25Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Budget must include refugee commitment as resettlement plummets

Budget must include refugee commitment as resettlement plummets

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Chancellor to fund an “ambitious, 10-year commitment” to resettle vulnerable refugees from conflict areas in his Budget next week, as new official figures show the number brought to the UK plummeted by 85% in 2020. The Home Office’s latest Immigration Statistics, published today, show that just 823 refugees were resettled in the UK in 2020 – compared to 5,612 in 2019 – after the Government suspended the UK’s resettlement schemes in March and has not reopened them. Meanwhile, the number of people granted asylum in the UK fell by 40%, from 12,561 in 2019 to 7,546 in 2020. The number of children granted asylum is also down by 48% from 3,846 to 1,988. Responding to the figures, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair…
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25Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Almost 50,000 asylum seekers trapped in Home Office limbo for more than six months

Almost 50,000 asylum seekers trapped in Home Office limbo for more than six months

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats are calling for the ban on asylum seekers working to be lifted, as new Home Office figures reveal that 46,796 people have been waiting more than six months for a decision on their claim. The latest Immigration Statistics, published this morning, show a backlog of 64,895 people with pending asylum claims at the end of 2020, an increase of 27% since 2019. 46,796 have been waiting more than six months for an initial decision from the Home Office, a 60% increase. Currently, asylum seekers are banned from working while they wait for a decision and forced to rely on asylum support payments of only £39.63 a week – just £5.66 a day. Responding to the figures, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: “It beggars belief…
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24Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Summer catch-up schools: Government must do more for young people’s wellbeing

Summer catch-up schools: Government must do more for young people’s wellbeing

Parliamentary news
Responding to the announcement of the Government's plans for summer catch-up schools, Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Education said: “The Liberal Democrats have been calling on the Government to set out ambitious plans to support young people with both educational and emotional recovery as schools reopen. "Without this we could see a lost generation, who will feel the impact of the disruption caused by the pandemic, for years to come. "Government must remember that it isn't just lessons young people have missed out on through school closures. They have missed time playing and socialising with their friends, spending months cut off from in-person contact with their peers. "There are widespread reports of the devastating impact this has had on young people's mental and emotional wellbeing. Parents will want…
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23Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Sudden hotline closure ‘an unexpected blow to GM crime victims failed by Mayor

Sudden hotline closure ‘an unexpected blow to GM crime victims failed by Mayor

Borough news
Councillor Howard Sykes MBE is dismayed that a hotline established to respond to the failure to record complaints from the 80,000 victims of crime across Greater Manchester is close on Friday 19 February. Councillor Sykes had just recently written to the Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to seek reassurance that such victims would continue to receive specialist support from Victims Support staff for the foreseeable future. The Greater Manchester Crime Support Line was only launched back in December after a damning report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services found systematic failures at Greater Manchester Police which led to the force failing to record 80,000 reported crimes – including one in four violent crimes and many instances of domestic violence. The report led to Greater Manchester…
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23Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Unemployment: Refusal to extend furlough cost thousands of jobs

Unemployment: Refusal to extend furlough cost thousands of jobs

Parliamentary news
Responding to new ONS unemployment figures, showing the unemployment rate has risen to 5.1%, Liberal Democrats Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "Behind each number in today's statistic is a family worrying how they will pay their bills, and hoping that next week the Chancellor will offer a big, bold innovative plan that will help them get their lives, and their family's future, back on course. “These figures illustrate that COVID has created a generation who are being left behind and whose economic life chances and mental health have been permanently scarred. This generation is our future and the government must provide ongoing support. "Government's refusal to listen to calls to extend furlough before now has already cost thousands of jobs and pushed shops, hairdressers and companies up and down…
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22Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Government roadmap: PM must put those hit hardest first

Government roadmap: PM must put those hit hardest first

Parliamentary news
Responding to the Prime Minister's announcement on the roadmap out of lockdown, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey MP said: “Millions of people across the country have made untold sacrifices in the past year. People have been isolated from their families, hundreds of thousands of businesses have been shuttered and our precious freedoms have been curtailed. “As we begin to recover the Prime Minister must put people hit hardest by this pandemic first: the most vulnerable people in our communities, small businesses and the self-employed. "It is deeply concerning that the Prime Minister has failed to set out plans for a functioning test, trace and isolate system – particularly a failure to support people enough to stay at home if they are asked to self-isolate. “This time, Prime Minister…
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20Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Secretive fund not the answer to UK’s R&D strategy

Secretive fund not the answer to UK’s R&D strategy

Parliamentary news
Responding to the launch of the UK's new "high risk" science agency Liberal Democrat Business Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said: “Liberal Democrats have long called on the Government to invest in new technologies that will create future jobs – but a secretive fund spending taxpayer money with next to no oversight isn’t the right answer. “We need to see serious investment in R&D as part of a comprehensive industrial strategy, that will have jobs, regional development and green growth at its core. “It is vital that the fund’s Chair and CEO is placed in a transparent and impartial manner. The Government must urgently provide more information about the selection process and guarantee that we won’t witness the appointment of yet another Conservative crony.”
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20Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Masks slips as Tories dodge vote on foreign aid

Masks slips as Tories dodge vote on foreign aid

Parliamentary news
Responding to the news that the Government will not give MPs a vote before cutting the aid budget, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Layla Moran MP said: “By avoiding a vote after promising one the Conservatives have confirmed what we already knew: they don’t need legislation to make a temporary cut. “The Liberal Democrats, who crafted the Act enshrining the target into law, are assured that temporarily not meeting the target is permitted by the law as long as you make a statement once a year. There are no sanctions. The real question is why bring legislation at all. And it would be for only one reason: to make the cut permanent. “The mask has slipped and we’re now seeing the callous Tories for who they really are. Their short-sighted…
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19Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Boris’ trickle-down vaccine plan is wrong

Boris’ trickle-down vaccine plan is wrong

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats called for a parallel vaccine distribution earlier this month. Responding to Boris Johnson's plans to donate spare vaccines to poorer countries, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Layla Moran MP, has urged the Government to change their approach. She said: “Boris Johnson's vague pledge to donate the UK's spare vaccines to poorer countries does not go far enough. Liberal Democrats are clear that a parallel rollout, once the top priority groups have been given their jabs, is the only just and safe strategy. "A trickle-down approach to global vaccine distribution risks prolonging the pandemic, giving vaccine-resistant variants a chance to mutate. We’ve seen over the past few weeks that it is almost impossible to keep these variants from around the globe out of the UK completely. "Global problems…
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19Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Government borrowing: Chancellor needs to put people before the numbers

Government borrowing: Chancellor needs to put people before the numbers

Parliamentary news
Responding to new figures which show that UK Government borrowing was at its highest levels in January since records began, Christine Jardine MP, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson said: “These record borrowing figures demonstrate clearly the scale of the challenge posed by COVID-19, but they must not be seen as an excuse for cutting support and leaving behind those across the UK who are struggling. "While the vaccine offers hope, the pandemic is far from over and the Government must improve, not reduce help.  Furlough must be extended, the three million excluded must be brought under the Government's umbrella, and struggling small businesses need urgent relief if we are to avert thousands of closures. “The Chancellor needs to put people before the numbers in the March budget and commit all the…
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