Tag Archives: drug addiction

18 October 2022 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 18th October 2022 - 11:40 pm

Triple lock: Truss looks set to betray struggling pensioners in the middle of a cost of living crisis
Lib Dem Amendment Put to Vote to End Sleaze in Parliament
Anti-sleaze amendment passed to stop MPs “marking their own homework”
Calls for Action as Drug-Related Deaths in Wales Rise to Highest Level Ever
Welsh Government Must Act to Stop the Brain Drain of Doctors in Wales

Triple lock: Truss looks set to betray struggling pensioners in the middle of a cost of living crisis

Responding to the Prime Minister’s spokesperson refusing to say the Government is committed to the triple lock pension, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Work and Pensions Wendy Chamberlain MP said:

Liz Truss has trashed the economy and now looks set to betray struggling pensioners in the middle of a cost of living crisis.

This Conservative Government’s botched budget has already sent mortgage bills spiralling. It would be a kick in the teeth for millions of people if Truss now backtracks on her triple lock promise. The British public will never forgive the Conservative party if they break this promise.

This chaotic Government has to go. Britain needs a general election before Liz Truss and her Conservative Ministers do anymore damage.

Lib Dem Amendment Put to Vote to End Sleaze in Parliament

The Liberal Democrats have today led a cross-party Parliamentary effort to finally end the practice by which MPs are allowed to vote on motions regarding their own misconduct.

The Lib Dem Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain is today putting an amendment to a vote on the Government’s motion on standards, which the Government has tabled to implement recommendations from the Standards Committee, later this afternoon.

This practice was notoriously brought to attention by the Owen Paterson scandal, when he voted against his own suspension from the House of Commons in 2021 – a saga which ultimately resulted in a Liberal Democrat victory in the North Shropshire by-election.

The amendments, which have support from Conservatives (David Mundell, Alicia Kearns), Labour (Kim Leadbeater, Cat Smith) and the Green Party (Caroline Lucas), would prohibit members from voting on anything concerning their own conduct.

Posted in News and Press releases | Also tagged cost of living crisis, doctors, jane dodds, pensions, tory sleaze, Wales and wendy chamberlain | 7 Comments

We need to talk about drug addiction, decriminalisation, legalisation and regulation

By Catherine Royce | Wed 1st September 2021 - 4:01 pm

It’s time to look again at our policy on drugs, a topic which we can ‘own,’ which will get us noticed In the media and, which will differentiate us from Labour and Conservatives.

I’m not talking about cannabis, recreational use has become almost mainstream, is more or less ignored by the police and is certainly far, far less harmful than either tobacco and /or alcohol, -that is established medical fact.

The medicinal uses of cannabis are now being acknowledged and established, even if there is a long way to go on further research and getting the medical supply chain organised.

No, I want us to talk about the hard stuff; class A, like heroin and cocaine. This is the topic where a change in mind-set is needed, an end to ‘the war on drugs’, and if that can be achieved the medical and societal gains will be huge.

Since the general election in 2019 we Liberal Democrats and to a lesser extent Labour have become more or less invisible; – not surprising in the face of a national and international health emergency of monumental proportions. But, as the total incompetence of the Johnson Tory government on almost every front becomes more obvious with every passing month, it’s high time for us to emerge from the shadows and start some proper debate on some fresh topics both in health and beyond, and which might get us some useful media coverage as a bonus.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged drug use and public health | 21 Comments

Willie Rennie: The way we tackle drug addiction is broken

By The Voice | Sun 20th March 2016 - 5:30 pm

Willie Rennie has called for a sea-change in drugs policy after new analysis showed that 1,000 people in possession of drugs for personal use have been imprisoned in the last five years instead of being sent for treatment or education.

The figures, compiled by Scottish Government analysts at the request of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, revealed an average of 200 people in Scotland were incarcerated for drug offences between 2010 and 2015. In contrast, an average of just 55 Scots per year were handed drug treatment and testing orders.

Our manifesto for the Holyrood election proposes to end the use of imprisonment for vulnerable people addicted to drugs, calling for it to be treated as a health issue instead. Drug dealers would still face tough criminal sanctions and people failing to abide by treatment or education plans would be subject to additional penalties.

Willie spoke to Liberal Democrat campaigners in Glasgow, where 189 people died as a result of drug misuse in 2014.

Posted in News | Also tagged Scotland and willie rennie | Leave a comment