Author: Sam Al-Hamdani

The Liberal Democrats have labelled Suella Braverman as “unfit to serve as Attorney General”, after Boris Johnson appointed her to the post. Pointing to Braverman’s past comments about the role of the courts and human rights, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Daisy Cooper described her appointment as “the latest shocking step in Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings’ assault on the rule of law.” Braverman has recently argued that “the concept of ‘fundamental’ human rights has been stretched beyond recognition” and that “the explosion of judicial review and judicial activism has led to a censoriousness and litigiousness in our society”. Responding to the appointment, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “The appointment of someone who is intent on weakening our courts as the Government’s chief legal adviser is the latest shocking…

Responding to the news that Boris Johnson has appointed Alok Sharma as Business Secretary and the new COP26 President, Ed Davey, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “The climate emergency is the biggest issue facing the world today and the UK has a responsibility to lead the world in reaching net-zero emissions. “The Government's running of COP26 has so far been a shambles. They sacked Claire O’Neill as COP President, only to have both David Cameron and William Hague decline the job. “That is why Liberal Democrats are calling for a COP oversight committee to scrutinise the preparations and outcomes of COP26, led by NGOs and charities. The Tories have shown they are simply not up to the job.“COP26 could be the last opportunity to persuade the world to take the action we need. The…

Responding to Boris Johnson’s decision to reduce the number of women in Cabinet from seven to six, out of a total of 22, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Women and Equalities Christine Jardine said: “It’s almost unbelievable that Boris Johnson has managed to find a way to make his Cabinet even more male-dominated. It shows just how little Johnson cares about gender equality and fails to ease concerns that women will continue to be marginalised by the Tories.  “Unlike Johnson’s Tories, Liberal Democrats will continue our fight to tackle institutional biases and build a more equal society.”

Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey is expected to use a keynote speech to urge the Prime Minister to appoint an expert-led scrutiny committee to oversee the global COP26 climate summit in Glasgow later this year. The call from the former Secretary for State for Energy and Climate Change follows increased fears for the summit after sacked COP26 President Claire O'Neill accused the Prime Minister of a "failure of global vision and leadership" on climate change. Ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle, where it has been reported a replacement for Claire O'Neill will be appointed, Ed Davey will use a lecture at Berkbeck College [13/02/2020] to set out proposals for a COP26 scrutiny commitment made up of charities, NGOs and parliamentarians from across the devolved governments. Acting Leader of…

At Prime Minister’s Questions today Ed Davey, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats, secured a commitment from the Prime Minister to end the deep injustice in bereavement support for children of unmarried parents.In the House of Commons, Ed highlighted the case of Kevin Simpson, whose children were deprived of bereavement support payments on the death of their mother simply because their parents were unmarried. On Friday 7 February the High Court ruled that this was in breach of their human rights. In his response the Prime Minister gave a commitment to "do what we can" to remedy the injustice.  At Prime Minister's Questions, Ed Davey said:  “When Kevin Simpson’s partner of over 12 years died, and his two children lost their mother, the family received no Bereavement Support Payment at all. Because the parents were unmarried the law…

Responding to reports that Dominic Cummings has attacked judicial review as a “farce”, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: “Dominic Cummings seems to believe that he, Boris Johnson and Tory Ministers are above the law. They are not. “When Ministers act outside of the bounds of the law, people must be able to hold them to account in the courts. “These Tory attacks on our courts, judicial review and the Human Rights Act are all designed to weaken ordinary people and enable Ministers to act with impunity. They are the actions of despots, not democrats.  “The rule of law is fundamental to a functioning democracy, and Liberal Democrats will not stand by and watch as Johnson and Cummings try to undermine it.”

Responding to the GDP figures showing no growth in the final quarter of 2019, Ed Davey, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “In his effort to unite the Brexit vote, Boris Johnson has let the economy stagnate and left production and investment to languish. This is the height of recklessness for jobs and prosperity across the UK. “With EU trade negotiations just beginning and the prospect of a no-deal crash out still alive and threatening, this is a warning sign of things to come unless the Government changes course.  “British business doesn’t just need certainty, it needs the closest alignment possible with Europe. “The Liberal Democrats will continue to make the pro-European case, hold Johnson accountable for Brexit and fight for a fair and prosperous UK economy.”

Responding to the news that the governemnt will go ahead with the HS2 project, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: “There are huge questions about how the Conservatives have mis-managed HS2 so badly, but the climate case for expanding Britain’s railways remains a strong one. “Yet HS2 alone won’t unite the country, bring economic benefits to the Midlands and North or cut the demand for domestic flights to help our climate unless it’s part of a bolder rail revolution.  “Above all, we must improve railway links east to west, with train lines that don’t always have London as their destination."

Responding to the news that the Court of Appeal has halted the deportation of many who were set to be sent to Jamaica by the government, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Christine Jardine said: “What will it take for this Government to learn? Even after the appalling Windrush scandal, Conservative Ministers were brazenly defending their plans to deport people just hours before the court ruled it unlawful. “These deportation flights must stop until the Government has published the Windrush Lessons Learned Review in full. “No one can trust the Home Office to get these decisions right, and we owe it to the victims of the Windrush Scandal to prevent anything like it from happening again.”