12Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Garden party: Liaison Committee must grill PM after he ducks debate

Garden party: Liaison Committee must grill PM after he ducks debate

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have called for an emergency meeting of the Liaison Committee, to allow MPs to grill Boris Johnson on the latest revelations about the Number 10 garden party held in May 2020. It comes after the Prime Minister refused to attend today’s Urgent Question in Parliament on the issue, instead sending Paymaster General Michael Ellis in his place. The Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain has written to Bernard Jenkin, chair of the Liaison Committee, calling on him to hold an emergency session as soon as possible to ask Boris Johnson questions about his role in the event and whether he attended. The letter warns that Boris Johnson is “hiding behind the smokescreen” of the Sue Gray’s inquiry, adding that the idea he has to wait until the…
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12Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Schools facing “tidal wave” of around 100,000 teacher absences

Schools facing “tidal wave” of around 100,000 teacher absences

Parliamentary news
Responding to the news that over 300,000 children are off school alongside around 100,000 teachers and teaching assistants, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education, Munira Wilson MP, said: "The Education Secretary is standing idly by as schools are facing a tidal wave of teacher absences. His failure to prepare has led to a slow-motion car crash as Covid mixes with the return to schools. "The Government's catch-up plans are a drop in the ocean, their ex-teacher recruitment campaign is nowhere to be seen, and it is unforgivable that ministers failed to equip classrooms with the air purifiers they need. "The Conservatives have failed to get a grip of Omicron in the education system and now we are seeing it wreak havoc."
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12Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Met Police fined over 17,700 people for breaching Covid laws

Met Police fined over 17,700 people for breaching Covid laws

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have called on the Metropolitan Police to investigate the Downing Street Garden Party held in May 2020, after figures revealed the force has fined thousands of people in London for breaches of lockdown rules during the pandemic. Analysis of the latest official figures by the party show that the Metropolitan Police have given out 17,745 Fixed Penalty Notice fines for breaches of various Covid laws between 27th March 2020 and 17th October 2021. These include 113 fines for holding a gathering of over 30 people, more than any other police force in the country. In total, police have issued 118,419 fines for breaking government imposed lockdown rules in England between March 27 2020 and October 17 2021, according to data from the National Police Chiefs Council. This…
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10Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Cladding: Conservatives still have “head in the sand” over leaseholder reforms

Cladding: Conservatives still have “head in the sand” over leaseholder reforms

Parliamentary news
Responding to reports of the potential reforms put forward on cladding by Michael Gove's Department for Levelling Up, House and Communities, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “The Conservative Government still has its head in the sand about the scale of this scandal and the nightmare that leaseholders are living. "I’m relieved that the government has seen sense on this aspect but many questions remain. Innocent leaseholders are still facing eye-watering bills to fix non-cladding fire safety defects, not of their making, and more defects may be discovered once cladding starts to come off. "Anything short of putting new laws in place to make the developers pay for their shoddy and dangerous house-building is a betrayal of innocent leaseholders whose lives have been put on hold for four…
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10Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Almost 130,000 families in fuel poverty in cabinet ministers’ seats

Parliamentary news
Pressure is mounting on the government to announce more support for people facing soaring energy bills, after analysis by the Liberal Democrats found almost 130,000 families in cabinet ministers’ seats are living in fuel poverty. The party’s leader Ed Davey said the figures showed cabinet ministers are “turning a blind eye” to families in their own backyard who are struggling to pay soaring heating bills. The research shows that several cabinet members including the Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss have constituencies with an above-average proportion of households that are fuel poor. In Liz Truss’ seat of South West Norfolk, 7,896 families are fuel poor or 17% of households in the constituency, the highest number out of any cabinet minister after Stephen Barclay. Rishi Sunak’s seat of Richmond…
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10Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Scrapping free Lateral Flow Tests would cause “cost of living with Covid crisis”

Scrapping free Lateral Flow Tests would cause “cost of living with Covid crisis”

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have said that scrapping free Lateral Flow Testing would create a "cost of living with Covid crisis" for millions as the Government has been forced to deny reports of a proposal to scrap free tests. Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper is calling for free Lateral Flow Tests to remain for as long as the Government are asking people with Coronavirus to self-isolate. Responding to the news that the Government may end free Lateral Flow Testing, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: "It seems this Government is happy to hand out billions in crooked Covid contracts to their chums, but intends to scrap free covid tests plunging millions into a cost of living with Covid crisis. "Scrapping free tests when cases are at record levels…
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07Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Conservatives’ broken promise to Afghans leaves women and girls left at “back of the queue”

Conservatives’ broken promise to Afghans leaves women and girls left at “back of the queue”

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have today slammed the Conservatives’ broken promise to Afghans as a "total betrayal". It comes after a statement from Home Office minister Victoria Atkins in Parliament revealed that women, girls, and religious and other minorities in Afghanistan have been put to the back of queue of the Government's resettlement scheme. Commenting on the statement in the House of Commons, Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron said: "Back in August, this Government made a promise to women, girls, and religious and other minorities in Afghanistan - that they would be a priority under the new Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme. That was a promise of hope to these people, at a time when they are living in fear from the Taliban because of their identity. “Now, the Conservatives have not…
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07Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Geidt letters: Just another day in the Number 10 circus act

Parliamentary news
Responding to the published letters from Lord Geidt to Boris Johnson over the investigation into the Downing Street flat refurbishment, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain MP said: "This is just another day in the Number 10 circus act and the latest chapter in the Conservative sleaze scandal. Boris Johnson's excuse for the non-disclosure of WhatsApp messages - because he had a new phone - is akin to the dog eating your homework. "This desperately sad attempt to cover his own back will leave serious question marks hanging over the outcomes of Lord Geidt's investigation into the flat refurbishment. "Boris Johnson may have completely pulled the wool over Lord Geidt's eyes, but the public will take a very dim view of this utter nonsense."
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07Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Helen Morgan challenges Boris Johnson in Parliament on local ambulance crisis

Helen Morgan challenges Boris Johnson in Parliament on local ambulance crisis

Parliamentary news
Within two hours of being sworn in as an MP, Helen Morgan has asked the Prime Minister a question in the House of Commons on the ambulance crisis in North Shropshire. In her question during the Coronavirus statement in Parliament, Helen asked the Prime Minister to commit to her calls for a “full and proper review of ambulance services by the care quality commission.” The Prime Minister refused to commit to such a review. Patients have been left waiting hours for ambulances to arrive in Shropshire, and in recent months, four local ambulance stations have closed in Shropshire despite the crisis. It has left residents with horror stories, with services being overstretched and struggling under pressure. Commenting after her question Helen Morgan MP said: “There is no time to waste…
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07Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Revealed: Boris Johnson’s stealth tax to cost families £10.9 billion by 2026

Revealed: Boris Johnson’s stealth tax to cost families £10.9 billion by 2026

Parliamentary news
The Conservative government’s stealth tax raid will cost the average family in England and Wales £430 a year by 2026, or a total of £10.9 billion, research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. The figures reveal the scale of the cost to families of the government’s decision to freeze the personal tax allowance and higher rate tax threshold until 2025/26, compounding the growing cost of living crisis. The new analysis by the House of Commons Library has found the freeze will mean an additional 1.5 million people on low pay will be dragged into paying income tax by 2026, while a further 1.25 million people will fall into the higher rate tax bracket. The research is based on modelling using the latest inflation forecasts from the Office of Budgetary…
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