08Jun 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Homelessness fears grow over cuts to renters

Homelessness fears grow over cuts to renters

Borough news
A £40 million cut in support for renters – to below pre-pandemic levels – is likely to drive up homelessness rates across the borough, warns Shadow Cabinet member for Housing, Sam Al-Hamdani. The cuts to discretionary housing payments provide support to people claiming housing benefit or universal credit who face rent shortfalls, or for assistance with deposits. They are to be cut by 22%, in a change which was put through without attention being drawn to it in the spring budget. Local Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “So many people have spent the last year trying to manage in extraordinary circumstances. People’s jobs are at risk, and the last thing we need is for people to have emergency support withdrawn. “The Government’s own figures show that three times as…
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27Jan 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Foreign aid cuts expose what the Tories really think

Foreign aid cuts expose what the Tories really think

Parliamentary news
Responding to the news that the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office aid budget is to be cut by over 25%, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Layla Moran MP said: “These deep cuts to aid spending are incredibly concerning. The Foreign Secretary has assured us of the Government's priorities, but I just don't see how we can continue to deliver for the world's poorest if FCDO's aid budget allocation alone is being cut by over 25% compared to 2019/20. "These cuts tell us what the Conservatives really think, and the lack of any detail on how these decisions were made and what they mean for programmes and initiatives is troubling. In the middle of a global pandemic we need to be stepping up and leading internationally to help the world build…
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21Jan 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Conservative Government under greater pressure to make £20 Universal Credit rise permanent

Conservative Government under greater pressure to make £20 Universal Credit rise permanent

Borough news, Parliamentary news
The Oldham Liberal Democrats have welcomed the vote in Parliament earlier this week as a sign that there is cross-party support for the £20 weekly uplift in Universal Credit, introduced at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, to be made permanent. At the end of an Opposition Day debate in the House of Commons, 278 Members of Parliament voted for the rise, putting pressure on the Conservative Government to extend it beyond the 31 March cut-off date. Amongst those MPs supporting the extension were all eleven Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament. There were no votes against, but, unfortunately, the vote is only advisory and not legally binding. Oldham Liberal Democrat Council Group Leader Councillor Howard Sykes MBE wrote to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak MP last October asking him to ‘make…
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22Jul 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Pay rises without cash mean more cuts to schools and the police – Davey

Parliamentary news
Responding to reports that nearly 900,000 public sector workers will receive a pay rise out of existing departmental budgets, Liberal Democrat Acting Leader Ed Davey said: “Accepting the independent review body’s pay recommendations was the very least the Chancellor could do. Yet, as overall budgets remain unchanged, the reality is our schools, police and wider public services will struggle to meet this award without significant cuts elsewhere in their budgets, including redundancies.  “And utterly failing to recognise the outstanding effort of social care staff during the COVID-19 crisis is simply not acceptable. Councils and the wider care sector must be properly funded. “Since the early days of this pandemic, Liberal Democrats have been the first to argue for a better deal for NHS and care staff, yet Ministers seem to think that…
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