21Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
At a moment of danger in Europe we would expect the Foreign Secretary to be at the table

At a moment of danger in Europe we would expect the Foreign Secretary to be at the table

Parliamentary news
Responding to Liz Truss’s visit to Australia, thereby missing a meeting of the ‘Quad’ (comprising the US secretary of state Antony Blinken; French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock) to discuss the Russia/Ukraine crisis, Layla Moran MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, commented: “Agreements with Australia are all well and good - but is flying to the other side of the world really a matter of diplomatic urgency at a moment when Europe is coming perilously close to war? “At this moment of danger, we would expect the Foreign Secretary to be at the table, with her counterparts from the US, France and Germany. But she’s not in the room - she’s not even on the continent. “Truss’s diplomatic priorities are half a world…
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20Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Plan B ending: A desperate Prime Minister flailing

Plan B ending: A desperate Prime Minister flailing

Parliamentary news
Responding to the Prime Minister announcing an end to Plan B Covid restrictions, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: "Boris Johnson has no authority left to make these decisions. He is a desperate Prime Minister flailing out at any policy decision he can find. This is no way to govern the country. "Every time he mutters the word Covid, all the public can think about is his law-breaking party antics. For the sake of the country, he needs to stop meddling and get off the stage. "The problem now is that everything the Prime Minister does - whether or not it’s the right thing - will be seen as him trying to save his own skin rather than governing in the interests of the country."
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19Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Benefits not keeping pace with the cost of living crisis

Benefits not keeping pace with the cost of living crisis

Parliamentary news
Responding to the news that the Government has confirmed they will up-rate all benefits by just 3.1% rather than using April's expected 6% rate, Liberal Democrat Welfare and Pensions Spokesperson Wendy Chamberlain MP said: “In the face of spiralling energy bills, the Conservatives are leaving some of the most vulnerable worse off. In the same breath, they are outrageously writing off billions in stolen Covid payments and crooked PPE contracts. “This callous Government is happy to let their mates off the hook while taking money out of peoples’ pockets while the country is struggling with the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. “Ministers must immediately reverse this decision and bring forward a rise in benefits in line with April’s inflation figure - expected to reach 6%.”
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19Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Government too busy clearing up their own mess to care about the rising cost of living

Government too busy clearing up their own mess to care about the rising cost of living

Parliamentary news
Responding to new record high inflation rates, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: “Inflation rates are at a record high and continuing to climb. This Conservative Government is too busy clearing up their own Downing Street mess to look after families that are struggling with the rising cost of living. “People are facing soaring energy bills and tax hikes while their wages stay stagnant. The Government has left behind low and middle income families who will feel the brunt the most. “This Government has done absolutely nothing to help UK households who face years of tax rises and sky-high energy bills.”
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18Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Elections Bill: Johnson’s Government ducking and diving from accountability

Elections Bill: Johnson’s Government ducking and diving from accountability

Parliamentary news
Responding to the votes on the controversial Elections Bill, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Political and Constitutional Reform, Alistair Carmichael MP, said: “Rather than strengthening our democracy by getting behind efforts to build a better politics with a fairer electoral system, Conservative Ministers have instead voted to expand the use of the clapped-out First Past The Post, all while making it harder for people to vote. It really does beggar belief. “Their voter ID proposals are not only discriminatory, but a blatant undermining of our democratic rights. Whether it’s this, thinly veiled threats to our national broadcaster or a draconian clampdown on protests, Boris Johnson and his Government are hell-bent on ducking and diving from accountability at every turn - hardly surprising given their recent exploits. "What comes as no surprise,…
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18Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Policing Bill: Crushing defeats a huge victory for people’s rights

Policing Bill: Crushing defeats a huge victory for people’s rights

Parliamentary news
Liberal Democrat peers worked across the political divide tonight to defeat a number of controversial Conservative Government amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The Government had attempted to forcibly rush through anti-protest measures without the appropriate time afforded for the House of Lords to scrutinise them - and without any consideration by the House of Commons at all. But nearly 70 Liberal Democrat Lords voted into the early hours of Tuesday the 18th to ensure the provisions were roundly defeated. Such provisions included a potential 51 week prison sentence for chaining (attachment to objects) and a proposed new offence for obstructing major transport works. Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs in the House of Lords, Brian Paddick, said: “This is a huge victory for people’s rights and…
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18Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Pupil Premium “Left to Rot” with Disadvantaged Children £160 worse off

Pupil Premium “Left to Rot” with Disadvantaged Children £160 worse off

Parliamentary news
Responding to a report by the National Foundation for Educational Research which shows that the most disadvantaged children are £160 worse off than in 2015, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education, Munira Wilson MP, said: “We know the attainment gap is widening because of the pandemic and it is shameful that the Tories have not increased the Pupil Premium in line with inflation. “The Conservatives have decided to prioritise penny-pinching over the most disadvantaged children in our society. “The Government has left the Liberal Democrats’ Pupil Premium to rot, affecting the children hardest hit by lost learning. They must guarantee ring-fenced funding to increase the pupil premium in line with inflation."
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17Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Public most likely to blame oil and gas companies for rising prices as majority back windfall tax

Public most likely to blame oil and gas companies for rising prices as majority back windfall tax

Parliamentary news
– New polling finds 71% of those asked supported a windfall tax on oil and gas companies. Almost 8 in 10 (78%) people blame oil and gas companies for rising energy prices, according to a new poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats. More people blame oil and gas companies for price rises compared to the Government (69%), household energy providers (65%) and OFGEM (58%). The polling also shows approaching three in four (71%) support a tax on profits of oil and gas companies to increase support for households struggling to afford rising prices. This support for a tax on oil and gas company profits rises amongst those who voted Conservative at the last election (75%). Liberal Democrat Leader and former Energy Secretary Ed Davey was the first politician to call…
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17Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Dowden defence of No10 parties ‘pathetic’ say Lib Dems

Dowden defence of No10 parties ‘pathetic’ say Lib Dems

Parliamentary news
Responding to Oliver Dowden's appearance on BBC Sunday Morning, where he defended the Prime Minister and blamed an 'underlying culture' for the Downing Street parties, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran MP said: "This pathetic attempt to defend Boris Johnson will just fan the flames of public anger against this rotten Conservative government. "Boris Johnson is once again blaming those around him instead of taking responsibility. "If he really is angry about these parties, he must be furious with himself. Boris Johnson allowed them to happen, he joined in, and then he tried to cover it up by lying to the public. "The very same day Oliver Dowden ordered people to only meet in pairs outside, Boris Johnson was attending a party in Number 10. We don't just need…
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17Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Lib Dems table no confidence motion in Boris Johnson

Lib Dems table no confidence motion in Boris Johnson

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have tabled a no confidence motion in Boris Johnson, and challenged Conservative MPs to vote for it to force the prime minister to step down. The motion states that Parliament has no confidence in Boris Johnson as he has “broken the Covid lockdown laws his Government introduced, misled both Parliament and the public about it, and disastrously undermined public confidence in the midst of a pandemic.” The motion been so far been signed by 18 MPs from four parties. These include all thirteen Liberal Democrat MPs, two Labour MPs, two from Plaid Cymru and Stephen Garry from the Alliance Party. The Liberal Democrats have also written to Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg, demanding he put the motion to a vote within the next week.…
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