budget – Saddleworth Liberal Democrats

11May 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Gove rules out emergency budget in “shambles”

After Michael Gove ruling out an emergency budget to help tackle the cost of living crisis, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "This is a complete shambles. "Millions of families and pensioners are struggling to get by. They need more help now before things get even worse in the autumn. "Instead all we get from this Conservative government is chaos and confusion. "An emergency budget is needed now to cut taxes for ordinary families while taxing the super profits of oil and gas companies. That would be the fair and right thing to do."

07Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Liberal Democrats say residents will be safer, greener, and cleaner in their budget proposals

Borough news, environment, housing and development, road safety

Safer, greener, and cleaner, these are the watch words when the Liberal Democrats present their budget amendment proposals to the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 8th February (6pm). Shaw Councillor Chris Gloster, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance and Green, is looking forward to presenting the budget amendment to the committee and believes that the Liberal Democrats have come up with sensible adjustments to the budget that will have no impact on council finances but deliver maximum impact to residents whose valuable input as to what residents want to see is at the heart of the proposals. “The Oldham Liberal Democrats want to make further efficiencies in civic centre bureaucracy to squeeze out more money for our priorities, and those of the public – more cash to spend on…

26Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Social care rises are double jeopardy for residents

Borough news, health and social care

The majority of Oldham Borough residents will be horrified that council tax, however the percentages are segmented, will be rising by 3.99% this year after yet another underfunded settlement from a government that is clueless about Oldham and its people, says Oldham Liberal Democrat finance lead Chris Gloster. He said: “The increase of 2% for adult social care is double jeopardy. The prime minister appears intent upon pushing the 1% national insurance increase to fund adult social care, so as pay in the pocket decreases, costs are increasing, and spiralling out of control, with inflation currently sitting in excess of 5%. “Funding adult social care through council tax in the first place is a major problem. The government has failed, year on year, to create a settlement for social care,…

29Oct 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Mortgage borrowers face biggest rise in interest payments since financial crisis

Parliamentary news

British mortgage owners face the biggest hike in interest payments since the financial crisis, the Liberal Democrats can reveal. Buried in the Office of Budgetary Responsibility's Budget documents is a stark forecast showing that mortgage interest payments are set to rise by 13% in 2023, reaching a peak of 14.8% in the second quarter of that year. The unprecedented increase could see mortgage owners hit with eye-watering bills. Analysis by the Liberal Democrats shows that an average mortgage borrower on a standard variable rate of 3.26% will see their monthly mortgage payments go up by £42 a month, or £510 over a year. For a typical average mortgage borrower on a fixed rate mortgage of 2%, payments would go up by £25 a month or £300 a year. The Liberal…

27Oct 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Lib Dem Budget response: Rishi Sunak is out of touch with the British people

Parliamentary news

Responding to the Budget, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, Christine Jardine MP, said: "Rishi Sunak is out of touch with the British people. "Today the Chancellor missed the chance to avoid a cost of living crisis which will cause sleepless nights for families up and down the country. "People who work hard, pay their taxes and play by the rules needed support. Instead, the Chancellor could only offer tax hikes, benefit cuts and no answer to energy bills skyrocketing by the day. "The greatest betrayal of this budget is the woeful lack of action to help our children recover from the pandemic. All the Chancellor could scrape together was a miserable pound a day for our children to catch-up after months of being locked out of classrooms. "The Chancellor spent more…

27Oct 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Ed Davey on Budget: Twice as much in tax cuts for bankers than catch-up for children

Parliamentary news

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has slammed the Chancellor for giving twice as much away in tax cuts to bankers as extra catch-up funding to help children make up for lost learning during the pandemic. Analysis by the Liberal Democrats shows that reducing the banking surcharge will cost the Treasury over £3.8 billion over the next four years. This compares to just £1.8 billion of additional catch-up funding in today's Budget. That is the equivalent of £1 of extra catch up funding per child every school day, compared to a £6 a day tax cut for each banker. Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “This was an out of touch Budget that is taking ordinary families for granted, hiking up people’s taxes while failing to help them with soaring energy…

25Oct 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Ed Davey demands “emergency Budget for children” with £15 billion for Catch-Up classes

Parliamentary news

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey is demanding an “emergency Budget for children,” with a total of £15 billion of funding for catch-up classes. The Liberal Democrats are warning that parents and children are being “short-changed,” and that with the “Covid clouds gathering”, children risk paying the biggest price if restrictions are introduced again this winter. It comes after research by the Liberal Democrats reveals teachers have been off for over 267,000 days due to Covid since the return of school in September. It means children have lost out on the equivalent of 1.5 million teaching hours because of the government's failure to keep the virus in schools under control. Separate research by the Education Policy Institute last week warned that children could lose earnings of up to £46,000 each over…

21Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Govt plans for the defence of the realm worry us all

Parliamentary news

Ahead of the Government publishing the Defence Command Paper on Monday, Jamie Stone MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Defence, said: “The Government's plans for the defence of the realm should worry us all. "Everything we have heard so far has reeked of financial mismanagement and broken promises. “Drastic cuts to our armed forces to plug the defence budget blackhole whilst wasting millions on a Hollywood-style situation room tells you everything you need to know about this vanity obsessed Government. "Our Army is the smallest it has been in hundreds of years and our reserves are dwindling in numbers. Yet the Prime Minister is more concerned about his own image. This is not how a responsible Government chooses to defend our country. “The Government’s appalling cuts to foreign aid makes no…

04Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Oldham Council Tax bills still 2nd highest in region, despite Labour boast

Borough news

Oldham’s Labour Cabinet may claim that the proposed 2.99% rise is the lowest in Greater Manchester, but residents still face the second highest Council Tax bills in the city region. Of the ten local authorities, the Oldham Liberal Democrats have identified that only Labour-run Stockport presented a higher Council Tax bill to residents in 2020. Oldham’s bill for a Band D property was £1,678 compared to Stockport’s £1,691. Councillor Howard Sykes MBE said: “In these difficult economic times, when we are all counting the pennies, Oldham Council Tax payers will, I am sure, be glad that bills will go up by 2.99% this year rather than the 5% that is permitted without a referendum, but this is small comfort when bills are already so high to begin with. “That is…

03Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Budget: Crushed hopes for small businesses

Parliamentary news

Christine Jardine MP, Treasury Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, reacted to the budget: “Small businesses across the country remain on the brink, while millions of workers remain excluded from Government support altogether. "Small businesses were looking to the Chancellor to give them a lifeline - something to give them hope of getting through the next few months. Instead for many, the Chancellors paltry proposals for small business support will have crushed those hopes. “From beauticians to launderettes, florists to café owners - small businesses in our communities and the millions who depend on them are left looking over a cliff-edge. The Chancellor had the opportunity to save them today, but instead he fell far short of what is needed. “We needed a plan today which was ambitious for the small…

Tag: budget