04Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Johnson and Patel misled on crime stats, official watchdog rules

Johnson and Patel misled on crime stats, official watchdog rules

Parliamentary news
The Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir David Norgrove, has ruled that Boris Johnson and Priti Patel "misrepresented" crime statistics and presented them in a "misleading way". It comes after Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael reported the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary to the watchdog for falsely claiming that crime had fallen by 14% between September 2019 and September 2021, when the exact opposite had happened. Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson, Alistair Carmichael MP, said: “This is a damning verdict from the official watchdog. Yet more distortions from Boris Johnson and his Cabinet to play down the extent of crime. “When the Government’s record on crime is so bad that both the Prime Minister and Home Secretary feel the need to fiddle the figures, it is clear we…
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03Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Davey: Shell profits quite simply grotesque

Davey: Shell profits quite simply grotesque

Parliamentary news
Responding to Shell announcing their highest fourth-quarter profits in eight years on the same day energy bills are set to soar, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey MP said: "“The amount of profit Shell has raked in whilst millions of people face soaring heating bills is quite simply grotesque. “It is money taken directly from millions of people being pushed into poverty and given to wealthy fat cats and Tory mates. “The Conservatives must take Shell’s ludicrous profits back through a Robin Hood tax, and give the money to people who are struggling to pay the bills.”
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02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Figures reveal PPE worth £2.7bn bought for NHS going unused

Figures reveal PPE worth £2.7bn bought for NHS going unused

Parliamentary news
The Government has been accused of “extreme negligence” after it has emerged that almost one in five items in its stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) are not usable, with billions of pounds having gone down the drain. A written parliamentary question tabled by Liberal Democrat Chief Whip, Wendy Chamberlain, has revealed that the Department for Health and Social Care has identified 3.4 billion units of PPE as “potential excess stock”. This would represent £2.2 billion of expenditure on items without demand. Of 6.96 billion items of PPE that are not currently provided to frontline services, 1.2 billion of these (17.2%) are deemed to be not fit for use. These items were purchased for £458 million. Meanwhile, storage of all PPE - usable or otherwise - is costing the taxpayer…
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02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Partygate: Lib Dems table Bill to force Boris Johnson to admit if fined over Covid breaches

Partygate: Lib Dems table Bill to force Boris Johnson to admit if fined over Covid breaches

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats are proposing a Bill to force Boris Johnson and any other government ministers to reveal whether they have been issued with a fine for breaching Covid rules. Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP will be presenting the Ministerial Disclosure Bill to the Commons this afternoon. Analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found Boris Johnson could face fines of up to £12,300 for the six gatherings currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police which is currently suspected of having attended. If Boris Johnson receives a fine, there is currently no legal mechanism to force him to reveal this to the public. Under the terms of the Liberal Democrat Bill, Boris Johnson and any other government minister who was fined for a breach of Covid rules would…
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02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Finance Bill: Enough is enough on dirty Russian money

Finance Bill: Enough is enough on dirty Russian money

Parliamentary news
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran is today leading a cross-party grouping of MPs supporting an amendment to the Finance Bill making the case for a Register of Beneficial Ownership - a key step in combating the flow of Russian dirty money in the UK. The amendment has received high profile support from all main parties, including Conservative MPs Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Kevin Hollinrake; Labour’s Dame Margaret Hodge and Ben Bradshaw; and the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesperson Alyn Smith. The amendment is the latest attempt by MPs to push the Government to finally legislate for a register. Last month, Layla Moran MP tabled the Registration of Overseas Entities Bill, which also received cross-party support and is due to receive its second reading on 18th March. A register of foreign…
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02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Lib Dems report Johnson & Patel over false crime stat claims

Lib Dems report Johnson & Patel over false crime stat claims

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have reported both the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary to the statistics watchdog for falsely claiming a reduction in overall crime levels. Alistair Carmichael, the party’s Home Affairs Spokesperson, has written to Sir David Norgrove, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, about comments made by Boris Johnson in the House of Commons yesterday and by Priti Patel in a Home Office press release last week. During his statement on the Sue Gray investigation, Johnson claimed “we have been cutting crime by 14%”. In a press release on Thursday, Patel said “This Government continues to cut crime through our Beating Crime Plan”. Both claims are directly contradicted by the latest official crime figures, published by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday. They show “a 14% increase…
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02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Levelling up: Yet another of Boris Johnson’s empty slogans

Levelling up: Yet another of Boris Johnson’s empty slogans

Parliamentary news
Responding to the Government's new levelling up plan, Liberal Democrat Communities and Local Government Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said: "These promises will ring hollow in communities that have been neglected by the Conservatives for decades. “Families are facing a cost of living crisis and Tory tax hikes are just months away. They need support now, not rhetoric about far off targets in 2030. "The Government has failed to invest in some of the most deprived regions, in catch up funding for our children and in faster broadband for rural areas. "Levelling up has been exposed as yet another of Boris Johnson's empty slogans."
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02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Energy rebate: Weak, flimsy and already weeks overdue

Energy rebate: Weak, flimsy and already weeks overdue

Parliamentary news
Responding to reports the Government is planning to announce an "energy rebate" to reduce household bills, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said: "This Government plan is just not up to scratch. It is weak, flimsy and already weeks overdue. People are drowning in energy bills right now. This plan would be wiped out straight away anyway by Boris Johnson's unfair tax hikes now just weeks away. "Boris Johnson is only looking out for himself despite too many households making the heartbreaking choice between heating and eating. "This plan leaves taxpayers footing the bill whilst oil barons profit off spiralling prices. The Liberal Democrat windfall tax proposal would make oil and gas companies pay the tab and save households more money. It is time for the Government to go back…
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01Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Davey: Boris Johnson must not use taxpayers’ cash for legal advice

Davey: Boris Johnson must not use taxpayers’ cash for legal advice

Parliamentary news
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has demanded that Boris Johnson must not be able to use taxpayers’ cash to fund his legal advice over the police investigation into law-breaking parties held in Downing Street. Ed Davey has written today to Treasury Solicitor Susanna McGibbon, who oversees the Government Legal Department, calling on her to ensure Boris Johnson does not receive taxpayer-funded legal advice or representation from government lawyers in relation to his alleged breaches of Covid laws. The letter adds that it would be “completely unacceptable for taxpayers to bear the cost of the Prime Minister trying to defend himself from these allegations.” The Government Legal Department had total spending of over £264 million in 2020-21. The Metropolitan Police yesterday confirmed they are investigating eight gatherings believed to have breached…
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01Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
PM’s trip to Ukraine: too little, too late

PM’s trip to Ukraine: too little, too late

Parliamentary news
Responding to the news that Boris Johnson is to travel to Ukraine to meet with president Volodymyr Zelensky for talks the day after he missed a call with Vladimir Putin, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran MP said: “Britain deserves so much better than having Boris Johnson represent us on the world stage. He’s been missing in action while war looms in Europe - and while he might be playing catch-up now, it’s too little, too late. “This is the man who picked pleading with his backbenchers over talking tough to Vladimir Putin. He’s spent the last month phoning wavering Tory MPs when he should have been meeting foreign leaders. “Boris Johnson’s lies make him unfit to hold the office of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He is…
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