crushing jobs tax risks hollowing out our high-streets and ministers’ refusal to jettison their short-sighted red lines on cutting red tape with Europe is holding back our

…

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Mark Valladares

11 September 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 11th September 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • NHS waiting lists: Govt must tackle social care to end era of sky-high waiting lists
  • Davey on Mandelson sacking: Starmer must come before Parliament
  • NHS maternity payouts rise to £1.3bn as Ed Davey visits South West to discuss crisis
  • Farage stamp duty: Reform leader has “serious questions to answer”
  • Mandelson: PM must carry out full review of vetting procedures

NHS waiting lists: Govt must tackle social care to end era of sky-high waiting lists

Responding to the number of people on NHS waiting lists rising for the second month in a row to 7.4 million in July, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

The Government promised to go full throttle when it comes to cutting NHS waiting lists, instead they’ve gone into reverse.

The Conservatives brought the NHS to its knees, with patients often suffering tragic consequences, but far from bringing the change people are crying out for, this Labour government is just treading water.

Without fixing the underlying issues in our health service this situation will persist and patients will suffer. Only by urgently tackling the crisis in social care can we unclog the system and bring and end to this era of sky-high waiting lists.

Davey on Mandelson sacking: Starmer must come before Parliament

Responding to the news that Peter Mandelson has been sacked as the UK Ambassador to the United States, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The Prime Minister now needs to appoint an ambassador who will stand up to Trump, not cosy up to him and his cronies.

He also needs to come before Parliament and explain why Lord Mandelson was appointed in the first place, given everything the Government knew then.

This Government seems to be lurching from one crisis to another. It desperately needs to get a grip on fixing the economy and public services so badly damaged by the Conservatives.

NHS maternity payouts rise to £1.3bn as Ed Davey visits South West to discuss crisis

NHS figures show that clinical negligence payouts for maternity rose to £1.3 billion last year, up 13% on 2023/24’s figure of £1.15 billion with total payouts hitting a record high in 2024/25.

It comes as Ed Davey visits the South West today (12th September) to discuss issues with local maternity services.

The 2024/25 NHS compensation figures found that maternity clinical negligence payouts had risen £150 million on the previous year to £1.3 billion, a 13% rise. Maternity clinical negligence payments account for 42% of all clinical negligence payments.

NHS clinical negligence payouts generally rose to a record £3.1 billion, up from £2.8 billion in 2023/24 which was also a record. It represents an 11% increase.

In April the Government announced cuts to the national Service Development Funding (SDF) for maternity services from £95m in 2024-25 to just £2m in 2025-26. The fund had been introduced following the Ockenden Review into maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford to improve the quality of maternity care.

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Mark Valladares

5 September 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 5th September 2025 - 11:55 pm
  • Lib Dems call for Farage to be put on foreign influence watchlist as party rebrands Reform HQ Trump Tower
  • Lib Dems demand Farage is dragged in front of DCMS Committee after Reform threats to national journalists
  • Davey on reshuffle: Labour “learning the wrong lessons” from calamity Conservatives
  • David Chadwick raises concerns that Welsh families are being left behind in vital childcare support

Lib Dems call for Farage to be put on foreign influence watchlist as party rebrands Reform HQ Trump Tower

  • The Lib Dems have called on Farage to officially register his ties with Donald Trump under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS)
  • Daisy Cooper has branded the Reform leader a “Trump puppet” following his meeting with the US President this week
  • The move comes as party lit up Reform HQ to rebrand it as Trump Tower last night

The Liberal Democrats are demanding that Nigel Farage be placed on an official foreign influence watchlist due to his ties to Donald Trump.

Liberal Democrat Deputy leader Daisy Cooper has raised Farage’s ties to Donald Trump as a potential example of foreign collusion – as her party called for the Reform leader to register himself under the Government’s Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

The party lit up Reform HQ last night to rebrand it as ‘Trump Tower’ “to show where Farage’s loyalties really lie.”

The FIRS scheme came into force on 1 July and was set up to oversee attempts by foreign powers to influence democratic processes in the UK. It requires individuals and organisations to register any arrangements they have with foreign powers within 28 days of making them. This can include arrangements to receive payments or future favourable treatment from a foreign power. Failure to register when required under the scheme is a criminal offence.

The Liberal Democrats have said given Farage’s close personal links to Trump and his efforts to lobby the US administration he should be registered under the scheme. Farage is a long-term close personal friend of Trump and described the UK’s 2016 government as “petty” for not taking advantage of his connections to the then-president. He has since repeatedly spoken at Trump fundraisers, including most recently in March of this year.

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Mark Valladares

26 August 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 26th August 2025 - 11:05 pm
  • Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights
  • Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed
  • Starmer must rule out conceding to Trump on digital services tax
  • Government’s latest announcement on EU deal shows it “moving at a speed sloths would laugh at”
  • Liberal Democrats warn of Reform ‘Taliban Tax’ as regime says it is willing to work with Farage

Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights

Responding to Reform’s press conference this morning, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said:

Farage’s plan crumbles under the most basic scrutiny. The idea that Reform UK is going to magic up some new places to detain people and deport them to, but don’t have a clue where those places would be, is taking the public for fools.

Of course Nigel Farage wants to follow his idol Vladimir Putin in ripping up the human rights convention. Winston Churchill would be turning in his grave. Doing so would only make it harder for each of us as individuals to hold the government to account and stop it trampling on our freedoms.

On Zia Yusuf’s comments regarding paying the Taliban to take back Afghan migrants, Daisy Cooper added:

Reform’s Taliban tribute plan would send British taxpayers’ cash to fund their oppressive regime, fuelling the persecution of Afghan women and children and betraying our brave Armed Forces who sacrificed so much fighting the Taliban. Clearly British values mean nothing to Farage and his band of plastic patriots.

Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed

Responding to the news that Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has admitted the main screening tool used to decide which domestic abuse victims get urgent support “doesn’t work”, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Josh Babarinde MP said:

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Mark Valladares

17 July 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 17th July 2025 - 11:50 pm
  • Workforce figures: public “desperately” needs a govt focused on getting growth back on track
  • Voting reforms: Elon Musk-shaped hole in Government’s announcement
  • Afghanistan data leak “devastating” — Government must launch inquiry
  • Carmichael welcomes progress on votes for 16-year-olds in UK elections
  • Jane Dodds responds to UK Government plans to introduce votes at 16

Workforce figures: public “desperately” needs a govt focused on getting growth back on track

Responding to the latest workforce figures, which show the labour market continuing to weaken, with higher unemployment and slowing wage growth, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

We can’t go on with such a sluggish economy: the Government must go for growth by reversing the jobs tax which is stifling small businesses and rip up the red tape holding back British businesses from trading with the rest of Europe. Only then will the Government unlock billions of pounds to protect public services and support struggling families.

After years of economic mismanagement by the Conservatives, the public desperately needs a government focused on getting our economy back on track – and these are the most obvious first steps to doing that.

Voting reforms: Elon Musk-shaped hole in Government’s announcement

Commenting on the Government’s announcement on voting reforms, Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

Votes at 16 is a no-brainer. Liberal Democrats have campaigned for this change for well over twenty years and so of course we welcome this decision.

However, there appears to be an Elon Musk shaped hole in the Government’s proposed changes to elections. Ministers must go much further to close the door to foreign oligarchs interfering in British politics – anything less undermines our democracy.

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Mark Valladares

16 July 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 16th July 2025 - 11:50 pm
  • Lib Dems: Bolster energy security to tackle “stubbornly high” inflation
  • Ed Davey calls for public inquiry into Afghan data leak and unprecedented superinjunction
  • Davey speech warns of Farage’s plan to tie Britain to Putin’s Russia
  • Carmichael to lead parliamentary debate on Global Plastics Treaty

Lib Dems: Bolster energy security to tackle “stubbornly high” inflation

Responding to June’s inflation figure of 3.6%, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

These stubbornly high inflation figures are hammering the pockets of households who are still struggling with a cost-of-living crisis that refuses to go away.

The Conservatives’ mismanagement of the economy led us here and now Donald Trump’s senseless trade war and the Government’s wage suppressing jobs tax are only adding to people’s pain.

Only by building an economic coalition of the willing to stand up to Trump’s bullying, scrapping the Government’s jobs tax and bolstering our energy security will we see pressure ease for families across the country.

Ed Davey calls for public inquiry into Afghan data leak and unprecedented superinjunction

Ed Davey has called for a public inquiry into the MOD data leak that put at risk the lives of up to 25,000 Afghans who supported the British campaign in Afghanistan, and the unprecedented superinjunction used to keep it hidden from the public for years.

The Liberal Democrats have criticised the Conservatives’ cloak-and-dagger efforts to protect Ministers’ identities via an unprecedented 600-day superinjunction, only revealed following a concerted effort by the British media to bring the details into the public domain.

The party’s leader, Ed Davey, has called for an urgent public inquiry – to report by the end of the year – which would allow for the level of scrutiny appropriate to the “size and significance” of the data breach and subsequent Government efforts to keep the details hidden from public view.

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Mark Valladares

15 July 2025 – yesterday’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 16th July 2025 - 10:52 pm
  • Adass survey should make Government “heed warning” they cannot fix the NHS without fixing social care
  • Thames Water results: time for Governmentt to end “nightmare” and put Thames Water into Special Administration
  • Ed Davey sets out plan to halve energy bills in a decade and takes on Farage’s fossil fuel myths
  • Afghan data breach: Government must confirm how many other MoD super injunctions exist
  • Lib Dems on Reeves speech: “spaghetti junction of red tape” between country and continent

Adass survey should make Government “heed warning” they cannot fix the NHS without fixing social care

Responding to The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services survey which found that recent overspend by councils in England on their adult social care budgets was the highest in a decade, Liberal Democrat Care and Carers spokesperson Alison Bennett MP said:

The Government needs to heed this warning that without fixing social care the NHS 10 Year Plan will fail to deliver the change that people are crying out for.

We will continue to see people stuck in hospital beds when they could be cared for at home, patients treated in A&E corridors and council budgets stretched to breaking point.

If the Government is to break with the years of neglect that the Conservatives oversaw, they need to get on with reforming social care, and that starts by completing their review by the end of the year. We cannot afford to wait any longer.

Thames Water results: time for Government to end “nightmare” and put Thames Water into Special Administration

Responding to Thames Water reporting a £1.6bn loss over the last year and sewage spills increasing by a third, Lib Dem MP for Witney Charlie Maynard said:

These are terrible results. The nightmare needs to stop.

After months of pressure, Steve Reed has now finally admitted that it is highly likely to cost the Government nothing in the medium term if Thames Water is put into Special Administration. He now needs to get on and do this.

Every day he holds off means that customers continue to get stuffed by ridiculously high interest charges and advisory fees. We can’t afford it, and nor can our rivers.

Ed Davey sets out plan to halve energy bills in a decade and takes on Farage’s fossil fuel myths

  • Liberal Democrat Leader gives major economic speech at IPPR setting out new plan to slash energy bills
  • Ed Davey says “we have got to break the link between gas prices and electricity costs” so people get the benefits of cheap, clean power
  • Speech takes on Farage and Badenoch’s myths on renewables and warns tying Britain to fossil fuels will only benefit dictators like Putin

In a major speech on the economy tomorrow, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will set out his party’s plan to halve energy bills for a typical household by 2035.

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Mark Valladares

5-6 July 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 7th July 2025 - 10:07 am
  • People waiting over a year for Access to Work support as Lib Dems call on Government to scrap “gutted” welfare legislation
  • Phillipson on Kuenssberg: Govt must give families reassurance on SEND support
  • Baroness Maclean: Badenoch must confirm if she agrees with aide or apologise
  • McMurdock investigation: Reform must come clean about what they knew
  • More than 10,000 ferries cancelled due to technical faults

People waiting over a year for Access to Work support as Lib Dems call on Government to scrap “gutted” welfare legislation

Someone waited 393 days for a decision on their Access to Work application which offers support to help people into employment a Liberal Democrat Written Parliamentary Question reveals.

It comes as the Government has announced a series of concessions on their controversial welfare bill after a major backbench rebellion. The original reforms would have cut the level of support for new PIP claimants which the Liberal Democrats said would create a two-tier system between old and new claimants, while still making it harder for disabled people to stay in work.

The cuts would have also risked thousands of carers losing their Carer’s Allowance as the person they care for needs to be eligible for PIP to receive the support. Although the Government said it will now entirely remove the PIP cuts from the bill following last minute concessions to Labour rebels, the text of the legislation voted on this week still included them.

The Written Parliamentary Questions by the party already revealed failings in giving people the support they need through the Access to Work scheme. They revealed that someone waited 393 days for a decision to be made on their application for into-employment support with the average wait for a decision being close to two months (57 days).

The WPQs also found that of the 157,000 applications for support in 2024/25 close to 20%, or 29,000, had not received a decision by the end of the financial year.

Access to Work helps people get or stay in work if they have a physical or mental health condition or disability. It can include a grant to help pay for practical support with work, support managing mental health at work or money to pay for communication support at job interviews. These delays disincentivise employers from offering jobs to disabled people as they can hire non-disabled people into roles faster.

The Lib Dems have said that the Government’s handling of this bill was “no way to make legislation let alone run a country”, with the bill rushed through and the full impact assessment of the changes not published. The party said that they would continue to oppose the bill, pointing out that this chop-and-change approach is no way to run our country or reform the welfare system.

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Mark Valladares

4 July 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 4th July 2025 - 11:47 pm
  • One in five GPs nearing retirement in some areas as Government’s 10 year plan risks “not touching the sides”
  • Lib Dem Bill passes in Commons – MP says animal welfare will be “transformed”, bill will end pet mutilation
  • Jardine secures government progress on supporting bereaved children
  • Chamberlain: Vote Lib Dem peach to get Scotland back to its best
  • Greene warns investment needed after litany of failures at Ferguson Marine

One in five GPs nearing retirement in some areas as Government’s 10 year plan risks “not touching the sides”

Thousands of GPs are nearing retirement age with some areas seeing close to a quarter aged over 55, research by the House of Commons Library commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The party has said that the Government’s 10 year NHS plan risks “not touching the sides”.

The Government’s 10 year plan for the NHS includes the recruitment of thousands more GPs in the coming years but the analysis shows that this may not be enough to replace the number of GPs set to retire over the next decade.

The data shows that 5,717 GPs are aged over 55 at the end of 2024/25 with that number having risen by 150 since March 2023. It represents around one in seven of the full time equivalent GPs in England, including trainees.

The analysis also found that in some areas almost one in four GPs are approaching retirement. In North West London and Mid and South Essex, 24% of the GP workforce is aged over 55, the highest rates in the country. They were followed by North East London on 21%. Overall, 17 of the 42 Integrated Care Boards had seen a rise in the proportion of GPs nearing retirement age.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to boost GP numbers by 8,000 through incentivising more experienced GPs and nurses to return, including more opportunities for junior doctors and increasing training facilities.

This would be geared towards giving patients a legal right to see their GP within seven days or 24-hours if in urgent need.

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said:

The Government’s plans for GP recruitment risk not touching the sides in the face of this retirement ticking time bomb. With an ageing population and many GP practices already at breaking point these plans could simply be treading water rather than delivering the change that people are desperately crying out for.

Botched IT roll outs under the Conservatives have dashed people’s faith in the Government’s ability to actually deliver on these kinds of projects and Labour has provided little detail on how they can actually make this happen.

These plans also risk putting up barriers to digitally-excluded older and vulnerable people accessing the health care they need, if there is no additional appropriate support made available to them.

By plonking the social care crisis in the too hard basket once again, this is not a plan to save the NHS, instead it is the most expensive sticking plaster in history.

Lib Dem Bill passes in Commons – MP says animal welfare will be “transformed”, bill will end pet mutilation

Liberal Democrat MP Danny Chambers’ Private Members’ Bill has passed through the Commons today , with the Government backing the Bill. The vet MP said the move will “eradicate” dangerous puppy smuggling and end “serious public health worries” about the spread of disease associated with imported pets.

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Mark Valladares

1 July 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 1st July 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • FIRS scheme has a “China-shaped hole”, say Lib Dems
  • Welfare concessions: Govt should “put this bill out of its misery”
  • Davey: Welfare Bill “no way to run a country”
  • Carmichael challenges EDF on imposed inferior tariffs for RTS customers
  • Cole-Hamilton: Delayed discharges another SNP broken promise
  • Operations activity stagnating below pre-pandemic levels

FIRS scheme has a “China-shaped hole”, say Lib Dems

Responding to the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS)’s publication today, Calum Miller MP, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, said:

It’s clear that there’s a China-shaped hole in today’s FIRS announcement. Labour’s failure to include China on the enhanced tier sends a terrible signal to pro-democracy Hong Kongers and Chinese activists living in the UK, and undermines our security.

The government has offered no reasons why China – which poses similar threats to our interests and ideals – is excluded when Iran and Russia are rightly on the enhanced tier.

As we mark the anniversary of the Hong Kong handover today, it’s astonishing the Government has chosen now to broadcast its lax approach to Chinese interference here at home.

With reports also that the Chinese ‘mega-embassy’ is about to be greenlit, the Government needs to get serious about the threat posed by China – or risk mirroring the Conservatives’ utterly incoherent response to Beijing while in power.

Welfare concessions: Govt should “put this bill out of its misery”

Responding to reports that the Government is offering further concessions on the welfare bill to the Labour rebels, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

The Government should stop tying themselves in endless knots and put this bill out of its misery.

This has been a mess from start to finish and it’s clear that this legislation is not fit for purpose. Ministers are asking MPs to vote on a bill on which the ink hasn’t dried before it is blotted out once again.

The Government needs to go back to the drawing board and pull this bill. The Liberal Democrats are clear we cannot support this legislation that puts up more barriers to work and strips away vital support from disabled people and those who care for them.

Davey: Welfare Bill “no way to run a country”

Following the news that the Government’s Welfare Reform Bill has passed, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

This is no way to run a country.

The Government should scrap this failed bill altogether and work cross-party to actually bring down the welfare bill by getting people into work.

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Mark Valladares

28-29 June 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 29th June 2025 - 11:30 pm
  • George Freeman: Badenoch must suspend whip
  • Bob Vylan: hate speech has no place at Glastonbury or in society
  • Greene: Scottish Government must realise economic potential of defence spending
  • Greene responds to proposed Greenfold redundancies
  • Cole-Hamilton: Disease burden shows NHS needs vision and foresight
  • Cramond among 12 sites with dangerous dry weather sewage dumping
  • Lib Dems secure U-turn from Scottish Government on sewage dumping guidance

George Freeman: Badenoch must suspend whip

Responding to reports that Conservative MP George Freeman has referred himself to the parliamentary watchdog over cash for questions claims, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said:

This looks like the same old sleaze and scandal people have come to expect from the Conservative Party.

Kemi Badenoch should immediately suspend the whip from George Freeman while this is investigated.

Failure to act would confirm that even after being booted out of government, the Conservatives are still hopelessly out of touch.

Bob Vylan: hate speech has no place at Glastonbury or in society

Responding to Bob Vylan’s performance at Glastonbury on Saturday, Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport Spokesperson Max Wilkinson MP said:

Bob Vylan’s chants at Glastonbury yesterday were appalling. Cultural events are always a place for debate, but hate speech, antisemitism and incitements to violence have no place at Glastonbury or anywhere in our society.

Everyone has a responsibility to use language and public platforms carefully.

Greene: Scottish Government must realise economic potential of defence spending

To mark Armed Forces Day, Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Jamie Greene MSP has written to the Deputy First Minister urging her to ensure the Scottish Government realises the economic potential of increases in the defence budget.

In June, the UK Chancellor announced that UK defence spending would rise to 2.6% by April 2027.

The increase comes after Liberal Democrat calls in January for a clear roadmap to 3% defence spending, as well as for the government to commit to a full reversal of the Conservatives’ cut of 10,000 troops.

The UK Government’s defence spending increase includes a promised £250 million over three years on the Faslane submarine base in the West of Scotland. It also includes a £4.5 billion munitions investment in several sites across the UK, including Glasgow.

It has also been reported that billions of pounds will need to be invested with established Scottish tech companies to develop drones, satellites, battlefield communications systems, missiles and guidance systems over the next decade.

The text of Mr Greene’s letter to the Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes, is as follows:

Dear Kate,

I am writing to you following the UK Government’s Spending Review, which has allocated a significant portion of increases in defence spending to Scotland. This includes a promised £250 million over three years on the Faslane submarine base in the West of Scotland.

Scotland’s defence industry currently supports more than 14,000 jobs and generated £1bn for the economy in 2023 alone. It is a critical source of employment not only in my own region along the Clyde, but also in areas like Prestwick, Edinburgh and Dundee amongst others.

If those communities are to reap the benefits of this spending increase, and I believe they should, the Scottish Government must also play its part in realising that economic potential. That means creating the right environment for jobs and investment as well as tackling obstacles that could otherwise dampen those opportunities.

At the moment there are worrying gaps in Scotland’s skills pipeline. The Liberal Democrats have repeatedly raised the issue of teacher shortages in key subjects including maths, chemistry, physics, biology and computer sciences, all of which are vital to developing the skills which will be required by the defence sector.

That situation has been made no easier by the somewhat confused stance the Scottish Government takes on matters of national security and its support for the defence industry in Scotland, by way of example Scottish Enterprise declining to support the proposed Rolls-Royce ‘welding skills’ centre in Glasgow. There is also an increasingly anti-sector narrative being used in the language of politics, and sadly government.

Like many others, I am concerned this creates an unwelcome environment for businesses who might otherwise invest in our defence industry here, as well as for those considering a career in it.

In light of this can I ask for:

  • An update on what exactly the Scottish Government is doing to facilitate and encourage businesses to invest in the Scotland’s defence industry,
  • An outline as to what steps the Scottish Government is taking to address the current lack of teachers in key STEM subjects across Scotland and,
  • Clarity on whether or the not the Scottish Government believes that there should be an ongoing and thriving defence sector in Scotland.

It is incumbent on the Scottish Government to use its available powers to foster a conducive environment for employment, investment and growth.

The defence sector, coupled with our armed forces presence, contributes financially, educationally and socially in the communities they operate in. I hope on that point we have agreement as to their importance and in making them feel welcome in Scotland.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie Greene MSP

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Mark Valladares

26 June 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 26th June 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Davey calls on Government to pull Welfare Bill before vote as “PM’s own backbenchers” can see the damage carers face
  • “Bungling Badenoch” urgently needs to clarify Conservative position on PM attending major summits after Pritchard criticism
  • Married couple Yi-pei Chou Turvey and Michael Turvey top North East list
  • Wendy Chamberlain MP and People’s Postcode Lottery respond to Government not lifting Charity Lottery Cap
  • Cole-Hamilton: Cancer patients deserve better than SNP failures

Davey calls on Government to pull Welfare Bill before vote as “PM’s own backbenchers” can see the damage carers face

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on the Government to pull their controversial welfare reforms before a vote next week saying that “even the Prime Minister’s own backbenchers” can see the damage these reforms could do to unpaid family carers and those they look after.

Davey made the call as the Liberal Democrats have tabled their own Reasoned Amendment aimed at killing the Bill. It highlights the plight of unpaid family carers as a result of these cuts and instead urges the Government to fix the crisis in the NHS and social care, to get people off waiting lists and back into work to get the welfare bill down.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The Government needs to pull this Bill and go back to the drawing board. Even the Prime Minister’s own backbenchers can see the damage these cuts will do by leaving some of the most vulnerable without support and putting thousands of unpaid carers in impossible situations.

The Conservatives made a complete mess of our welfare system, but the way to bring the benefits bill down is not through cutting support for disabled people and those who care for them. It is by tackling the crisis in our NHS and social care, to get millions of people off waiting lists and back to work.

Family carers do tremendous work in often the most challenging of circumstances, taking huge pressures off our health services and helping loved ones. Taking support away from our nation’s carers is the worst kind of false economy.

I hope the Prime Minister listens and pulls this Bill instead of cutting vital support from thousands of vulnerable people.

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25 June 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 25th June 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • PAC Covid loans report: unacceptable still no sign of the billions “mugged from taxpayers”
  • Lib Dems demand mandatory vote in Parliament before any British forces sent to conflict zones as nearly 60% of Britons back a vote ahead of any UK action in Iran
  • Trade Strategy has “missed the mark” and shows a Government “cowering in the corner” – Lib Dems

PAC Covid loans report: unacceptable still no sign of the billions “mugged from taxpayers”

Responding to the Public Accounts Committee report which states that the Government has been “dangerously-flat footed” in recovering taxpayer losses from fraudulent Covid loans, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Nearly a year after the Government announced its Covid corruption czar, it’s unacceptable that there’s still no sign of the billions of pounds that were mugged from taxpayers.

The Conservative Party oversaw awful abuse of the public finances, essentially allowing a dodgy get rich quick scheme to operate at the expense of people struggling with the catastrophe of the Covid pandemic. But now under this Government, those people seem to be getting off scot free.

Ministers cannot allow this situation to drift any longer. We must see real focus at the top of Government so that these people have to bear the full force of the law and these billions are returned to taxpayers pockets.

Lib Dems demand mandatory vote in Parliament before any British forces sent to conflict zones as nearly 60% of Britons back a vote ahead of any UK action in Iran

The Liberal Democrats have tabled a bill to legally require a Parliamentary vote ahead of the Government deploying British soldiers abroad, as compelling polling commissioned by the party shows that nearly 6 in 10 Britons (57%) believe Parliament should vote on any UK military action taken in Iran.

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17 June 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 17th June 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • NI tax hike: Government must scrap damaging jobs tax
  • Trump tariff deal: Govt must come clean and publish impact assessment
  • Lib Dem MP to take Thames Water to the Supreme Court
  • Rennie responds to school leaver deprivation gap widening
  • SNP miss key targets for drug treatment and care
  • Rennie: Will another 77 pages of school violence guidance change anything?
  • Cole-Hamilton: NHS, care and economy at the heart of liberal vision

NI tax hike: Government must scrap damaging jobs tax

Commenting as S&W’s business owners sentiment survey revealed around a third of business owners have said they plan to cut more jobs after being hit by higher national insurance contributions, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Unfortunately, this confirms what we knew from the start – that the unfair National Insurance tax hike is a massive hammer blow to businesses already struggling to cope, and will lead to people losing their jobs or seeing their salaries suppressed.

Small businesses are the engine of our economy and the backbone of our communities. After all the damage they faced under the last Conservative Government, the government should be doing everything it can to support them.

Ministers need to go back to the drawing board, scrap this damaging jobs tax that holds back economic growth, and instead ask the big banks and social media giants to pay their fair share of tax.

Trump tariff deal: Govt must come clean and publish impact assessment

Responding to the news that the UK-US trade deal has been partially signed off by Donald Trump, Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson and Deputy Leader, said:

The Government needs to come clean on the full details of this deal – including publishing impact assessments on how it will affect British farmers, food standards and steel industry. When you’re dealing with someone as unreliable as Trump, you have to read the small print.

If precedent is anything to go by, Trump will be working behind the scenes to extract more concessions. We need a cast-iron guarantee that the NHS will be exempt from any kind of Trump deal and that US tech giants won’t be given a tax cut.

Lib Dem MP to take Thames Water to the Supreme Court

Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard will be appealing to the Supreme Court, and asking them to hear his case against the Thames Water (TW) restructuring plan.

This follows Charlie’s case earlier in the year which was heard in the High Court. Charlie is arguing that the public and customer interests should be taken into account for this restructuring plan given Thames Water provides essential public services and has a monopoly over customers, and that the Court should not leave it up to the Secretary of State or Ofwat to decide whether there are any public interest objections.

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12 June 2025 – Thursday’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sat 14th June 2025 - 11:05 pm
  • GDP figures: Chancellor’s claims at spending review have not “survived contact with reality”
  • Spending review: Over £4.5 billion of “hidden” cuts to departments could be avoided with better UK-EU trade deal
  • Reeves must rule out tax rises for families and small businesses, say Lib Dems
  • AUKUS: Trump move to bring submarine deal under review throws “grenade” into security partnership

GDP figures: Chancellor’s claims at spending review have not “survived contact with reality”

Responding to GDP falling by 0.3% in April, the first month of figures since the employers’ national insurance rise came into effect and Trump’s tariffs came into effect, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

At the spending review yesterday the Chancellor suggested that the country was on the up but today this claim has not survived contact with reality.

Today’s figures should be a wake up call for the Government which has so far refused to listen to the small businesses struggling to cope with the jobs tax, worried that our high streets will be completely hollowed out and that our hospitality sector is hanging by a thread.

To tackle Trump’s tariffs, Ministers must stop cowering in the corner and get on with building an economic coalition of the willing with our European and Commonwealth neighbours.

It’s time for the Government to get serious, scrap their damaging jobs tax and go for growth with a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union that will raise billions to re-build our public services.

Spending review: Over £4.5 billion of “hidden” cuts to departments could be avoided with better UK-EU trade deal

Government departments are facing real-terms cuts of £4.6 billion by 2028-29, Liberal Democrat analysis of the Spending Review has revealed.

The Liberal Democrats said these “painful cuts” could be avoided by boosting growth, including through a better UK-EU trade deal that could boost public finances by around £25 billion a year.

Some departments will see significant cuts over the spending review period. The Foreign Office, Home Office and Department for Transport are all expected to be hit with real-terms cuts of over £1 billion. DEFRA will also see a £355 million real-terms cut over three years.

The Liberal Democrats said that the spending review will see public services already stretched to breaking point be expected to endure another round of painful cuts.

The party said that the Government would not have to make these choices if it got a better trade deal with the EU and moved to negotiating a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union. Previous analysis has found that a better deal even within the Government’s own red lines could boost GDP by 2.2% raising £25 billion a year in extra revenue for the Exchequer.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP said:

Hidden in the small print of the spending review are painful cuts to public spending, with funding for social care and our police being stretched to breaking point.

We cannot afford to wait another decade for the government to fix social care while patients are treated in hospital corridors and elderly people wait for months on end for a care home place.

The Chancellor would not have to make these difficult choices if she got serious about going for growth, got a better trade deal with the EU and cut red tape for British businesses.

That is the best way to boost our economy, put more money into people’s pockets and rebuild our public services.

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Mark Valladares

11 June 2025 – today’s Spending Review press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 11th June 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • “Smoke and mirrors” spending review could leave a blackhole for social care
  • Police funding short-fall as families face council tax bombshell to pick up the tab
  • Spending review: Reeves has put farmers “at the back of the Treasury queue”
  • Welsh rail funding announcement – Wales getting the scraps again
  • Lib Dems comment on defence, Acorn, supercomputer in spending review

“Smoke and mirrors” spending review could leave a blackhole for social care

Responding to the spending review, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

This spending review was a missed opportunity to repair the damage done by the Conservatives and finally deliver on the promise of change.

Behind the smoke and mirrors is a potential blackhole for social care as local government budgets remain at breaking point. Putting more money into the NHS without fixing social care is like pouring water into a leaky bucket.

The Chancellor must also raise her ambition for the country and boost growth through a much closer trade deal with the EU. That’s the best way to improve people’s living standards and unlock billions of pounds more for our public services.

Police funding short-fall as families face council tax bombshell to pick up the tab

The Government has said that the ‘police core spending power’ increases assumes rises in the PCC council tax precept in order to fund it. It means people will be left to pick up the tab in order to fund increases in police spending with the Government refusing to cover the costs.

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart MP said:

The Government is relying on a hidden council tax bombshell to fund their half-hearted rise in police funding as they pass the buck to local families.

After frontline policing was neglected for years under the Conservatives, local communities deserve better than this sleight of hand.

The Government must put more bobbies on the beat, with the proper funding to make it happen. Liberal Democrats will keep pushing for the proper neighbourhood policing our communities deserve.

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The Voice

Lib Dems react to Spending Review “smoke and mirrors”

By The Voice | Wed 11th June 2025 - 2:16 pm

The Liberal Democrats have reacted to the Spending Review.

Daisy Cooper has warned that Rachel Reeves may have left a black hole for social care funding. This is based on local government having their funding cut by 1.4% during the period of the review. Councils have a statutory duty to provide social care and this does not help them.

This spending review was a missed opportunity to repair the damage done by the Conservatives and finally deliver on the promise of change.

Behind the smoke and mirrors is a potential blackhole for social care as local government budgets remain at breaking point. Putting more money into the NHS without fixing social care is like pouring water into a leaky bucket.

The Chancellor must also raise her ambition for the country and boost growth through a much closer trade deal with the EU. That’s the best way to improve people’s living standards and unlock billions of pounds more for our public services.

Welsh Lib Dem MP David Chadwick was distinctly unimpressed with Labour’s plans to invest in Welsh rail:

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Caron Lindsay

What are Liberal Democrats looking for from the spending review?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 11th June 2025 - 8:15 am

Today Rachel Reeves announces her spending review. What are Liberal Democrats looking for from it?

It will surprise nobody to hear that social care is top of the agenda, alongside a closer relationship with Europe. Without the latter, Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper says, Labour will be trying to drive the economy forward with the handbrake on. And anyone who has tried to do that in a car will know how impossible that feels and how much of an idiot you feel when you realise that you have forgotten to take the handbrake off.

Daisy said:

People have been left desperately disappointed in the Government’s failure to break clean from years of Conservative neglect and finally start delivering the change that people were promised.

Today’s spending review must deliver progress on social care. The Government’s bid to start reforms has barely progressed since it was announced six-months ago. Yet we all know the simple truth: without solving the social care challenge, putting money into the NHS today will be like pouring water into a leaky bucket.

Ministers should also be slashing the reams of red tape that are holding local businesses back and negotiate a bespoke UK-EU customs union, rather than pursuing painful cuts to already stretched budgets. Until they do, the Chancellor will still be trying to drive the economy forward with the handbrake on.

Here she is speaking about the key issues:

The Party has also commissioned House of Commons library research into the impact of possible cuts.  The Independent reports;

However, the analysis, carried out by researchers at the House of Commons library commissioned by the Lib Dems, found that unprotected departments — which excludes NHS England, the core schools budget and defence — could see real-terms cuts worth nearly £5 billion in total by 2028/29.

The calculation, based on Reeves’ promise that will not hike taxes, was made before the chancellor committed a further £1.25bn a year to reversing cuts of winter fuel payments to pensioners, a U-turn which was confirmed on Monday. It also does not take into account another potential U-turn on ending the two child benefit cap, which could cost a further £3bn.

The Home Office budget is forecast to take a huge hit, being almost half a billion quid short. The Independent report forecasts dire outcomes for social care and education. These would be incredibly short-sighted. It is so obvious that fixing social care is vital to sorting out the whole NHS, and why would you cut back on skills development when you are also hell bent on cutting social security and putting even greater holes in the safety net than the Conservatives’ best efforts managed?

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Mark Valladares

10 June 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 10th June 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Workforce figures: clear the Government must change course
  • Spending Review must deliver progress on social care
  • “Conveyor belt of Trump sycophants” rolls on as David Bull appointed Reform Chairman
  • Spending review: Home Office at risk of £500 million shortfall as Home Secretary on ‘resignation watch’
  • Ben-Gvir and Smotrich: Davey welcomes sanctions and calls for recognition of Palestine
  • £3 Bus cap extension: Labour clearly isn’t listening

Workforce figures: clear the Government must change course

Responding to the latest workforce figures which show unemployment and the number on jobless benefits rising, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

These figures could not be a clearer signal to the Chancellor, ahead of the spending review, that the Government must change course.

The Chancellor’s pig’s ear of a jobs tax is crushing the growth potential of our high-streets and small businesses, pushing people out of work, and ramping up the benefits bill.

This week, instead of pursuing another round of devastating departmental cuts, the Government needs to take the handbrake off our economy and go for growth. That means negotiating a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union to turbocharge our economy and raise billions of pounds to protect public services and struggling families.

Spending Review must deliver progress on social care

Ahead of the spending review today (11th June) Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

People have been left desperately disappointed in the Government’s failure to break clean from years of Conservative neglect and finally start delivering the change that people were promised.

Today’s spending review must deliver progress on social care. The Government’s bid to start reforms has barely progressed since it was announced six-months ago. Yet we all know the simple truth: without solving the social care challenge, putting money into the NHS today will be like pouring water into a leaky bucket.

Ministers should also be slashing the reams of red tape that are holding local businesses back and negotiate a bespoke UK-EU customs union, rather than pursuing painful cuts to already stretched budgets. Until they do, the Chancellor will still be trying to drive the economy forward with the handbrake on.

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