01Apr 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Energy price hike: Emergency insulation plan needed to slash bills ahead of October rise

Energy price hike: Emergency insulation plan needed to slash bills ahead of October rise

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new emergency home insulation programme over the next six months, to help those being plunged into fuel poverty by soaring energy prices. Average annual energy bills will rise to £1,971 today (Friday 1st April), and are expected to increase to around £2,800 when the price cap is reviewed again on the 1st October. The Liberal Democrats have also called for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies to help kick start a home insulation programme, as well as doubling the Winter Fuel Payment and the Warm Home Discount, while expanding it to more households. The Conservatives last attempt at a home insulation programme, the Green Homes Grant, ended in failure after just six months following low take up and mismanagement by the…
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01Apr 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Windrush Scandal: A Conservative Government Scandal

Parliamentary news
Responding to the progress report on the Windrush Scandal, published by independent expert Wendy Williams who was appointed to advise the Home Office, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs Alistair Carmichael MP said: “The Conservative Government’s abysmal response to the Windrush Scandal is now a scandal all of its own. “Priti Patel has utterly failed to get a grip on the broken immigration system or scrap the hostile environment that saw innocent people wrongly detained, deported and made homeless. In fact, she is only making things worse. Her failure to sort out the Home Office is clear from the appalling chaos and delays facing Ukrainian refugees, even as families across the UK want to welcome them with open arms. “Conservative Ministers must finally admit their mistake and take the Compensation…
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01Apr 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Conversion therapy U-turn is “utter betrayal”

Conversion therapy U-turn is “utter betrayal”

Parliamentary news
Commenting on the leaked report that shows the Government plan to ditch the ban on conversion therapy, Liberal Democrat Equalities Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse MP said: “This is not just yet another u-turn from the Tories, but giving the green light to a form of torture in the UK. This is an utter betrayal of the LGBT+ community. “Conversion therapy should have been banned years ago, but the Conservatives are looking the other way on this abusive and dangerous practice, this is a complete injustice. The Government must ban it without dither or delay." Conversion therapy has been described by the UN special rapporteur as torture. The Conservative Government has said that it was going to ban it, first in 2018, and then as part of the Queen's Speech in 2021.
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28Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Sunak must come clean over links to Infosys

Sunak must come clean over links to Infosys

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have called for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to come clean over his links to Infosys, which continues to operate in Russia, after it has emerged that his wife holds a £490 million stake in the company. Christine Jardine MP, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, said: "Rishi Sunak has told businesses to ‘think carefully’ about operating in Russia, yet it appears his own household has a £490 million stake in a company still operating there. "Rishi Sunak needs to come clean and declare any potential conflicts of interest. Openness and full transparency are key given the risks posed by financial connections to Russia. "The public deserves full transparency on this issue. It cannot be one rule for the Chancellor and another for everyone else."
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28Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Mortgage borrowers face biggest rise in interest payments since financial crisis

Mortgage borrowers face biggest rise in interest payments since financial crisis

Parliamentary news
OBR warns mortgage interest payments to surge by 42% this year, the biggest rise since 1989.Household debt servicing costs to rise from £55 billion to £83 billion over the next two years.Liberal Democrat leader warns of "ticking mortgage timebomb" that will see average borrower pay £287 more a month, and urges Government to “get a grip and slash taxes now before people lose their homes”. British mortgage owners face the biggest hike in interest payments since the financial crisis, the Liberal Democrats can reveal.  Buried in the Office for Budget Responsibility's Spring Statement documents is a stark forecast showing that mortgage interest payments are set to rise by 42% by the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the previous year. Mortgage interest payments are then set to rise by another…
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28Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Use bumper energy profits to scrap ‘grossly unfair’ energy bill postcode lottery

Use bumper energy profits to scrap ‘grossly unfair’ energy bill postcode lottery

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have called for the scrapping of the regional differences in electricity and gas bills, which is seeing some households paying £124 more for their gas and electricity just because of where they live. The UK is broken up into fourteen different pricing regions where it costs different amounts to get electricity and gas to people’s homes. This leads to people in the North of Scotland, Wales and South West England paying more for their gas and electricity bills than other parts of the country. Analysis by the Liberal Democrats shows that households in North Wales and Merseyside pay the most for their bills, paying £126 more for the same amount of energy as households in the North East who pay the least. Households in the South West…
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28Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Sunak Swindle: 1.3 million households set to miss out on council tax rebate

Sunak Swindle: 1.3 million households set to miss out on council tax rebate

Parliamentary news
1.3 million eligible households forecast to miss out on £150 rebate to help with energy billsFinancial watchdog says ministers to rake in £195m from lack of take-up of schemeLib Dem Leader Ed Davey demands any household that missed out should get £150 cheque in the post Around 1.3 million eligible families are set to miss out on the government’s £150 council tax rebate to help with soaring energy bills, it has emerged. The damning figures are buried in the small print of a report by the government’s financial watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), accompanying this week’s Spring Statement. It predicts that the Treasury is set to rake in £195 million from lack of take-up of the government’s flagship scheme. The OBR estimates that two-thirds of council tax payers…
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28Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Schools White Paper: Half-baked proposals miss the mark

Schools White Paper: Half-baked proposals miss the mark

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have slammed the Schools White Paper as “half-baked” as it launches today, saying they have “no ambition or imagination”. The Party has moved to criticise the proposals after they focused on restructures and the National Tutoring Programme rather than diverting more funding towards catch-up for children who have been hit hard by lost learning during the pandemic or helping children to build their skills and experiences. Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP has said the proposals “completely miss the mark” and do not come close to righting the “wrongs” of the Department for Education over the course of the pandemic, such as botched school reopenings and a failure to get laptops to children who needed them. The Liberal Democrats are calling for an extra £10 billion to go…
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28Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Zahawi in denial over Covid in schools

Zahawi in denial over Covid in schools

Parliamentary news
Responding to Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi's comments on Sunday Morning today, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said: "Zahawi is in denial about the level of Covid infections in schools, and his complacency is adding insult to injury for every child and parent. "This Government has let down and abandoned our children time and time again over the past two years and history looks doomed to repeat itself. It's clear they have no plan for dealing with rising numbers of infections and absences. "Schools deserve a cast-iron guarantee that they will be given the resources they need to ensure no child will miss out on learning. Government incompetence cannot be allowed to disrupt their education further than it already has."
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25Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

P&O: Shapps must answer questions in Parliament over November meeting

Parliamentary news
Responding to news that the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps met with DP World in Dubai in November 2021 and that he was warned that P&O would be needing to make changes to their business, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Business, Trade and Transport, Sarah Olney MP said: "Grant Shapps has serious questions to answer about what he knew and when about P&O's plans to shamefully sack its workers. "The Transport Secretary must come before Parliament to provide the urgent answers that P&O workers and their families deserve. "It's looks increasingly like Grant Shapps was asleep at the wheel, and missed vital opportunities to intervene and protect people's livelhihoods. If that is the case, he would surely have no choice but to resign."
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