Tag Archives: uk eu relations

19 May 2025 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 20th May 2025 - 10:35 pm

A day later than usual, as I was busy being “gloriously” re-elected as Chair of Creeting St Peter Parish Council…

Davey on UK-EU deal: “positive first steps” but PM must ignore Reform and Conservative “dinosaurs”
Youth Mobility Scheme: UK needs “explicit details” not “woolly commitments”
UK-EU deal: with “more ambition” economic benefits could have been “ten times greater”
Scottish Water failure to follow up Holy Loch spilling “woefully complacent”

Davey on UK-EU deal: “positive first steps” but PM must ignore Reform and Conservative “dinosaurs”

Responding to reports that the UK and EU have reached a deal to be announced later today, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

These seem to be some positive first steps in rebuilding our relationship with Europe after years of a Conservative Party that wrecked trust and broke our relationship with our closest allies.

The Prime Minister must ignore the naysayers and dinosaurs in Reform and the Conservative Party and be more ambitious in getting the best deal in the national interest.

Youth Mobility Scheme: UK needs “explicit details” not “woolly commitments”

Responding to reports that a youth mobility scheme has been agreed only in principle, Liberal Democrat Europe Spokesperson, James MacCleary MP said:

After months of flip-flopping, it appears the Government won’t get a youth mobility scheme over the line today.

That’s incredibly disappointing – we need more than just a woolly commitment. While an agreement in principle marks progress after months of Lib Dem pressure on this issue, we should have been able to negotiate a scheme at today’s summit, rather than kicking the can once more down the road.

The Government must make it an urgent priority after talks end to map out explicit details on how and when the youth scheme will be introduced.

Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Also tagged alan reid, Alex Cole-Hamilton, daisy cooper, ed davey, james maccleary, sewage dumping and youth mobility | Leave a comment

16-18 May 2025 – the (long) weekend’s press releases (part 1)

By Mark Valladares | Sun 18th May 2025 - 10:15 pm

Davey on European Political Community Summit: PM needs to be “bold and ambitious” but EU leaders need to “play ball”
EFRA committee report: Government “must listen” and “ditch tax”
Greene blasts incompetence at the Water Industry Commission
Greene: If SNP won’t ban conversion practices, they should let me do it

Davey on European Political Community Summit: PM needs to be “bold and ambitious” but EU leaders need to “play ball”

Ahead of the European Political Community Summit, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The Prime Minister must be bold and ambitious, using today’s talks to set out his stall for Monday’s vital ‘reset’ summit.

Between securing a youth mobility scheme, agreeing a comprehensive defence pact and making progress on building a bespoke customs union, he has the opportunity to deliver genuine growth and security for our country.

EU leaders need to play ball too. In the face of Trump’s unpredictability and Putin’s barbaric imperialism, it’s vital that we deepen our cooperation across trade and defence – and prevent talks stalling in a quagmire of petty disputes. A proper deal between the UK and EU will benefit us all.

EFRA committee report: Government “must listen” and “ditch tax”

Responding to the EFRA committee’s report saying that the Government must rethink the family farm tax, Tim Farron MP, Liberal Democrat Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Spokesperson, said:

The Government’s disastrous family farm tax has been a hammer blow to many farms up and down the country. The EFRA committee is absolutely right to call for a pause to rethink this dreadful tax.

Lib Dems have been hounding the Government from the very start to axe the family farm tax and protect those farmers already hanging by a thread after years of being failed by the Conservative party, with a botched Brexit deal, rocketing bills and plunging incomes.

It’s about time the Government started listening to farmers — and that starts by admitting they were wrong, listening to this report and ditching the family farm tax.

Greene blasts incompetence at the Water Industry Commission

Responding to a new report from the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee which notes that a ‘catalogue of failures’ led to the inappropriate and unacceptable use of public money at the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) and calling on the Scottish Government to review its systems for identifying concerns with public bodies to ensure any issues are caught at an early stage, Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Jamie Greene MSP said: