Tag Archives: erasmus

Mark Valladares

28 August 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 28th August 2024 - 10:50 pm

Back from three weeks away, time to pick up the party’s press releases again…

  • Water bills: High time Ofwat were replaced
  • UK-Germany treaty: A positive step forward
  • Erasmus: Disappointing that Govt will not rejoin scheme
  • 170+ artists slam SNP culture cuts
  • Scot Lib Dems comment as FM and Chancellor meet

Water bills: High time Ofwat were replaced

Responding to comments from water firms that despite rising bills for consumers, companies claim this isn’t enough to stop sewage spills, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

It’s an absolute outrage that British families face sky high bills that continue to rise, whilst water firm CEOs pocket millions of pounds in bonuses, and all the while filthy sewage continues to destroy our seas and rivers.

It’s clear to see that the current regulator Ofwat is not fit for purpose, and it’s high time they were replaced. That is why the Liberal Democrats have been calling for a new regulator to crack down on water companies and hold them accountable to end this sewage scandal once and for all.

UK-Germany treaty: A positive step forward

Responding to UK-Germany treaty talks, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran MP said:

This is a positive step forward after years of the Conservatives trashing the UK’s relationship with Europe.

But the new Government needs to be more ambitious about rebuilding stronger ties with our European allies.

That should start with agreeing a Youth Mobility Scheme giving young people the opportunity to easily live and work across the continent.

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Mark Valladares

7 June 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 7th June 2024 - 11:30 pm
  • Davey: Sunak leaving D-Day early a “dereliction of duty”
  • Lib Dems pledge to create new National Parks
  • D-Day: Lib Dems call on Sunak to donate Hester £5 million to a veterans’ charity
  • Scottish Liberal Democrats commit to returning UK to Erasmus
  • Lib Dems call for new protections for rivers and coastlines as sewage dumped over 83,000 times in Welsh waters last year

Davey: Sunak leaving D-Day early a “dereliction of duty”

Responding to reports that Rishi Sunak left D-Day commemorations in Normandy early, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

One of the greatest privileges of the office of Prime Minister is to be there to honour those who served, yet Rishi Sunak abandoned them on the beaches of Normandy. He has brought shame to that office and let down our country.

I am thinking right now of all those veterans and their families he left behind and the hurt they must be feeling. It is a total dereliction of duty and shows why this Conservative government just has to go.

Lib Dems pledge to create new National Parks

  • The Liberal Democrat manifesto will include a pledge to create at least three new National Parks, with additional funding to boost the National Parks budget
  • Ed Davey said that the proposals would help “protect our beautiful countryside for the next generation” and make good on the “broken promises of the Conservative Party”
  • The party sets out plans where the Chilterns, Surrey Hills, and North Downs could be among the first new National Parks created in 14 years

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to create new National Parks across England, Ed Davey will announce today.

The policy would lead to an expansion of National Parks by adding at least three new parks to the existing ten in England, with new funding of £50m a year for new and existing National Parks.

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

In praise of Erasmus+

By Paul Harrison | Mon 1st February 2021 - 9:38 am

In January 2020, Boris Johnson told the Commons that;

There is no threat to the Erasmus scheme, and we will continue to participate in it. UK students will continue to be able to enjoy the benefits of exchanges with our European friends and partners, just as they will be able to continue to come to this country.

So, true to form, we are leaving the programme.

This decision has highlighted a lack of understanding of what it involved. Coverage of the programme in the press, and by politicians, from the Prime Minister down, refers only to Universities, which is just one of the strands of Erasmus+ and it is time to highlight the ‘plus’ in Erasmus+ and what we stand to lose.

Erasmus+ covers schools, FE and vocational sectors, adult education, youth and sport. These are all sectors that have suffered significant budget cuts in recent years, and Erasmus+ funding has enabled these sectors to continue to innovate and learn.

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Posted in Op-eds | 21 Comments
Mark Valladares

20 January 2020 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 21st January 2020 - 10:18 pm

Apologies for the delay, press release fans! Unfortunately, the Parish Council I chair ran late, so I wasn’t able to get these up last night…

  • Young people deserve a clear, unambiguous commitment to Erasmus
  • Ministers must explain to Parliament why HS2 costs have soared
  • Lib Dems urge Govt to extend provision of free period products
  • PM must put child refugees above politics
  • Lib Dem peers defeat Govt on vote to protect EU citizens’ rights
  • PM negotiating deadline with EU woefully unrealistic
  • Lib Dems inflict another defeat on Govt’s Brexit Bill

Young people deserve a clear, unambiguous commitment to Erasmus

Responding to reports the Government is extending an exchange scheme …

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Mark Valladares

15 January 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 15th January 2020 - 11:45 pm
  • Lib Dems question FlyBe bailout
  • Tory minister wrong to promote flying in the face of climate emergency
  • Ed Davey calls for better support for bereaved families at PMQs
  • Government must repeal unlawful Snoopers’ Charter
  • Lib Dems: Prime Minister must now keep his promise to protect Erasmus
  • Lib Dems: PM agrees to work with Lib Dems on human rights abuses in Syria

Lib Dems question FlyBe bailout

Responding to news that the Government intends to bail out Flybe, Liberal Democrat Transport spokesperson, Munira Wilson MP, said:

Flybe provides a vital service in connecting many regions of the UK which are otherwise hard to travel between, not least

…

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Mark Valladares

17 October 2019 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Thu 17th October 2019 - 7:15 am

Lib Dems: Brexit will limit the horizons of college students

The Association of Colleges has today published a survey revealing that 94% of colleges would be unable to fund student and staff mobility programmes outside of the EU’s Erasmus+ programme.

Responding to the figures, Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary Layla Moran MP said:

Brexit shuts the door on students and staff studying, training and working across Europe. This survey shows that colleges simply can’t afford their student exchange programmes without the funding that the EU provides through Erasmus+.

Colleges are wary about replacing Erasmus+ with a British-led alternative because they know

…

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Vicky Nevin

Liberal Youth’s Save Erasmus competition – Deadline approaching

By Vicky Nevin | Wed 12th October 2016 - 1:40 pm

Liberal Youth are campaigning to save the Erasmus exchange programme in future Brexit negotiations. This week they are running a competition to send a group of campaigners to the European Parliament 7th-8th November. Former Erasmus exchange students and exchange programme hopefuls are invited to share their stories as part of a video montage. MEP Catherine Bearder will invite a group to present a Save Erasmus petition in Brussels. The deadline for entries is midnight 18th October. Find out more here.

Over 10,000 people have backed a petition to safeguard the UK’s involvement in the Erasmus programme. Party members overwhelmingly passed a motion to call for the guaranteed continuation of the Erasmus programme and Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson John Pugh wrote to Brexit minister David Davis demanding he make this clear commitment.

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Rebecca Taylor

Rebecca Taylor writes … the benefits of the Erasmus+ programme for young Brits

By Rebecca Taylor | Tue 29th April 2014 - 5:24 pm

erasmusYesterday the European Union increased its commitment to providing learning and development opportunities for young people right here in Britain, through the launch of the revamped Erasmus+ programme.

The new revamped Erasmus+ programme has a total budget of £12 billion, with £100 million already earmarked for the UK in 2014 alone.  Along with my Liberal Democrat colleagues in Brussels we pushed for a bigger Erasmus budget than the previous scheme and were successful in obtaining a 40% increase at a time when the overall EU budget was cut. Grants will now be made available for education, training, youth and sport. In total it’s estimated that nearly a quarter of a million students, apprentices, teachers and youth workers will benefit from the EU grants.

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