On Friday, Ed made the long journey to Aberdeen – 7.5 hours on a train from London.
The first hustings took place there but, first, a look back to an op ed he did last week for the New Statesman on LGBT rights:
Over the last 50 years, the hard work by campaigners and rights groups has seen the UK take hugely progressive steps in the right direction. In my lifetime alone our country has overcome so many barriers in the fight for equality. I am proud to have been a part of this fight and particularly proud to have introduced the amendment to repeal the abhorrent Section 28 in 2003 and to have been a part of legislating for equal marriage when Liberal Democrats were in government. It is shocking to recall how recently the UK banned the “promotion” of homosexuality in Britain’s schools (under Section 28) and denied people the right to marry the person they love because of their gender.
Phillip Hammond has been complaining about the costs of fighting climate change. Ed says that we can’t afford not to:
Hammond might be trying to reclaim his crown as a fiscal hawk in the dying embers of May’s premiership, but this intervention is wrong headed and threatens our children’s future.
The cost of tackling the climate emergency is massively outweighed by the long term cost of not acting. The Chancellor has got his sums wrong.
The time to act is now. Just this week a new report concluded that 30,000 premature deaths could be avoided by stopping the burning of fossil fuels, proving a clean future is a healthier future.
With ambitious, stable, policies, Britain can have a competitive green economy, benefitting from the lower cost of hi-tech renewable energy.
Ed also welcomed comments form the Speaker that there would be no chance of Parliament being prorogued to force through a no-deal Brexit:
I cannot imagine how those young soldiers felt disembarking onto those beaches, often under fire. Their courage and sacrifice is our freedom.
We must remember them and never take peace and liberty for granted. And never allow national populism and fascism to win. #DDay75pic.twitter.com/izrbVVixdO
Trump has insulted the mayor of the capital hosting him, insulted the Duchess of Sussex just days before being hosted by the Queen, and insulted thousands of people working in the NHS by telling his ambassador to demand that American companies must be able to win contracts to run our hospitals. There is much I admire about America, but its health system isn’t one of them.
I marched against Brexit and now I will march against the same politics of division that President Trump personifies.
Our so-called government might be prepared to roll out the red carpet in a desperate attempt to curry favour with a president who’s willing to rip up international progress on the climate crisis, roll back women’s rights and demonise migrants. But for a Tory Party that prided itself on its royalism, it clearly doesn’t care that it has forced the Queen to host one of her most awkward visitors since Nicolae Ceausescu.
Then he challenged the Government on failure to make good its promise on the Dubs Amendment to take unaccompanied refugee children.
It is good to hear the Minister accept that the best way to prevent refugees from taking these dangerous crossings is to provide safe, legal routes to sanctuary for those fleeing persecution. Going back to the Dubs amendment, the Government promised two years ago to provide a scheme for 480 unaccompanied refugee children. When will that promise be delivered?
And he wished everyone Eid Mubarak
#EidMubarak! I hope it brings hopefulness, well-being and happiness to everyone celebrating
Fit for the Future is an environmental sustainability network with over 100 charities, heritage organisations & public sector organisations that I’ve chaired for 3 years
After a frenetic weekend, it’s been a quieter day for our two leadership candidates.
Like Jo, Ed had something to say about our unwelcome house guest.
.@realDonaldTrump‘s personal insults to the Mayor of London demonstrate his contempt for us.
I’ll proudly protest tomorrow alongside thousands of others who reject Trump’s politics of hate & division and want to keep his hands off our #NHS. #trumpukvisithttps://t.co/swynHYLQRT
It’s been a hectic weekend for the leadership candidates. Numerous media interviews, travelling across the country for three sets of hustings. It’s a gruelling pace and there’s two months to go.
We’re going to try and keep up with them every day during the leadership campaign, once at the weekend.
The weekend kicked off on Friday night when the first hustings took pace in London.
Today, Ed was interviewed on Pienaar’s Politics on Radio 5 Live talking about the differences between him and Jo, climate change and Donald Trump.. Listen here.
It’s going to be a gruelling month for our Lib Dem leadership candidates. They’ve both had a fair bit of media exposure the last couple of days and tonight they are in Jeremy Corbyn’s backyard having their first hustings.
If anyone who is actually there wants to write up a report of the event, it would be very gratefully received. There were a lot of you there – which is fantastic on a Friday night on not that much notice.
@joswinson “we need to put people and the planet first. Making business part of the solution. We need a leader to cut through to the new generations”. #LibDemSurge#LibDemLeadership
Delighted that both #LibDemLeadership candidates say that ‘no-deal’ cannot be on the #PeoplesVote ballot, because as #EdForLeader says ‘it’s meaningless’; choice has to be between reality of ‘deal’ and #Remain
— Sarah Ludford 🇬🇧 🇮🇪🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@SarahLudford) May 31, 2019
Next month will mark eighteen years since I was first elected as a Member of Parliament. To say it has been something of a rollercoaster would be an understatement – so it feels good to be on the way back up again!
One of the things that has made the process of rebuilding so much easier over the last couple of years has been the really good team dynamic that we have within the parliamentary party. Most of the time agreement on positioning and priorities is simple and intuitive. When it is not then I think we manage our discussions and differences well. Even when Stephen Lloyd felt it necessary to resign the whip because of undertakings he had given to his constituents before he was elected, the process was amicable and we all remain on good terms with Stephen.
It is against that background that we now embark on a leadership contest between two of our own colleagues – Jo Swinson and Ed Davey. The choice for the party will be between two different styles and sometimes maybe priorities. Our greatest strength is that as a party we are united. We simply do not have the ideological splits that will probably split either or both of the Conservative or Labour Parties in the next twelve months. Whichever of the two candidates is chosen by the members will lead a united group in the House of Commons. I would be as happy to work with either Jo or Ed as leader as I have been to work with Vince for the last two years.
Our constitution gives a special role to MPs in the process of electing a party leader – it requires any candidate to have the support of at least ten percent of the rest of the parliamentary party. In a parliamentary party of over fifty that made sense. In a parliamentary party of eleven things are different. That is why Liberal Democrat MPs have decided to treat their role in this election as a different, essentially neutral one. As all MPs are happy to work with either Jo or Ed as leader our role should be to facilitate a vote amongst the members. We will do this by agreeing that two MPs will nominate Jo (Tom Brake and Christine Jardine) and that two of us will nominate Ed (Wera Hobhouse and Jamie Stone).
In nominating in this way they act on behalf of us all in saying that we will work with whoever the membership should choose and that they should make the choice. Of course some parliamentary colleagues will want to make their preference known in the course of the campaign (Vince, as outgoing leader will not, nor will I as chief whip) but that is quite apart from the nomination process.
Climate change. Liberalism. Winning. That’s been my political story – and I want it to be the Liberal Democrats’ story. And with the magnificent victories in this month’s local and European elections, the Liberal Democrats are getting back in the game. I want to thank Vince, a giant of liberalism, for his role in getting us here and his contribution to fighting Brexit.
Under my leadership, the Liberal Democrats would continue to lead the fight to Stop Brexit. I am writing to Speaker Bercow to ensure a No Deal Brexit cannot happen without a vote in Parliament. But I also want to make the positive case for Britain’s membership of the European Union. I’m an economist by training, and for me the economic case to stop Brexit is overwhelming. But for too long the British argument over Europe has only been made by reference to economics. Europe has also been a hugely successful vehicle for peace, and Britain must stay in the front seat.
I also want us to reach out to Leave communities and Leave voters –they are our neighbours, our friends, our work colleagues, our brothers and sisters. These divisions in our country have distressed me more than anything I’ve seen in my political career. I want to build a future politics where people – particularly outside of London – don’t feel frozen out or ignored and feel included in our great British family.
As Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, I worked for three years to get renewable power investment. We nearly quadrupled Britain’s green energy, making Britain a world leader in offshore wind power. By pushing hard for manufacturing investment, we created jobs and revived places like Hull, Grimsby and Lowestoft. This is the sort of hope and investment in coastal towns and cities that can prove to Leave communities that Liberal Democrats care.
And for those of you who have just joined the party, here’s a bit more about him:
Ed first got active in politics after reading Seeing Green by Jonathan Porritt as a teenager – and green issues have remained close to his heart ever since. After serving as the Economics Adviser to Paddy Ashdown, Ed won his seat of Kingston and Surbiton in 1997, when it was 106th on the target list.
From there, Ed has helped Liberal Democrats across the country, at all levels, get elected, including a diverse and majority female group in his home borough.
Ed lost both his parents as a child – and was a young carer for his mum before she passed away when he was 15, So Ed knows how challenging life can be – and how important the NHS is. Caring for the less fortunate has been the hallmark of his political career – for constituents and his campaigns for the bereaved, the disabled and the homeless.
In Coalition Ed began as a Business Minister, laying the groundwork for Shared Parental Leave under Vince Cable. In 2012 Ed became the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change where he quadrupled renewable power and made the UK the world leader in offshore wind. In Europe, Ed led climate change negotiations and won ambitious news targets people never thought would be agreed – so directly helping to get the Paris Climate Treaty.
Davey: Stopping Brexit only solution on citizens’ rights
Responding to the Home Affairs Select Committee’s report on the EU Settled Status scheme, published today , Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said:
The Liberal Democrats have long been warning that Brexit will create a new Windrush Scandal.
No one really believes that the Home Office will successfully grant Settled Status to all 3.6 million EU citizens before the arbitrary 2021 deadline. And no one should be reliant on a Home Office IT system to prove their right to live and work in the UK.
Two Lib Dem MPs expected to stand for the leadership of the party have called for action after EU citizens were denied the right to vote on Thursday because local authorities hadn’t properly processed their applications. The Guardian reports that the Government may face action:
The government is facing calls to launch an urgent investigation into the treatment of EU citizens in the European elections after many people reported being denied their democratic right to vote.
Voters across the country told of their devastation at finding their names crossed off the register due to clerical errors by local councils. Experts said the situation was a “scandal we knew was coming” and that the government may have a case to answer in court.
The affected voters said they felt they were being “silenced” as this was the only election they had a right to participate in, being ineligible to vote in the referendum or general elections.
Our two as yet undeclared expected leadership candidates have had strong words to say on the subject.
Ed Davey put out a call for evidence from those affected.
Victims of #DeniedMyVote -we need your evidence. This is an outrage and a full investigation is needed.
Help us by: ✅Adding your evidence points into the thread ✅Checking you were correctly registered ✅Alerting other EU nationals@catherinemep & I are building out your case https://t.co/X8T8T8h8TL
I have written to the chair of the Electoral Commission to ask for an investigation after so many EU citizens were unable to vote in the Euro elections yesterday. In the UK, in 2019, no one should be denied their right to vote. #DeniedMyVotepic.twitter.com/zBTx6G3p5P
Turning EU citizens away feels like a deliberate attempt to silence voices
Responding to reports that EU citizens are being turned away from polling stations and denied a vote, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said:
It is an utter disgrace that so many EU citizens have been unable to vote in these historic elections.
This feels like a deliberate attempt by the Conservatives to silence the voices of our fellow Europeans.
Liberal Democrats will hold the government to account for this bureaucratic shambles and ensure that the voices of EU citizens are heard.
Further Gender Identity Clinic delays unacceptable
Davey: Govt is failing in its duty to protect the public
Welsh Liberal Democrats only chance for 2nd remain seat
Prime Minister’s Deal is dead – Tom Brake
Responding to comments made by Matthew Hancock, the Health Secretary, on the Today Programme, that the Government will bring forward its bill on exiting the EU, Tom Brake, Lib Dem Brexit Spokesperson said:
The Prime Minister’s deal is dead. They can bring forward votes on that deal and a speculative bill every week, for the rest of the year – it will still fail
In the New Statesman, Ed Davey writes that knife crime must be treated as a public health and education issue and that Sajid Javid’s punitive approach will not work.
First he outlines the problems with Javid’s Knife Crime Protection Orders:
I can’t imagine what it is about the experience of ASBOs makes Javid think they’ll work for knife crime. In some communities, ASBOs were seen as a “badge of honour”. Many young people openly flouted them. The threat of prison simply doesn’t work as a deterrent for a lot of young people.
Even worse, ASBOs consumed a lot of police time and resources, whether applying to the courts to get one or enforcing its conditions afterwards. And that was at a time when we had far more police.
If Javid doesn’t remember what a failure ASBOs were, he should just ask his boss. Theresa May, as Home Secretary, described them as “bureaucratic” and “gimmick-laden”. “They were too time consuming and expensive,” she said. “And they too often criminalised young people unnecessarily, acting as a conveyor belt to serious crime and prison.” She was right, and that’s why as Home Secretary, she abolished them.
He suggests a different approach:
I’m proposing knife ABCs: Anti-Blade Contracts.
They could be imposed the first time a young person is caught with a knife, but could also be used proactively for children involved in gangs or who might be considering carrying a knife. The young person would sign a contract saying “I will not carry a knife.” In return, they could be guaranteed services to help them feel safer: a police officer or social worker to call whenever they need them, for example.
The Liberal Democrats today unveiled an election poster slamming Jeremy Corbyn for spending time helping the Tories deliver Brexit rather than doing anything to Stop Brexit.
According to analysis of the parliamentary record by the Liberal Democrats, the Labour party whipped either to abstain or to vote with the Conservative Government on a total of 29 key Brexit votes.
The poster, launched by Liberal Democrat MPs Jo Swinson and Ed Davey, comes as the Labour party descended into another row over its Brexit position.
The first question from the audience in Cambridge was about climate change.
Former Conservative Brexit Minister Suella Braverman hailed her party’s action on this.
I thought when I listened to it that Ed’s reply was going to be interesting.
Well, it was pretty forensic. He highlighted how the Conservatives had undone so much of the good work he had done as Climate Change Secretary and how important it was that we remain at the European table to have global influence.
This morning, my family’s postal votes arrived. I’ve had a postal vote ever since I didn’t vote in the 1997 election because I was too busy helping in a target seat. I suspect Mrs Pankhurst would have approved, but I was determined that I would never again fail to have my say.
Never has that vote felt more precious. I want this country to say very clearly on 23 May that we want to stop Brexit, that we want to stay part of the remarkable institution which champions peace, human rights and democracy.
Many other postal votes will have landed on doormats today. So it’s pretty convenient that the Lib Dems kicked off their European campaign with a staggering display of both passion and competence.
Buoyed by strong results in last week’s local council elections, and unencumbered by the nuance of Labour’s position, Cable insisted the Lib Dems were the best-equipped party to challenge the message of Nigel Farage at the poll later this month.
“We are clearly the best organised, we have been leading the People’s Vote argument for three years and we’ve been the pro-Europe party for 50 years. We are credible and people recognise our unwavering clarity and commitment.
“We are taking it very seriously, we have a high-pressure social media campaign where we are doing more than Farage’s people,” he said, adding, “we are out of the traps early, and expect to do well.
And he outlined why we are the best place to deliver the maximum remain vote.
He has faced criticism for failing to make the media impact of his predecessor, or improve the Lib Dems’ poll ratings. But he hailed last week’s strong local election results as evidence that a steady approach of rebuilding the party from the bottom up is finally paying dividends.
“Infrastructure and organisation really does matter,” he said. “The lesson for other parties is you can’t function without that. There is no future sitting in London sending out messages.”
The manifesto launch tonight was brilliant. Four speeches. All passionate and delivered with heart. Sal Brinton talking about how the Lib Dems had stopped the Tories using Brexit legislation to undermine the NHS.
Ed Davey talking about the importance of stopping Brexit so that Britain can be a powerful force in the EU in the fight against climate change. I actually got a bit sad when he was speaking because he did so much to combat climate change in government and then the Conservatives, left to themselves, have unravelled so much of it.
He also spoke about the importance of co-operation across the EU to tackle crime. Why, he said, do Brexiteers like criminals so much.
Jo Swinson gave a totally heartfelt speech about a visit to Bucharest. Her wonderful dad, Peter, was there to help the Romanians prepare for EU membership. She told how he had taken her to the People’s House, an outrageous structure built as a vanity project by Romania’s dictator while so many of his people lived in destitution and absolute poverty. She talked about the role of the EU in bringing peace across Europe, in Northern Ireland, bringing former enemies together.
The EU has been at the forefront of promoting human rights, liberal values and democracy, she said. The EU is the hope that made once warring countries work together and which is the cornerstone of the Good Friday Agreement. In a time of “strong men” leaders, now is not the time to be turning our back on European leaders who share our liberal values.
There are more relaxing ways to spend your 76th birthday. I thought Vince was actually going to cry when the audience sang Happy Birthday to him, but he went on to deliver a fantastic speech highlighting the clear Stop Brexit message that is driving the Lib Dem campaign. He said that nobody, not even the most ardent Brexiteers, were doubting that we would be worse off if we left the EU. The only thing is that these Brexiteers weren’t going to be the people who paid the price. It would be people much poorer and more vulnerable than they were.
The Lib Dems, he said, will be unapologetic about backing the four freedoms. The right we have to work and live across Europe was championed by Mrs Thatcher. The current Conservative Party has moved so far to the right that they are disowning the single market Thatcher created.
He said that while the Lib Dems will campaign to stop Brexit, this election is about returning a group of Liberal politicians from across Europe who will lead the fight against populism.
He highlighted the crucial EU role in making the likes of Google pay their taxes.
We won’t solve the Trump problem, he said, by grovelling to him and throwing him lavish state visits, but by standing up to him as part of the EU.
He set out our unique pitch – as the biggest and best organised of the Remain parties who has been fighting for for EU values for 50 years.
Govt must be more ambitious in greenhouse gases 2050 target
Responding to the expected announcement that the Climate Change Committee has recommended 2050 as the date the UK becomes a net-zero greenhouse gas emitter, Liberal Democrat Climate Change Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said:
This report tells us the very minimum we need to do to cut our greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero, but this Tory Government must be more ambitious. We have a responsibility as a country in the face of a climate emergency facing the entire world.
We saw only last week that some in the cabinet are refusing to
Lib Dems: We must reject violence in Northern Ireland
Responding to reports that journalist Lyra McKee has been killed during violence in Londonderry, Liberal Democrat Northern Ireland spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said:
I never met Lyra McKee but by all accounts she was a young woman of great talent, courage and humanity. These are all talents that we need now more than ever so we should all mourn her passing.
My condolences go to all her family and friends who are having to come to terms with their loss today. Unlike Lyra, those who bring violence to the streets of Northern Ireland have nothing
Yesterday Ed Davey gave a really open and moving interview to Radio 5 live about how he was a young carer to his mother for 3 years before she died when he was 15. His dad had died when he was 4. He talked about the key moment of his life, coming a few months after his Mum died, realising that he was doing things for himself and not her any more.
He said that it has affected his attitude to politics – caring for the most vulnerable is what politics should be about, he said.
He said it informed the way he thought about other people and about the health service and the importance of helping each other. Curries from the Indian family across the road gave him and his family practical help during that time. Watch here.
Tories’ high-stakes testing culture pushing children out of school
Responding to the EPI report revealing that over 50,000 pupils who took their GCSEs in 2017 were removed from the school roll for unexplained reasons during their time at secondary school, Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Layla Moran said:
This is yet more worrying evidence that the Conservatives’ high-stakes testing culture is letting down our most vulnerable children.
The desperate drive to secure a better Ofsted grade or climb up the league tables has given schools a perverse incentive to push children they regard as difficult on to other schools, alternative providers, or let
Govt forced to act on requirement to disclose minor childhood offences
Responding to reports that Sajid Javid is considering changing the rules on criminal record disclosure, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said:
It’s odd to hear Sajid Javid now suggesting changing the rules that require people to disclose minor childhood convictions throughout their lives, given that he and other Tory Ministers recently fought against a court judgement saying exactly that all the way to the Supreme Court.
Javid’s change of heart is welcome, but he should be honest about it. This is not some great brainchild of the Home
My apologies for the delay in getting these to you – a combination of jet lag caused by a five hour time difference and family stuff is complicating things…
Tories must enact wholescale reform to fix rental market
Responding to the news that landlords will lose the right to evict renters without a reason at the end of their fixed-term tenancy, Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson Tim Farron said:
The housing crisis has left many renters at the mercy of their landlords in an unfair and distorted rental market. Section 21 notices have allowed landlords to turf out tenants without reason, leaving many too
Lib Dems: No woman should miss out on education because of period poverty
Reports in The Independent this morning that Daisy Wakefield, a student at the Univeristy of the West of England spent her entire student loan on sanitary products to distribute to poorer students, has reignited calls to end period poverty.
Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons last month calling on the Government to extend its policy on free sanitary products to primary schools, colleges, universities and NHS GP surgeries.
Commenting on Daisy’s campaign for the University of the West of …
Lib Dems: Extension offers a lifeline out of Brexit chaos
Responding to the reports that the UK and the EU have agreed a “flexible extension” of Brexit until 31 October, Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake said:
The British people have been given a lifeline. The Conservatives have dragged the country into chaos, but the extension agreed in the early hours of this morning offers a route out from the Brexit mess they have created.
A flexible extension until 31st October is long enough to hold a People’s Vote. The Prime Minister must now show leadership by handing the decision back to the
Before the roof of the Commons chamber started leaking this week (something you couldn’t make up), Ed Davey managed to make his speech in the backbench business debate calling on the Government to stop pursuing people for the Loan Charge, a retrospective income tax enforcement of a scheme that was legal at the time.
Here’s his speech in full including interventions.
I apologise to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis) for being the chair of an all-party group that has produced such a reasonable report. We did it because we wanted to be constructive and to bring this House together. I want to draw attention to two points: first, the fact that this issue has brought the House together, and I will talk a little bit about that because it is in the power of this House to stop the Executive on this matter; and secondly, the nature of the retrospection, which is the issue that has caused me, as well as my constituents with such cases, to be so passionate about this issue.
First, on cross-party unity, I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Ross Thomson), a vice-chair, who opened the debate, and the hon. Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury) and all the other members of the all-party group, which represents six parties in this House. I thank all Members who spoke on Report of the Finance (No. 3) Bill, when we passed the amendment—quite unusually—because we had cross-party support from every side and political persuasion both between and within parties.
There is a reason why we got that support. It is because our constituents have come to us and we have seen the damage this is doing to their lives—real lives—but also because key principles of democracy are at stake: parliamentary sovereignty, if we can forget the Brexit debate for a minute, with respect to holding the Executive properly to account for the way they tax our constituents, and the rule of law. Those issues have brought this House together, and today we need to continue with that message and make it clear to the Minister and the Government that we are not going away until this is put right.
Stephen Lloyd
When my right hon. Friend opened, he spoke about cross-party support. As he knows, since I started early-day motion 1239, whenever it was—nine or 10 months ago—the cross-party support has been astonishing: 148 MPs from all parties, including many Conservative Members, have now supported it because they really do have concerns about the retrospectiveness and the fairness. Does my right hon. Friend agree that Parliament is really coming together and saying, “There is a real problem and a real challenge here. Treasury, please look at it”?
Ed Davey
I strongly agree with my hon. Friend and I thank him for the work he did in leading that EDM. The cross-party nature and depth of support should make the Minister think today. People have been looking at the way this House operates more closely than they usually do. They need to know that when this House comes together, the Government listen. It is our constitutional job to make the Government listen. When there is that level of support and they do not listen, that is an outrage to this House.
Jim Cunningham
I agree with the right hon. Gentleman: it is about time that the Government listened. Regardless of the issue, retrospective legislation can be a dangerous thing. In some instances it might be justifiable, but by and large and in principle, it is a very dangerous thing. The other point that has emerged from this debate is that those who encouraged people in their employment to get involved in such schemes should be the ones to pay up, not the victim. Does he not agree?
Ed Davey
I agree with the hon. Gentleman. Let me take his point on retrospection into the substance of my speech.
Everybody has paid tribute to the Minister and I join in that, but I urge him to look at the retrospection issue. The all-party group has spoken to tax professionals and has read a lot of material. There is a debate about whether aspects of this are retrospective or not, and about where the retrospection lies. One group has been hit by the loan charge where the retrospective nature has been proven beyond doubt: taxpayers who have had their tax returned to the Treasury with DOTAS added—sometimes even without DOTAS added—and who have come clean on everything they have been doing. HMRC has accepted that and has not opened an inquiry. Their cases have been closed and time has passed. Under section 9 of the Taxes Management Act 1970, we have been giving taxpayers in that situation total protection from HMRC coming back to them. That has been true for decades. Indeed, we have signed international conventions to say that that is the way individuals should be treated. Yet here we are, going back on that. To be clear to the Minister, all the tax professionals we talked to believe that for closed cases, that was a transgression. Indeed, I asked them if they could find any example on the statute book ever of a Government passing a law to override taxpayer protections and they could not.
Lib Dems: Govt must not shirk responsibility over loan charge
Liberal Democrat MP Ed Davey has criticised the implementation of the the Loan Charge which is coming into force today. He has been the leading figure in the cross-party campaign against its introduction.
Commenting on its introduction, Ed Davey said:
My campaign to stop the abuse of power by the Treasury in how it has introduced the Loan Charge has now won huge cross-party support.
The Chancellor must listen to Parliament: by applying the Loan Charge to past tax years, the Conservative Government has broken long-standing tax principles and in so doing is
Today in the House of Commons, Ed Davey, as one of the proposers of a motion on backbench business day, will call on the Government to suspend enforcement of the 2019 Loan Charge.
HMRC is currently pursuing people who, as contractors years ago, took part in perfectly legal schemes whereby they took their salary as loans from a company and therefore paid a lower rate of tax. They now face bills for arrears of tax out of the blue. In some cases, it could be hundreds of thousands of pounds. These aren’t super rich people and what they were doing was absolutely transparent and above board at the time. They are now being pursued for tax in a way that they never expected.
Closing a loophole is one thing. Making it retrospective is another.
The motion for debate today says:
That this House expresses its serious concern at the 2019 Loan Charge which applies from 5 April 2019; expresses deep concern and regret about the effect of the mental and emotional impact on people facing the Loan Charge; is further concerned about suicides of people facing the Loan Charge and the identified suicide risk, which was reported to HMRC; believes that the Loan Charge is fundamentally unfair and undermines the principle of the rule of law by overriding statutory taxpayer protections; expresses disappointment at the lack of notice served by HMRC and the delays in communication with those now facing the Loan Charge, which has further increased anxiety of individuals and families; is concerned about the nature and accuracy of the information circulated by HMRC with regard to the Loan Charge; further regrets the inadequate impact assessment originally conducted; understands that many individuals have received miscalculated settlement information; calls for an immediate suspension of the Loan Charge for a period of six months and for all related settlements to be put on hold; and further calls for an independent inquiry into the Loan Charge to be conducted by a party that is not connected with either the Government or HMRC.
Ed has been at the forefront of trying to get the Government to think again and is chair of an All Party Parliamentary Group on the issue.
Davey: Knife crime epidemic demands a properly funded public health approach
The Liberal Democrats have today warned that the knife crime epidemic won’t be resolved by “imposing legal duties without providing additional resources” and have called for the Government to properly fund a public health approach.
The call comes as the Prime Minister hosts a youth violence summit in Downing Street today.
Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Ed Davey said:
Knife crime is an epidemic, and like any epidemic tackling it requires a public health approach.
Police, teachers, health professionals, youth workers and social services all have an important
Steve Trevethan Might we have a definition of government debt?
Might we have a definition of democracy?...
David Raw @ Tristan Ward. Given your views on carers, I would strongly advise you to remain healthy and not to grow old....
Katrin Harding Thanks for grasping this issue! On the consultation sessions- I’d love to join one but the timings are impossible as a parent of young children. I’m happy t...
Peter Martin @ Kira,
The words you quoted were from Peter Davies'. Not me. I wouldn't agree with raising VAT on energy to 15% right now. I'd leave it as is.
The point ...
Peter Martin “‘why can’t social care and NHS spending be treated as ‘investment’’. Of course, that wont wash”.
I'd agree if were talking about re...
The Liberal Democrats today unveiled an election poster slamming Jeremy Corbyn for spending time helping the Tories deliver Brexit rather than doing anything to Stop Brexit.
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New chair of North Northamptonshire Council stands down over social media posts
Moving on from Whickham South and Sunniside
Are Labour going to cross another red line?
Evaluating different electoral systems for the House of Commons
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Peter Martin 