26Jul 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Government plans for council finance watchdog will do nothing to improve frontline services

Government plans for council finance watchdog will do nothing to improve frontline services

Borough news, fairer council, Parliamentary news
Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE has hit out against government plans to introduce new financial oversight measures for local government spending. Councillor Sykes said: “We’re in the eye of a cost-of-living storm right now and what we need is a government that empowers local councils to direct funding to frontline services across social care, housing and health. Instead, we have Conservative ministers who are making local councils jump through hoops, count beans and increase bureaucracy and red tape.” The Government announced that it would introduce a new regulator to audit council spending. But the Liberal Democrat Leader and representative for Shaw dismissed the plans as “unnecessary red tape that will do nothing for ordinary residents and just increase costs for councils”. Councillor Sykes argued: “Local councils need…
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24Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Ed Davey on Tiverton and Honiton: Wake-up call for Conservative MPs propping up Boris Johnson

Ed Davey on Tiverton and Honiton: Wake-up call for Conservative MPs propping up Boris Johnson

Parliamentary news
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has said the party’s stunning victory in Tiverton and Honiton should be a “wake-up call” for Conservative MPs propping up Boris Johnson. Liberal Democrat candidate Richard Foord overturned a Conservative majority of over 24,000, the biggest ever majority overturned in a by-election. Richard Foord gained a majority of 6,144 with a massive swing of 29.9%. It marks the third Liberal Democrat by-election victory in a formerly safe Conservative seat in just over a year, following the party’s shock wins in North Shropshire and Chesham and Amersham. Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “The Liberal Democrats have made political history with this stunning win. It is the biggest by-election victory our country has ever seen. “This should be a wake-up call for all those Conservative MPs…
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23Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Families facing £1,300 bombshell from inflation and tax hikes

Families facing £1,300 bombshell from inflation and tax hikes

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have slammed the Conservatives as not having “any sense or any soul” for inaction on the cost of living crisis as families face a near £1,300 bombshell from inflation and tax hikes. Today’s ONS data reveals that a typical household now spends £5,780 a year on food, drink and clothing - £425 more than a year ago. Meanwhile record petrol and diesel prices mean that a typical family re-filling its car once a month pays an additional £310 a year. The hit to families from soaring food and fuel prices is being practically doubled by an additional £640 in extra National Insurance, Income Tax and VAT this year. The rise in costs means households are being left with a near £1,300 blackhole due to this Government’s failure…
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23Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
No answers and no help on cost of energy lifesaving medical equipment

No answers and no help on cost of energy lifesaving medical equipment

Borough news, health and social care, Parliamentary news
People in Oldham with urgent medical needs are being ignored after the rise in the energy cap has massively increased the cost of life saving energy equipment. After a resident contacted local Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, worried about rising energy costs stopping them from running their BPAP machine which they have to use overnight, he contacted the Council to ask what support was available. There was no national support, and the Council was organising a working group to look at the problem. The working group had no timescale for reporting, and despite his requests for updates, nothing has happened in the two months since. Sam said: “I can’t understand why the response to this is a working group? Given that the cap on energy costs has been massively increased,…
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17Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Government sitting on their hands over rail strikes

Government sitting on their hands over rail strikes

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have exposed that there have been no meetings between ministers and officials at the RMT Union regarding the planned rail strikes next week. Rail strikes next week will bring chaos to Britain’s commuters, yet this Conservative government has done nothing to stop them going ahead. Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Sarah Olney asked Transport Minister Wendy Morton if the Transport Secretary would publish the dates and times of meetings between the department and RMT Union officials from 13th May 2022. Today it was revealed that there have been no such meetings. This government is leaving the public in the dark and millions of passengers are facing the misery of forking out for extra petrol - all because ministers are playing political games. The Liberal Democrats have already called…
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17Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Soaring inflation: Cut VAT to help families and keep prices down

Soaring inflation: Cut VAT to help families and keep prices down

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to cut VAT, to help families with the cost of living while keeping soaring inflation in check. It comes as the Chancellor Rishi Sunak rejected calls to cut taxes now as he claimed it could risk fuelling inflation. When the last emergency VAT cut was introduced in December 2008, inflation fell from 4.1% to 3.1%. The ONS also found that the cut to VAT in the hospitality sector in 2020 led to a fall in consumer inflation. The Office of Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) has forecast that Rishi Sunak is due to rake in an extra £8.6 billion in extra VAT due to inflation over the next year, or £430 per family. Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine said: “Rishi Sunak’s excuses for…
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16Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Davey: Parliament must have a say on new ethics adviser

Davey: Parliament must have a say on new ethics adviser

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have called for Parliament to have a say in the selection of Lord Geidt’s replacement as the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests. The party has said it is right and proper that Parliament plays a role in the vetting of Boris Johnson’s new ethics adviser after his last appointment was a prominent ally. Geidt handed in his resignation yesterday evening amid a row over whether Johnson broke the Ministerial Code through lying about his lawbreaking in Number Ten during lockdown. Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said: “History has shown that Boris Johnson plainly can’t be trusted to choose the person who marks his homework. “Even Lord Geidt could no longer stomach Johnson’s lies and lawbreaking. “Parliament must be able to vet this next appointment so that…
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15Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Scrapping the Plug-in Car Grant is the wrong move at the wrong time from out of touch Government

Scrapping the Plug-in Car Grant is the wrong move at the wrong time from out of touch Government

Parliamentary news
Following the Government's announcement that the Plug-in Car Grant will no longer be available for new electric cars, Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said: "It beggars belief that this out of touch Government is scrapping these grants for new cars while petrol and diesel prices are soaring and electric cars remain unaffordable for so many. “Britain is gripped by a cost of living emergency where families are struggling to fill up at the pumps. We should be slashing VAT on electric vehicles, not cutting the Plug-In Car Grant. “This is the wrong move at the wrong time. The Conservatives are doing everything they can to put people off owning an electric vehicle and it frankly makes a mockery of their pledge to end new sales of petrol and…
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15Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Rail strikes: Shapps should resign if these strikes ago ahead

Rail strikes: Shapps should resign if these strikes ago ahead

Parliamentary news
Responding to Network Rail and train operators releasing their strike timetables for next week, Liberal Democrat Transport spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said: “Grant Shapps should resign if these strikes ago ahead. The first duty of the Transport Secretary is to keep our country moving, yet an entire summer of rail strikes means he will have failed. “Commuters and holiday goers will struggle to forgive the unions if these strikes go ahead, but Grant Shapps is just as much to blame for sitting on his hands. “We’ve already seen our airports become scenes of chaos and now rail passengers look set to suffer the same fate. It is a shocking track record for Grant Shapps. “He needs to take full and personal responsibility for preventing these strikes. Britain won’t accept a…
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14Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Grenfell anniversary: Public inquiry into Government handling of building safety scandal is needed

Grenfell anniversary: Public inquiry into Government handling of building safety scandal is needed

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have called for an independent public inquiry into the Government’s handling of the building safety scandal on the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower disaster. Today [14 June] marks five years since 72 residents lost their lives in a fire that engulfed a block of flats in London. In spite of a Government promise that a similar tragedy would never happen again, almost 10,000 tower blocks in England are still considered ‘unsafe’ due to cladding and other dangerous fire safety defects. The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove was unable to answer how many buildings still have flammable cladding on them when asked last week. The inquiry would have the power to summon witnesses and require them to give evidence under oath,…
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