Tag Archives: PMQs

The Voice

WATCH: Ed calls for Andrew and Tristan Tate to be extradited to UK

By The Voice | Wed 5th March 2025 - 2:14 pm

Today at PMQs, Ed Davey asked Keir Starmer to request the extradition of Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan to face trial.  Watch here.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | Leave a comment
The Voice

Five Lib Dems quiz Starmer on social care, Trump, defence, eating disorders and colleges

By The Voice | Wed 22nd January 2025 - 8:42 pm

Social care, trade deals with Trump’s America, St Helier Hospital, the Strategic Defence Reivew, eating disorders and were the subjects brought to Keir Starmer by Lib Dems Ed Davey, Luke Taylor, Mike Martin, Wera Hobhouse and Alison Bennett at PMQs today.

Here’s Ed’s exchange with the Prime Minister:

The text is below:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | Leave a comment
Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems question Starmer at PMQs

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 8th January 2025 - 8:08 pm

Social care, political parties being funded by foreign oligarchs, pharmacies, the impact of the rise in National Insurance changes on health care providers, second homes in Cornwall, when will the Government do something for those people affected by the Budget changes, these were the issues raised by Lib Dem MPs at the first PMQs of 2025.

First up, Ed raised the issue of social care and the way that Labour has kicked it into the long grass. Then, he asked for action on foreign oligarchs funding UK political parties

Happy new year, Mr Speaker. I join others in offering my personal condolences to the Prime Minister on the loss of his brother. May I take this opportunity to express my sadness at the passing of a much-loved member of the Liberal Democrat family, Baroness Jenny Randerson?

Fixing the care crisis is urgent for the millions of elderly and disabled people who are not getting the care they need, for the millions of family carers who are making huge sacrifices to fill the gap, and for the NHS, when over 12,000 people are stuck in hospital beds and cannot get out of hospital because the care is not there for them. The Prime Minister is right to say that we need a cross-party approach, but as Sir Andrew Dilnot has said today, that need not take three years. Will the Prime Minister please speed up that work so that 2025 is the year we finally rise to the challenge of fixing care?

The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising this important issue and thank him for his condolences. Yes, we do need to get this right. I want a cross-party consensus on the issue and I invite him to work with us, as I know he will. It is important and he is right to say that we need some action now. We have taken immediate action by providing £3.7 billion of additional funding in the Budget for social care and another £86 million to allow 7,800 more disabled and elderly people to live more independent lives, and we have increased the carer’s allowance. We have set this up in stages, so we can act and improve as we go along, while making sure we have consensus for the bigger changes that may be proposed in the review. I invite him and Members from across the House to work with us, so we can get this right and ensure what we put in place endures beyond just a few years.

Ed Davey
If the Government do not bring in long-term social care reforms this year, their NHS reforms in this Parliament will fail, so I hope the Prime Minister will revisit the timetable.

Moving on, while the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) may miss out on his big allowance from Elon Musk, the spectre of the richest man in the world trying to buy a British political party should give us all pause for thought. After years of the Conservatives taking millions of pounds of Russian money, will the Prime Minister now work with us to bring in long overdue reforms to party funding, so that power in this country lies with the voters, not wealthy overseas oligarchs?

The Prime Minister
I think we all had a smile on Sunday when the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) said how cool it was to have the support of Musk, only for Musk to say he should be removed just a few hours later—that is the rough and tough of politics. Of course, we are looking at the question of funding more generally.

Marie Goldman raised the case of a pharmacist in her constituency:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Ed questions Starmer on young carers

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 18th December 2024 - 4:30 pm

Ed Davey used the final PMQs of the year to ask the Prime Minister for more support for young carers. Keir Starmer’s response combined warm words with no promises of action and a bit of gentle teasing about Ed’s Christmas single.

The text is below:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Starmer faces FIVE Lib Dems at PMQs

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 27th November 2024 - 8:42 pm

This Parliament, anything less than 3 Lib Dems at PMQs is a disappointment – a benefit of having 72 MPs.

For the third time since the General Election it was a Lib Dem who kicked off proceedings. Daisy Cooper took the opportunity to ask the PM about her local hospital:

West Hertfordshire teaching hospitals NHS trust has eliminated 65-week waits and has now met all three national cancer standards. Those remarkable achievements by the staff are happening despite their working in terrible buildings that are life-expired and crumbling. If the Government are looking for a project that is high-performing and shovel-ready, that is it. Will the Prime Minister give our trust the green light to build a new hospital without further delay?

The Prime Minister
I thank the hon. Lady for raising that issue, which is of importance to her constituents and beyond. The new hospital programme we inherited was a failure of the previous Government. We are committed to delivering, and we are reviewing to ensure that we can deliver. The Health Secretary will set out further details, but I am very happy for her to have a meeting with the relevant Minister if she wants to follow up on the specifics.

Then came Ed Davey with two hard-hitting questions on ending the Winter Fuel Payment and the hike in employers’ National Insurance contributions for hospices:

May I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks about the terrible impact of Storm Bert and all the flooding? Our thoughts are with all those affected, with thanks to our amazing emergency services.

Christine’s father was told that he needed end of life care, but after a few days it was removed due to funding cuts. He was told that he would not get it, and he died a few weeks later in excruciating pain. Christine says that it was terrible to watch him suffer. Does the Prime Minister agree that, whatever the House decides on Friday, it is urgent that we improve access to high-quality end of life care? Will he make that a key focus of the 10-year NHS plan, and will he now commit to protect hospices from the national insurance rise?

The Prime Minister
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising that case, and I am sure the thoughts of the whole House are with the family involved. Obviously there is a very important vote on Friday, but whichever way that vote goes, we must invest properly in care across our health service. That is why, in addition to putting the NHS back on its feet, we are putting forward a 10-year plan to make sure that the NHS can give the care that everybody would expect across the spectrum, including end of life care.

Ed Davey
I thank the Prime Minister for his reply. I hope that we will hear more from Ministers, particularly on hospices and national insurance, in the days to come.

I turn to the cost of living crisis. On Friday, Ofgem said that energy bills will go up again in January, after last month’s 10% rise. Millions of people are really worried about how they will make ends meet this winter, not least hundreds of thousands of pensioners who are in poverty but above the pension credit limit, who will now lose winter fuel payments. With energy bills going up again, will the Prime Minister reconsider and restore winter fuel payments?

The Prime Minister
Obviously the whole House is concerned about energy bills, which are actually lower this year than they were last year. The long-term way to deal with this issue is to have clean power by 2030, to make sure that we drive energy bills down on a permanent basis, and that is what we will do. On the winter fuel allowance, the right hon. Gentleman knows very well what the Government’s position is; indeed, I have rehearsed it with him many times.

The fact that Keir just can’t be bothered defending himself any more makes Ed’s repeated returns to this issue all the more potent.

Mext up, Manuela Perteghella made her PMQ debut by raising the issue of a constituent of hers who is campaigning to end knife crime after her son was killed:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 2 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Daisy Cooper challenges Labour on National Insurance rise at PMQs

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th November 2024 - 7:40 pm

The text of the exchange is below:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 10 Comments
Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Ed Davey question Keir Starmer on Trump re-election

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 6th November 2024 - 10:00 pm

Today at PMQs, Ed used his questions to challenge Keir Starmer on the UK Government’s approach to the incoming Trump administration.

The text is below:

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged , and | 6 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Daisy’s PMQs Debut

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 23rd October 2024 - 8:12 pm

With Keir Starmer out of the country, it was down to the deputies to take the stage at Prime Minister’s Questions. Angela Rayner and Daisy Cooper put in their first appearance of the new Parliament in their new roles. For Conservative Oliver Dowden, it was his last in the role. There was very funny love in with menaces between him and Rayner in their exchanges. It was a bit like a seaside comedy show. The serious stuff came when Daisy asked her two questions.

 

May I associate myself and the Liberal Democrats with the Deputy Prime Minister’s remarks about Chris Hoy, and about all those involved in the train crash?

Our NHS is bracing itself for a winter crisis. One of the causes of the winter crisis every year is that there are thousands of people in hospitals who are fit to go home, but who cannot be discharged because there are not the care workers in place to enable people to recover at home or in a care home. Will the Deputy Prime Minister consider the Liberal Democrats’ idea of an NHS winter taskforce to winter-proof our NHS, end the cycle of the winter crisis, and put to an end the scandal of hospital patients paying the price of the social care crisis left by the Conservatives?

I thank the hon. Lady for her comments, and I share her desire to ensure that care workers are given the respect and importance that they deserve. They are critical to solving the problems in our national health service. The Labour party will create a national care service, and we are launching our first ever fair pay agreement for care professionals to boost recruitment and retention. We must get the NHS back on its feet after the disaster of the Conservatives, and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will have more to say on that in the Budget.

Daisy kept to the same theme for the second question, talking of the dangers to the care sector of increasing employers’ National Insurance contributions, something she had mentioned in her Sky News interview on Sunday:

I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for her answer. We stand ready, as a party of constructive opposition, to work with the Government to fix our social care system. However, a measure that could make it harder for us to keep the carers that we so desperately need would be an increase in employers’ national insurance contributions. Were that measure to go ahead, it would affect millions of small businesses, including 18,000 small care providers. Will the Deputy Prime Minister assure the House that nothing in the Budget will make it harder for vulnerable people to access the care workers and the care that they desperately need?

A bit of flannel from Rayner in return, but at least the job of setting out our position had been done:

Again, I will not speculate on the Budget, not least with the Chancellor sat beside me. To reiterate what the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have said, this Budget will recognise that working people of this country and enterprise in this country have been hard-hit by 14 years of the Conservatives. We will rebuild Britain, and we will grow our economy to pay for our public services.

Rayner had to face another three Lib Dems in the session. This is great to see, and likely to be more commonplace now that we make up more than 10% of the House.

First up was Monica Harding who had a heartbreaking story of a young boy in her constituency who has been out of school for a year because they don’t have the right special needs provision for him.

Charlie from my constituency is an eight-year-old boy with an autism diagnosis who has been out of school for almost a year. He is one of 1,800 children in Surrey missing school because of a lack of appropriate special educational needs provision. Will the Government commit to ending this scandal by properly funding special educational needs provision in next week’s Budget, so that children like Charlie, in my constituency of Esher and Walton and beyond, are no longer let down?

Angela Rayner was sympathetic but had nothing concrete to offer:

Continue reading »
Posted in News, Op-eds and Parliament | Also tagged , , , and | Leave a comment
Caron Lindsay

PMQs 2 Helen Morgan and Wendy Chamberlain take on Starmer

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 9th October 2024 - 5:25 pm

Keir Starmer not only had to face Ed Davey today, but two other Liberal Democrats, Helen Morgan and Wendy Chamberlain.

Helen asked him about much needed work on the A483 in her North Shropshire constituency:

Here’s the exchange in full:

The A483 runs through my constituency from Llanymynech to Oswestry. It is one of the busiest and most dangerous roads in the constituency, and National Highways says the crossroads at Llynclys is the worst accident blackspot in the midlands. It has a proposal to improve the situation, but Treasury rules place a higher value on road speed than on the lives of North Shropshire’s residents. Will the Prime Minister look at flexing those rules to back National Highways and my residents, to give them the safe road they deserve? (900579)

The Prime Minister

I thank the hon. Member for raising this. It is obviously a big and important issue in her constituency. It is vital that as we invest we improve safety and deliver better journeys for drivers. National Highways continues to study the case for safety improvements to the A483 and will continue to do so. As she probably knows, decisions will be set out under the third road investment strategy. I know that the Roads Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood), will have heard her representations and will agree to a meeting, if that is what she would like.

Today is PANS/PANDAS Awareness Day. PANS stands for Paediatric Acute-onset Neuro-psychiatric Syndrome and PANDAs stands for Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections. Wendy has been interested in this since the parents of a constituent told her of the trauma they had suffered with their own child. Last year Wendy led a debate on the issue which you can read here.

At that time she said:

We do not need to be parents ourselves, although many of us here may be, to understand how utterly distressing it must be to have a formerly healthy, happy child suddenly find themselves unable to leave their bedroom, dress, eat, wash, talk to others or attend school and to see them vanish as the illness takes over. Sadly, that distress is compounded and worsened many times over by the lack of available support for patients and their families, as PANS is often not even suggested, considered or acknowledged.

Wendy took the opportunity of PANS/PANDAS Awareness day to ask for a meeting with the Department for Health on getting more funding for investigations and research. She said:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | Leave a comment
Caron Lindsay

PMQs: Ed quizzes Starmer on Europe

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 9th October 2024 - 3:47 pm

It’s great seeing Ed getting a guaranteed two cracks of the whip at PMQs every week.

And many people in the party will be thrilled that he pushed the PM on Europe and asked him to consider a youth mobility scheme to give people in their 20s the chance to live and work in Europe for 3 years.

I did wonder before the recess if he was maybe letting Starmer off the hook on his second questions and I think he could have pressed that point a bit further today – though he did say he would leave it for another time before moving on to improving the trade deal.

I look back with fondness on Willie Rennie’s legendary and dogged persistence of one issue at a time with the SNP, whether it be college cuts, ferries, conditions in prisons, free school meals or mental health at First Minister’s Questions. He would prosecute a line pretty forensically over several weeks and that got him noticed. And sometimes it resulted in concessions from the Government when he had destroyed all their rebuttals.

I get the argument that keeping Starmer guessing about the topic also has its merits, but I would like to see a bit more follow-through. When the Prime Minister fails to answer the question the first time, I’d like to see Ed find his inner terrier.

Watch the first question here.

The text of the full exchange is below

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
Mathew Hulbert

How should Ed handle PMQs?

By Mathew Hulbert | Sun 28th July 2024 - 8:30 am

Fantastic, wasn’t it?

Seeing Ed Davey rise on Wednesday lunchtime to ask the first of two questions to the Prime Minister, as the leader not only of the third largest Commons caucus but of the biggest third party presence in our Parliament’s elected chamber for a century.

The first time a Liberal leader has been able to do so since pre-Coalition Nick Clegg in the early months of 2010.

Ed, rightly, went on carers and social care; an issue personal to him and to countless families across the country. 

A serious leader asking about a serious issue.

But the question which appeared to get the most media attention after the session was actually asked by the SNP leader in Westminster, Stephen Flynn. 

Now reduced, as the leader of the fourth biggest group, with just nine MPs, to an occasional question (where we were just a few short weeks ago), Flynn-an accomplished media performer, whatever we may think of his politics-asked about the big domestic political issue of the week; the very controversial two child benefit cap.

It got me thinking. 

What should be the Lib Dems PMQs strategy?

What should our leader’s advisers be advising?

To stick to our own agenda each week, regardless of whatever is the political headlines/controversies of the day?

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 7 Comments
The Voice

A hat-trick of Lib Dems kick off first PMQs of the new Parliament

By The Voice | Wed 24th July 2024 - 7:55 pm

The very first person to ask a question of Keir Starmer as Prime Minister ever was brand new Lib Dem MP for Bicester and Woodstock, Calum Miller:

Calum asked:

May I begin by welcoming the Prime Minister to his first questions as Prime Minister? I associate myself with his remarks about the soldier in Kent, and, of course, send my wishes to the British Olympians.

At Combe in my constituency, Thames Water pumped sewage into the River Evenlode for over 2,600 hours last year. Thames Water was allowed by Ofwat to withdraw £7 billion in dividends, yet now wants to jack up my constituents’ bills. I welcome the water Bill in the King’s Speech, but does the Prime Minister agree with my constituents and me that the system is broken, and will he now commit to scrapping Ofwat and replacing it with a tougher regulator that will finally put people and planet ahead of water company profits?

The Prime Minister replied:

I welcome the hon. Member to his place and thank him for raising this important issue in relation to water. Customers should not pay the price for mismanagement by water companies. We have already announced immediate steps to put water companies under a tougher regime. The Minister responsible for water, the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice (Emma Hardy), will meet the bosses of failing companies to hold them to account for their performance. After 14 years of failure with our rivers and beaches, it falls to this Government of service to fix the mess of that failure.

Next up was Ed Davey, who now gets two questions a week. Unsurprisingly, he asked about carers and social care and was praised for his video about caring for his son John by the PM. Keir Starmer was also not above a little light teasing –

The text is below:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Ed Davey at PMQs – asking PM to back “Ann’s Law” on care home staff

By The Voice | Wed 8th May 2024 - 8:12 pm

Ed Davey today questioned the Prime Minister on whether he would back a proposal to ensure safety for residents of care homes.

The proposed law is named after Ann King, whose abuse while in a Surrey care home was exposed by hidden camera footage captured by her children.

Following her death in October 2022, her children, including her son who is a constituent of Ed’s, are now campaigning for “Ann’s Law” which includes:

A register for care workers.

CCTV in care homes overseen by independent third parties.

New guidance for police and prosecutors on dealing with abuse of vulnerable people.

Ed said to Rishi Sunak:

The abuse suffered by 88-year-old Ann King at the hands of staff in her care home was captured on a hidden camera. The footage is stomach-churning.

Ann died in October 2022, and it took nearly a year before the CQC launched a criminal investigation.

Now, Ann’s children are working to protect other care home residents from being subjected to such appalling abuse. Her son came to see me as his MP, to ask for my help in their campaign.

So will the Prime Minister join me in backing ‘Ann’s Law’ – a proposal that would include a national register to professionalise the care workforce and hold those staff who are abusive to account? And will he meet with Ann’s family and me to discuss this?

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Layla Moran challenges Sunak on Thames Water incompetence

By The Voice | Wed 24th January 2024 - 7:19 pm

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran had a question to the Prime Minister today.

She challenged him on Thames Water, who are putting charges to her constituents up, despite providing a terrible service. She said:

Thames Water is a shambles. During the recent flooding in Oxfordshire, it dumped sewage from 270 sites along the Thames in one week. Waste was backing up into people’s homes because of drains that it had not unblocked, and it could not even refill its own reservoir because the rivers were too dirty. Rather than offering a rebate for this shoddy service, Thames Water is intending to put bills up for everyone by 60%. Will the Prime Minister explain to my constituents why they are being asked to foot the bill for Thames Water’s gross incompetence?

Sunak responded by basically reaffirming Layla’s point that Thames Water had been terrible, but without much in the way of understanding or action to prevent such a massive increase in charges.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
The Voice

Ed Davey tackles PM on hospital delays

By The Voice | Wed 29th November 2023 - 4:25 pm

Ed Davey used his question to the Prime Minister today to highlight hold-ups in the building of the mythical 40 new hospitals promised in the Government’s 2019 manifesto. Especially as the National Audit Office thinks it won’t meet that commitment.

Ed said:

Three years ago, the Government made a commitment to 40 new hospitals and significant upgrades to hospitals in most need, but today many schemes are badly delayed. The Royal Berkshire—stuck at the development stage, with not a single pound transferred for construction. Harrogate District Hospital—still waiting on £20 million for urgent upgrades after reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete was

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
The Voice

Sarah Olney and Wendy Chamberlain challenge Sunak at PMQs

By The Voice | Wed 24th May 2023 - 8:39 pm

The Lib Dem success at PMQs continues with two of our number challenging Rishi Sunak today.

First up Sarah Olney:

Under the Conservatives, so much of the UK’s potential is going untapped, with anaemic growth, falling living standards and declining international competitiveness. Just this morning, a solar power company developing an innovation from Oxford University said that the UK is the “least attractive” market in which to base its business due to a lack of incentives. That is a home-grown company that could have provided well-paid green jobs—lost to this country thanks to the Government’s lack of an industrial strategy. Why does the Prime Minister think that each week more and more promising businesses choose to leave the UK?

The Prime Minister
The hon. Lady obviously missed the comments by the International Monetary Fund yesterday upgrading our growth performance, she obviously missed the survey of thousands of global chief executives just recently placing the UK as their No. 1 European investment destination, and it sounds like she also missed my trip to Japan last week, when we announced £18 billion of new investment in the UK economy.

Then, on the day when Rishi Sunak declined to order an investigation into Suella Braverman’s conduct over her speeding issue, Wendy Chamberlain asked if he would support her bill ensuring that ministers were properly trained in ethical standards an compliance:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Davey challenges PM on Dentistry, Carmichael asks about fishing visas

By The Voice | Wed 19th April 2023 - 8:30 pm

Lib Dems kept up our challenges to the Rishi Sunak at PMQs today. Two got to ask questions. The videos are below, followed by the text from Hansard.

First up was leader Ed Davey in his regular slot.

He asked about the crisis in dentistry:

Ed Davey

Tooth decay is the No. 1 reason that children over the age of four end up in hospital. Regular dental check-ups could prevent it, but too many parents cannot get one for their child. In the East Riding of Yorkshire, there are now almost 3,000 people per NHS dentist. In places such as Herefordshire and Norfolk, fewer than two in five children have been seen by a dentist in the past year. This is a scandal, so will the Prime Minister take up the Liberal Democrat plan to end this crisis and make sure people can get an NHS dentist when they need one?

The Prime Minister

The NHS recently reformed dentistry contracts, which will improve access for patients. Dentistry receives about £3 billion a year, and there were around 500 more dentists delivering care in the NHS last year than in the previous year. I am pleased to say that almost 45% more children saw an NHS dentist last year compared with the year before.

Next up, Alistair Carmichael said that the only boats Suella Braverman had succeeded in stopping was fishing boats, highlighting a recent change which makes it more difficult to get crews and made crews stop working immediately.

Alistair Carmichael

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | Leave a comment
The Voice

A duo of Lib Dems at PMQs highlight GP shortage and medicine issue

By The Voice | Thu 30th March 2023 - 2:13 pm

Lib Dems are doing very well at Prime Minister’s Questions at the moment. Yesterday, we had two questions to Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab in Rishi Sunak’s absence.

First up, Sarah Olney carried through the theme of the day – GP shortages, highlighting the impact:

From Hansard:

In a shocking article in Surrey Live last year, it was reported that staff at a GP practice in Walton were left in tears and “crumbling under pressure” owing to the increased workload caused by staff shortages. Is that any wonder when there are 850 fewer GPs in the country than there were in 2019? What does the Deputy Prime Minister say to patients left in pain and staff left in tears—including some in his own constituency—as a result of the Government’s failed promise to recruit more GPs?

The Deputy Prime Minister

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | Leave a comment
The Voice

WATCH: Christine Jardine challenge PM to cut energy bills.

By The Voice | Thu 2nd March 2023 - 2:37 pm

Yesterday at Prime Minister’s Questions, Christine Jardine asked Rishi Sunak to cut the energy bills. She cited a survey she had carried out in her constituency that showed that 80% of respondents were forced to cut their energy use.

The Prime Minister would not give that commitment:

The Liberal Democrats’ shadow Energy Secretary said that there was no role for nuclear power in our future energy industry, which is not something that we need to listen to. As for helping people with their energy bills, as I said earlier, because of the energy price guarantee we are paying, typically, about half a family’s energy bill at the moment, which is worth £1,000. However, the support does not end there: over the next year there will be about £1,000 of direct support for the most vulnerable families in the nation.

I agree with the hon. Lady about energy efficiency. It is important, which is why the Government have allocated more than £6 billion over the current Parliament, and the new schemes that we have just introduced will help hundreds of thousands of households across the country, saving them about £300 on their bills through improvements in their energy efficiency—and the hon. Lady is right: it should be available everywhere, including Scotland.

Afterwards, Christine said:

By refusing to cut energy bills Rishi Sunak is leaving millions of families and pensioners on the brink.

This Conservative Government is happy to heartlessly stand by while millions see their energy bills continue to soar.

We need real action, and that means implementing the Liberal Democrat plans to cut energy bills with a huge windfall tax and tax oil and gas giants bonanza bonuses.

Liberal Democrats have this week set out their plan to help people with energy bills:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 17 Comments
The Voice

Hat-trick of Lib Dems hammer Tories on broken health pledges

By The Voice | Thu 23rd February 2023 - 9:47 am

There was another hat-trick of Lib Dems at PMQs yesterday, and this time they tag-teamed to show the Conservatives up for failing to keep key health pledges in their manifesto.

Watch here, with the text exchange after the video.

First up, Ed Davey on the missing 40 hospitals.

It was a pleasure to meet the delegation from Kyiv before Question Time and to confirm that hon. Members across the House are united in our support for Ukraine and its brave heroes. The Conservative manifesto promised 40 new hospitals, but after three years most do not even have planning permission yet. Communities feel betrayed and taken for granted. As ITV showed yesterday, St Helier Hospital in south London is literally crumbling, but there is still no plan to save it, and Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire has sewage leaking into its wards and a roof that could collapse at any moment. Does the Prime Minister agree that no patients, doctors or nurses should have to put up with those conditions?

The Prime Minister
I am proud that we are investing record sums into the NHS under this Government, including record sums into NHS capital, which are going on not only upgrading almost 100 hospitals and developing 40 large-scale developments, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, but investing in more scanners and more ambulances across the board so that we can deliver vital care to people. I am very pleased that the most recent statistics on urgent emergency care show considerable improvement from the challenges we faced in December, and we are now on a clear path to getting people the treatment they need in the time they need it.

Next up was by-election winner Richard Foord, who quizzed the PM on what was going on in the south west:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Another hat-trick of Lib Dems question the Prime Minister

By The Voice | Wed 8th February 2023 - 7:38 pm

Three Lib Dem MPs questioned Rishi Sunak today. In addition to Ed’s semi-regular slot, Wera Hobhouse and Richard Foord got places in the weekly ballot. Watch each of them here, with the text of the exchanges below the tweets.

First up, Ed asked the PM to do more to classify Russia as a terrorist state:

I associate my party with the comments on the unfolding human tragedy in Turkey and Syria and with the warm words to welcome our ally President Zelensky. He will know that this country and this House totally support Ukraine’s resistance to Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion, and it is a source of great pride that the British people have stood firm, united and unwavering in supporting the brave heroes of Ukraine.

When President Zelensky addressed this House last year, he asked that we treat Russia as a terrorist state. Since then, the Liberal Democrats have urged the Government to fulfil that request by proscribing the mercenary Wagner Group, which is doing Putin’s bidding and carrying out atrocities against Ukrainians daily. On this symbolic day, will the Prime Minister finally commit to proscribing the Wagner Group, which would be a crucial part of treating Russia as the rogue state it is?

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

WATCH: Wera Hobhouse asks PM to support her bill to tackle workplace sexual harassment

By The Voice | Thu 12th January 2023 - 7:25 pm

Yesterday, Wera Hobhouse asked the Prime Minister to ensure her bill aimed at tackling workplace sexual harassment has a safe passage through Parliament. The Government has already agreed to support it, but it needs to free up the parliamentary time for it to complete its stages before the end of the session in the Spring.

Watch her here:

In response, the Prime Minister’s words were warm but he didn’t actually give a specific commitment:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dem Hat-Trick at PMQs

By The Voice | Wed 14th December 2022 - 2:17 pm

Rishi Sunak faced questions from 3 Lib Dem MPs today.

First up as Ed Davey, giving voice to so many people’s fears as Cancer waiting times soar:

Next came Sarah Olney, who asked for a ban on evictions over the festive period:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Ed Davey challenges Boris Johnson on fraud

By The Voice | Wed 9th February 2022 - 4:30 pm

Ed Davey used his question to the Prime Minister today to tackle the Prime Minister on the Government’s attitude to fraud:

He demanded that  Boris Johnson correct the record after misleadingly claiming crime has fallen, and apologise to the four million victims of fraud he has written out of the picture.

Seventy-four-year-old Janet had twenty-five thousand pounds stolen by fraudsters.

The money was my mum and dad’s and I just felt I let them down,” she told the BBC.

For Janet and for the 4 million people who fell victim to fraudsters and online scammers last year, fraud is a crime.

Does the Prime Minister understand the hurt he and his Ministers cause fraud victims like Janet, when they write them out of the crime figures, and dismiss fraud as something people don’t experience in their day-to-day lives?

Will the Prime Minister correct the record and apologise?

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | Leave a comment
The Voice

Wendy Chamberlain smashes it at PMQs with call for PM to resign

By The Voice | Wed 19th January 2022 - 12:18 pm

Wendy Chamberlain made a brilliant start to PMQs today:

And there has been loads of praise:

https://twitter.com/NairnMcD/status/1483772201866342404?s=20

 

Keir Starmer, buoyed by Tory defector Christian Wakeford sitting behind him, was both serious and funny as he repeatedly blasted the PM’s failures.

But it was David Davis, former Brexit Secretary, who struck what may be a politically fatal blow:

You could hear the gasps of surprise at his savage denouncement. I was reminded of the blow that Geoffrey Howe struck to Margaret Thatcher back in 1990. She didn’t last long after that.

Earlier, Wendy spoke to Nicky Campbell about the PM’s position:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 10 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Ed vs Boris – a load of old Balls

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 5th January 2022 - 9:20 pm

Today has been Helen Morgan’s day. First she was sworn in and then she questioned the Prime Minister about the state of North Shropshire’s ambulance services.

But we could not let this day go by without mentioning Ed’s question to the Prime Minister, which was not without amusing incident.

Poor Ed has been misidentified twice this week. On the New Year’s Day edition of The Weakest LInk (and isn’t Romesh Ranganathan an inspired choice for that?) Jenni Falconer was asked which Ed was the leader of the Liberal Democrats. “Milliband?” she  asked, without much confidence.

Today Speaker Lindsay Hoyle had one of those moments when he introduced Ed at PMQs:

I call Ed Balls—I mean Ed Davey.

Ed replied:

Happy new year, Mr Speaker! I am sure the Prime Minister will want to join me and my Liberal Democrat colleagues in welcoming my hon. Friend the new Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan).

People’s already high heating bills are about to jump by more than 50%, with average energy bills rising by nearly £700 a year. Gas price rises will push millions more families into fuel poverty, when we know many are already afraid even to open their heating bills. Does the Prime Minister accept that he could be doing much more than he is to prevent millions of people from going hungry and cold this year while he remains—for now at least—in the warmth and comfort of No. 10?

Boris Johnson of course took the mention of the word balls and ran with it. Pretty disgraceful when you consider that there are millions of vulnerable people wondering how they are going to heat their homes, disabled people wondering how they are going to pay the extra costs to keep their breathing machines going or charge their stairlifts or scooters, all of which use a whole load of electricity. He just doesn’t care.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 4 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey challenges Boris Johnson to do more for farmers

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 1st December 2021 - 8:30 pm

Ed Davey took the opportunity at Prime Minister’s Questions today to challenge the Prime Minister to do more to support farmers. He mentioned three places in particular. Feel free to take a wild guess about which parliamentary constituency they are in.*

Farmers across our country are crucial to our nation’s prosperity, as has been shown, once again through the pandemic, but many are now on the brink. Farmers across the country, in villages such as Hodnet, Baschurch and Woodseaves and countless others, are about to see their payments cut by at least 5%, starting this very month. The Prime Minister promised a new support system, rewarding more sustainable farming, but in the meantime he seems prepared to see many British farms go bankrupt. There is an easy solution: stop cutting the current system’s essential payments until the new scheme is fully rolled out. Will the Prime Minister do that, and help our struggling farmers before it is too late?

The Prime Minister’s response will be of very little comfort to farmers who are struggling.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Sarah Green has her first Prime Minister’s Question!

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 3rd November 2021 - 6:25 pm

The newest Lib Dem MP, Sarah Green, had her debut PMQ today.

The headquarters of the Epilepsy Society is in her constituency of Chesham and Amersham so it was fitting, during COP26, that she highlighted the need to fund research into the effect of climate change on people with health conditions like Epilepsy.

And Boris Johnson wasn’t even horrible in his response.

I was annoyed that so many MPs talked over Sarah’s questions. It was very disrespectful, particularly on a question that was higher quality than many asked in these sessions.

The text of the exchange is below:

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Did Boris Johnson just suggest that our Jamie Stone should be fired into space?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 15th September 2021 - 8:04 pm

Maturity has never really been Boris Johnson’s strong point.

And so it was today when Jamie Stone used a question to the Prime Minister to highlight the positive development  this week which brings space port in North West Scotland a step closer:

As the BBC reports, a major obstacle was cleared:

A Scottish Land Court judge has approved a change of use of an area of croft land near Tongue in Sutherland for the building of the facility.

The land around the rockets hangar and launch pad must remain available to crofters for agricultural use.

The ruling means the first rockets carrying small satellites could launch from Space Hub Sutherland from next year.

So Jamie was joyful about this when he asked the PM if he’d come to the first launch. Boris then replied that Jamie would make a suitable payload :

https://twitter.com/Jamie4North/status/1438202896819105806?s=20

But did he really mean Jamie?

Hansard, which is usually pretty accurate, says at the time of writing that Boris Johnson replied to Jamie thus:

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind invitation. I look forward to taking it up. What we need is a suitable payload to send into space, and I think the hon. Gentleman would do very well.

But if you watch the video, what he actually said was “the Gentleman Opposite” which could refer to Keir Starmer.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 8 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Munira Wilson gets another PMQ – and calls for removal of “draconian” Coronavirus law

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 3rd October 2020 - 1:46 pm

Some MPs never get to ask the Prime Minister a question at the most hotly contested parliamentary event of any week.

Munira Wilson has been an MP for just 9 months, and has had two opportunities in the path month to ask a question at PMQs.

This week she asked him to work cross-party to get a consensus on the laws and powers around Coronavirus, calling the current measures “draconian.”

His response was as dismissive as you would expect:

We are making sure that everybody in our society gets all the protections they need. I am aware of the easements in the Care Act 2014 that the hon. Lady refers to. It was necessary to put them in temporarily, and we now need to make sure we give everybody the protection that they need. That is what this Government will do.

And here’s a reminder of Munira’s debut at PMQs last month when she took Boris Johnson to task over his government legislating to break international law.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • John Grout
    Thank you to Christine for taking this vital step. It's important that we're loud about our Liberal values on this - and the good policy we just passed at Harr...
  • David Evans
    Hello Mark Frankel, I'm afraid I have to take issue with your comment "Inequality is not a problem. Deprivation is." To me, deprivation is a problem for ...
  • Richard Flowers
    It was illegal for me to be gay as a teenager. That was wrong. The law was changed. It was illegal for me to marry my husband for 20 years. That was wrong. T...
  • Richard Flowers
    First, I must congratulate Chris on her bravery. My trans friends and family are stunned, horrified, and terrified. This is such a difficult week. Thank you...
  • expats
    The atrocities in Gaza will only end when there is not a single Palestinian left there.. The next target will be to removes all Palestinians from the West Bank ...