- Welsh Lib Dems welcome plans for phased school re-opening
- China is being wilfully ignorant with Hong Kong response
- Govt not clear on legal powers to implement local lockdowns
- Govt must not risk going backwards on containing COVID-19
- MPs need to urgently restore the virtual Parliament
Welsh Lib Dems welcome plans for phased school re-opening
Commenting on Kirsty Williams’s announcement of a phased return to school from the end of the month, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds said:
Once again Kirsty Williams is setting the bar with regards to how a Government should be communicating at times like this.
She has clearly laid out her plans, and the rationale behind them, in an upfront manner. This will give parents, children and teaching staff the reassurance they need.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats are committed to getting our children back in the classroom and learning as soon, but only when it is safe to do so.
I am therefore pleased to see that no child is forced to go back, especially those who are shielding themselves or who have family that are shielding.
China is being wilfully ignorant with Hong Kong response
Responding to reports that China has warned the UK to “step back from the brink” over UK criticism of Beijing’s national security law for Hong Kong, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said:
China’s Foreign Ministry are being wilfully ignorant. The Sino-British Joint Declaration was not a unilateral announcement but a clear joint legal text, lodged at the UN. The clue is in the name.
Both the UK and China made promises to the people of Hong Kong during the Handover. Under the Joint Declaration, Hong Kong’s ‘one country, two systems’ way of life was to be protected and enhanced.
Beijing has shown increasing contempt for the Joint Declaration and it is clear that the government must now ensure all Hong Kongers are given the right to live in the UK. Liberal Democrats will continue to urge the UK Government to expand the BNO offer they have outlined.