11Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Changes to the Immigration Rules another breach of international law

Parliamentary news
Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael has slammed the Government’s latest changes to the Immigration Rules as “against everything the UK stands for” and “yet another breach of international law”. The changes, which will allow the Home Office to reject asylum applications if the person has passed through another “safe” country on their way to the UK. Alistair Carmichael said: “The UK has a proud history of providing sanctuary to those in need, but now the Conservative Government is turning its back on refugees. “This latest nasty policy from Priti Patel goes against our commitments under the Refugee Convention and against everything the UK stands for. It’s yet another breach of international law by this irresponsible Tory Government. “Everyone wants to stop people making dangerous attempts to cross the…
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10Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Warm welcome for arrival of ‘cold vaccine’ for Covid -19

Warm welcome for arrival of ‘cold vaccine’ for Covid -19

Borough news
The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has given a warm welcome to news that the first Covid-19 vaccine is finally being distributed for use with the most vulnerable group in society, care home residents. Councillor Sykes said: “The logistics associated with the transport and storage of this vaccine are considerable as it must be stored at minus 70 degrees centigrade until shortly before its use, but it is my hope that the residents of Oldham’s care homes (and staff) will soon be able to receive it – let us hope by Christmas. “If we could combine the vaccine roll-out with the introduction of 30-minute on-site lateral flow tests for family members, then face-to-face visits to care homes, allowing physical contact in safety, may become possible and this…
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10Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Liberal Democrats call for Young Carers Action Day

Borough news
Liberal Democrat Councillors will be calling on Oldham Council to mark Young Carers Action Day in 2021. Councillor Hazel Gloster and Louie Hamblett will be proposing a motion to the next full meeting of the Council (Wednesday 16 December) requesting a local event be held in the Borough as part of a new national campaign to recognise and support young carers. Young Carers Action Day will be held on 16 March 2021. It is a new event being organised nationwide by the Carers Trust, replacing a previous annual Awareness Day held on 30 January. Councillor Hazel Gloster, who will be proposing the motion, said: “Research indicates that up to one in five secondary school children may be a carer for grandparents, parents or siblings, and that many of the children…
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10Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Poor GDP figures show PM must negotiate adjustment period for businesses

Poor GDP figures show PM must negotiate adjustment period for businesses

Parliamentary news
Responding to the GDP figures released this morning, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine said: “The lack of recovery we're seeing in the GDP figures today is yet another a reminder that the economic effects of the pandemic are far from over, and people right across the UK continue to face immense hardship. "Ministers must not be complacent now we have a vaccine. Instead, they must step up to provide the support that's so desperately needed, particularly by the three million who are still excluded from any financial support from the Government. "The Government must also avoid risking more damage being done at the end of the transition period. The Prime Minister should negotiate a six-month Adjustment Period urgently to give struggling businesses much needed breathing space, rather than the…
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10Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
£370 million wasted on “pointless” knife crime sentences while reoffending increases

£370 million wasted on “pointless” knife crime sentences while reoffending increases

Parliamentary news
Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse has called on the Government to “do what works” to prevent knife crime and repeal mandatory prison sentences for knife possession, as the party reveals that the Government has wasted more than £370 million on the policy while knife crime has soared. New figures from the Ministry of Justice show that nearly 14,000 people have now been sentenced to prison under a law passed in 2015 requiring mandatory prison sentences for those convicted of a second offence of carrying a knife. Both the Conservative and Labour parties backed the law, while the Liberal Democrats opposed it. The Ministry of Justice’s own analysis shows that sentences of less than a year lead to higher rates of reoffending than community sentences, and the President of the…
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08Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Government right to U-turn on law breaking Northern Ireland plans

Government right to U-turn on law breaking Northern Ireland plans

Parliamentary news
Responding to the news that the Government has abandoned the international law breaking elements in the Internal Market bill, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: “This is welcome news but let’s not forget how we got here: the Government wasted months threatening to break international law before spectacularly back-pedalling, damaging Britain’s international reputation in the process. “Now Boris Johnson must focus on securing a good deal that avoids creating barriers to trade with Britain’s closest economic partners and protects British businesses, with an adjustment period to avoid yet another wave of redundancies.”
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08Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Davey: Government must give UK business time to adjust

Davey: Government must give UK business time to adjust

Parliamentary news
The Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has today written to the Prime Minister calling on him to negotiate an adjustment period for British business of three to six months regardless of what happens with the trade deal negotiations with the EU. In the letter, Ed Davey warns the coronavirus crisis has already put British business under extraordinary pressure and any move which pushes them to a cliff edge on the 1st of January will create another wave of redundancies and misery for communities across the UK. Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: “With only three and a half weeks until the end of the transition period, Boris Johnson still has a the opportunity to give businesses a chance to survive January if he can successfully negotiate…
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07Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Stockport Liberal Democrats deal blow to Labour’s Green Belt homes plan

Stockport Liberal Democrats deal blow to Labour’s Green Belt homes plan

Borough news
Last week, at a special meeting of Stockport Council, the 26 strong Liberal Democrat Group, led a charge to vote down the latest Greater Manchester Spatial Framework proposals in a nail-biting 26 to 35 votes.  The vote at this second meeting followed the request for an adjournment made by the Conservatives and Labour Groups at an earlier meeting to enable the two parties to seek a compromise that would enable the Tories to vote with Labour, but even after talks the Conservatives found the latest modified proposals still unpalatable. The proposals supported by Greater Manchester Labour Mayor and the ten leaders of the Greater Manchester Councils have been opposed by Liberal Democrats across the city region, and the Oldham group has also been at the forefront of local efforts to…
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07Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Sykes reassured by police commitment over child sexual exploitation review

Borough news, CSE, domestic abuse and violence
In advance of the publication of an independent review into allegations of historic child sexual exploitation in Oldham, the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, wrote recently to Greater Manchester Police seeking assurances that they ‘will act without fear or favour to reassure the public and bring all offenders to justice’. In November 2019, Oldham Council and the Oldham Safeguarding Partnership commissioned the independent review from the Mayor of Greater Manchester.  Two experienced investigators, Malcolm Newsam MBE, a childcare expert, and Gary Ridgeway, formerly a senior police officer specialising in public protection, were appointed to head up the review team and they are now working to finalise their report. In his letter, Councillor Sykes was keen to impress upon Assistant Chief Constable Mabs Hussain MBE that Oldham’s Liberal…
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07Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Too little, too late: Government announcement leaves pubs short-measured

Too little, too late: Government announcement leaves pubs short-measured

Borough news
The Government will make the long-suffering publicans of ‘wet’ pubs, which do not serve food, a one -off payment of £1,000 for the month of December to compensate them in part for their loss of earnings during the Covid-19 closure, but the news has left Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader Councillor Howard Sykes MBE underwhelmed. In response, Councillor Sykes said: “This payment, though welcome, is a drop in the ocean compared to the loss of takings that publicans have suffered through the prolonged and repeated closure of their premises and the loss of trade they have suffered even when open which has been caused by all of the restrictions placed upon them. “Even if it were a £1,000 extra a month, every month it would not really touch the sides, but…
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