Sam Al-Hamdani – Page 26 – Saddleworth Liberal Democrats

22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Healthwatch UK find NHS not supporting equal access to care for deaf, blind, and disabled people

Having already written to senior officers at Pennine Care, Oldham Hospital and CCG about their treatment of blind, deaf and disabled people, Councillor Louie Hamblett has had his concerns backed up by a Healthwatch UK report that many NHS trust are failing to meet their legal duty to help people with additional communication needs. One local residents, Mrs Farnworth, complained to services last year regarding her experience with her past hospital appointments last year after she was turned away from a smear appointment because of the lack of disability equipment. In his letter, Councillor Hamblett asked how much support their trusts and services are able to offer those with additional needs and whether they could assure him, residents and their patients that they will receive full and unrestrained standard support…

22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Met Partygate investigation: Johnson must come clean if being interviewed by police

Parliamentary news

Responding to the Metropolitan Police update on their investigation into lockdown parties in Number 10, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “At a time of war in Europe and a cost-of-living crisis, Conservative MPs are keeping a criminal in Number 10. They can try and call it ‘fluff’, but everyone is seeing through Boris Johnson’s lies. “Johnson must come clean: is he being interviewed by the police and will he resign if found to have broken the law? No more fluff, just the facts for all those who suffered during lockdown while he partied.”

22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Rishi Sunak set for £5bn VAT windfall from fuel price rises as motorists treated “as cash cows”

Parliamentary news

The Treasury could cash in on up to £5 billion extra in VAT if fuel prices continue to climb, analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. This would be double the estimated £2.5 billion cost of cutting fuel duty by 5p, as Rishi Sunak is expected to do tomorrow. The cost of fuel has surged by 30p per litre in the wake of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The Liberal Democrat analysis shows that if fuel prices continue to climb as expected, with both petrol and diesel hitting more than £2 a litre, this Treasury windfall could climb to almost £5 billion. The research is based on figures from the RAC Foundation showing British motorists used 16.9 billion litres of petrol and 30 billion litres of diesel in 2019. It also…

22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Nationality and Borders Bill: A traffickers’ charter that will cause deaths in the Channel

Parliamentary news

Following votes in the House of Commons on the Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill, where Conservative MPs voted to overturn cross-party amendments passed in the Lords, Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron said: “Priti Patel’s Anti-Refugee Bill is a traffickers’ charter. By voting for it, Conservative MPs have voted for deaths in the Channel. “Taking away any safe and legal route for refugees to reach the UK will only force them to take dangerous ones. “The real problem is entirely a structural one of incompetence in the Home Office, and this Bill will do nothing to fix it. It will only make it worse. “The UK has a glorious, centuries-old reputation as a place of sanctuary. We will not let that be sullied by this puny little Government.”

22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Met police needs new leadership not stitch up by Johnson and Patel

Parliamentary news

Responding to the report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) into corruption in the Met Police and the case of Daniel Morgan, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “This shocking report lays bare the ingrained culture of corruption and cover-up at the top of the Met. Police officers put themselves at risk every day to keep us safe, but they are being let down by poor leadership. The Met urgently needs strong new leadership. Choosing the new Commissioner is too important to be a stitch up between Priti Patel and Boris Johnson – especially when Johnson is under criminal investigation by the Met himself. “The next Commissioner must be someone who will shake things up and stand up to government ministers – and that’s…

22Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Oligarch ditches UK mansions after government sanctions delay

Parliamentary news

Responding to reports that Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov was able to offload his UK properties before UK sanctions came into effect, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran MP said: “The Conservative Government’s dither and delay on sanctions has meant that Putin’s cronies have once again gotten away with it. It took Ministers weeks to put the proper sanctions into place - meanwhile, it looks like oligarchs were fire-selling their assets all that time. “Where oligarchs have transferred their holdings to their families, those relatives must be immediately sanctioned. Putin’s cronies’ properties and assets in the UK should now be seized - funding an oligarch tax to help people with spiralling energy bills.”

21Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Credit where credit’s due: Lib Dem proposals for recycled roads are making their way forward

Borough news, road safety

Shaw and Crompton Liberal Democrat Councillors, Dave Murphy and Hazel Gloster sat astonished as Cllr Amanda Chadderton, Deputy Leader of the Council, waxed lyrical about a trial using tyres when answering a Liberal Democrat question, without ever acknowledging that this had been repeatedly proposed by the Liberal Democrats, and refused each time by the Labour administration. Cllr Murphy said: ”This is unbelievable. Yet again we suggest something to the administration either in our budget amendments or a notice of motion and the administration say it can't be done – yet they are now trialling the use of tyres in road surfaces, which is something the Liberal Democrats have spoken about.“ Recycled car tyres could soon be used to resurface roads across the country after a pioneering trial found that it…

21Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Research reveals 125,000 more workers to pay National Insurance in Sunak “stealth tax”

Parliamentary news

Nearly 125,000 more workers to be dragged into paying National Insurance next year, new research reveals.Failure to increase the minimum threshold in line with inflation means workers and employees face an eye-watering £2.4 billion tax bombshell.Small firms to be hit hard as businesses set to begin paying National Insurance on 200,000 more employees. The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been accused of clobbering the country with yet another stealth tax, as new figures reveal 125,000 workers will be dragged into paying National Insurance next year. The analysis from the House of Commons Library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, looks at the impact of the government’s failure to increase the minimum earnings threshold at which people start paying National Insurance in line with inflation. The current minimum threshold is set to rise…

18Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Independent investigation must be given all the time it needs, and all the additional support it can get

Borough news, CSE, domestic abuse and violence

Responding to the motion on the CSE report to Oldham Council last night [16/03/22], Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “Everyone must always put the needs of survivors first, and it is important to recognise that independent experts in this area are in favour of the extension of the investigation. “It is still justified to ask questions to ensure that the investigation gets all the support it needs. If some of the delays in the process of the report were unnecessary, we must identify that and ensure that these extensions do not happen again, particularly for those who have already come forward and given their evidence. “Regardless of the outcome of the vote, I would like to see the Council reach out to the investigation team and the Home Office,…

18Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Support for change on speed cameras is a start, but 20s plenty is still needed

Borough news, road safety

Over 1,000 signatures have been collected in Oldham and Stockport to support the Liberal Democrat campaign to allow speed safety measures to be more readily introduced in accident hotspots across Greater Manchester. The petition, which will be presented to Safer Roads Greater Manchester and the Department of Transport, calls for guidance to be amended so that there is no longer a requirement for three separate incidents resulting in death or serious injury before a fixed speed camera can be installed. Local Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “Everyone knows where the local safety hotspots are near them – that’s why nearly 300 people in my ward have signed a petition to get safety improvements on Cooper Street, where cars have been recorded travelling at over 70mph in a 30mph zone outside…

Author: Sam Al-Hamdani