25Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Lib Dems table amendment to reduce Sunak’s £2.1bn tax raid by increasing NI threshold rise now

Lib Dems table amendment to reduce Sunak’s £2.1bn tax raid by increasing NI threshold rise now

Parliamentary news
Chancellor’s decision to delay NI threshold changes until July to cost workers extra £2.1 billion this year.Lib Dem amendment would bring forward the changes to April 6th, saving a typical worker £80.Lib Dems warn that “every day of delay will cause more pain for families on the brink.” The Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment to bring forward the rise in the National Insurance threshold to April 6th, helping to minimise the impact of Rishi Sunak’s tax rises on millions of families. It comes as MPs debate the Bill to increase the National Insurance threshold today in Parliament. The Conservatives’ manifesto-breaking rise to National Insurance will come into force on April 6th, hitting families with a tax rise of around £360 just as energy bills go up over 50%. Meanwhile, the…
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24Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Patel must stop her assault on British rights and freedoms

Patel must stop her assault on British rights and freedoms

Parliamentary news
Following votes in the House of Lords to restore amendments protecting the right to protest, that were overturned by the Government in the Commons last month, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: “Today the Liberal Democrats have struck another blow against the Conservatives’ anti-democratic attempts to silence any opposition and trample people’s fundamental rights. “Now that Peers from all parties have defeated Priti Patel’s draconian proposals for a second time, surely Conservative MPs must now think again. The Government should listen to police officers and the public, and stop their assault on British rights and freedoms. “The right to peaceful assembly and protest is a crucial part of the UK’s democratic society. Liberal Democrats will always fiercely defend it.”
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24Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Sunak’s small print reveals £44 billion tax bombshell by 2024

Sunak’s small print reveals £44 billion tax bombshell by 2024

Parliamentary news
Rishi Sunak’s tax hikes will lead to a £44 billion bombshell by 2024, equivalent to almost £1,600 per UK household. The stark figures were buried in the small print of today’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) report accompanying the Spring Statement. It finds that the net impact of the tax policies announced by Rishi Sunak since March 2020, including today’s tax changes, will mean tax receipts are £43.8 billion higher in 2024-25. The OBR also reveals the impact of Rishi Sunak’s stealth tax and freezing of income tax thresholds, which will cost taxpayers £17.5 billion a year. By 2025-26, 2.8 million low earners will be dragged into paying income tax and two million middle-earners will be dragged into the higher rate because of the freeze. Leader of the Liberal Democrats…
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24Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Ban Gazprom from supplying energy to UK businesses

Ban Gazprom from supplying energy to UK businesses

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have called on the UK Government and the energy regulator Ofgem to ban Russian oil and gas company Gazprom from supplying energy to UK businesses. The company is licensed by the energy regulator Ofgem to supply gas and electricity to UK businesses - including schools, hospitals and local authorities. Liberal Democrats peer Jonny Oates today asked Government ministers in the House of Lords if they are planning to rescind Gazprom’s supply licence and to place the Gazprom supplier into “special administration”, in effect nationalising the company. This process was used to protect the customers of Bulb Energy, when the company collapsed last year. Liberal Democrats have also called for a Windfall Tax on oil and gas companies, including Gazprom’s trading arm, which issued a £179 million dividend…
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22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Childcare prices rise £600 in a single year

Childcare prices rise £600 in a single year

Parliamentary news
Liberal Democrat analysis of the figures in the 2021 Coram Childcare Report and the embargoed 2022 Coram Childcare Report show a £596.83 rise for parents paying for 50 hours a week. The Liberal Democrats said the figures showed the Conservatives are neglecting “cash-strapped young parents” who are seeing their income squeezed even more by the cost of living crisis. The Liberal Democrats are calling for young families to be provided with free, high-quality childcare for children from 9 months until they begin school. Commenting on the figures, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson, Munira Wilson MP said: “The huge increase in costs of childcare is hitting cash-strapped young parents who are already facing a cost of living crisis. “The UK already has some of the highest childcare costs in the world. Parents…
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22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Met Partygate investigation: Johnson must come clean if being interviewed by police

Met Partygate investigation: Johnson must come clean if being interviewed by police

Parliamentary news
Responding to the Metropolitan Police update on their investigation into lockdown parties in Number 10, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “At a time of war in Europe and a cost-of-living crisis, Conservative MPs are keeping a criminal in Number 10. They can try and call it ‘fluff’, but everyone is seeing through Boris Johnson’s lies. “Johnson must come clean: is he being interviewed by the police and will he resign if found to have broken the law? No more fluff, just the facts for all those who suffered during lockdown while he partied.”
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22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Rishi Sunak set for £5bn VAT windfall from fuel price rises as motorists treated “as cash cows”

Rishi Sunak set for £5bn VAT windfall from fuel price rises as motorists treated “as cash cows”

Parliamentary news
The Treasury could cash in on up to £5 billion extra in VAT if fuel prices continue to climb, analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. This would be double the estimated £2.5 billion cost of cutting fuel duty by 5p, as Rishi Sunak is expected to do tomorrow. The cost of fuel has surged by 30p per litre in the wake of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The Liberal Democrat analysis shows that if fuel prices continue to climb as expected, with both petrol and diesel hitting more than £2 a litre, this Treasury windfall could climb to almost £5 billion. The research is based on figures from the RAC Foundation showing British motorists used 16.9 billion litres of petrol and 30 billion litres of diesel in 2019. It also…
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22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Nationality and Borders Bill: A traffickers’ charter that will cause deaths in the Channel

Nationality and Borders Bill: A traffickers’ charter that will cause deaths in the Channel

Parliamentary news
Following votes in the House of Commons on the Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill, where Conservative MPs voted to overturn cross-party amendments passed in the Lords, Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron said: “Priti Patel’s Anti-Refugee Bill is a traffickers’ charter. By voting for it, Conservative MPs have voted for deaths in the Channel. “Taking away any safe and legal route for refugees to reach the UK will only force them to take dangerous ones. “The real problem is entirely a structural one of incompetence in the Home Office, and this Bill will do nothing to fix it. It will only make it worse. “The UK has a glorious, centuries-old reputation as a place of sanctuary. We will not let that be sullied by this puny little Government.”
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22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Met police needs new leadership not stitch up by Johnson and Patel

Met police needs new leadership not stitch up by Johnson and Patel

Parliamentary news
Responding to the report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) into corruption in the Met Police and the case of Daniel Morgan, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “This shocking report lays bare the ingrained culture of corruption and cover-up at the top of the Met. Police officers put themselves at risk every day to keep us safe, but they are being let down by poor leadership. The Met urgently needs strong new leadership. Choosing the new Commissioner is too important to be a stitch up between Priti Patel and Boris Johnson – especially when Johnson is under criminal investigation by the Met himself. “The next Commissioner must be someone who will shake things up and stand up to government ministers – and that’s…
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22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Oligarch ditches UK mansions after government sanctions delay

Oligarch ditches UK mansions after government sanctions delay

Parliamentary news
Responding to reports that Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov was able to offload his UK properties before UK sanctions came into effect, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran MP said: “The Conservative Government’s dither and delay on sanctions has meant that Putin’s cronies have once again gotten away with it. It took Ministers weeks to put the proper sanctions into place - meanwhile, it looks like oligarchs were fire-selling their assets all that time. “Where oligarchs have transferred their holdings to their families, those relatives must be immediately sanctioned. Putin’s cronies’ properties and assets in the UK should now be seized - funding an oligarch tax to help people with spiralling energy bills.”
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