04Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Winter Olympics: UK Government must recognise Uyghur genocide

Winter Olympics: UK Government must recognise Uyghur genocide

Parliamentary news
Responding to today's opening of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran MP said: "As the Olympic flame is lit today in Beijing, Liberal Democrats stand in solidarity with all those oppressed, discriminated against or persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party - from Tibet to Taiwan; from Falun Gong practitioners to human rights defenders; from Hong Kong to Xinjiang. "No matter how opulent the stadiums or ceremonies at these Olympics, nothing the Chinese government can do will ‘sportswash’ the brutal horror taking place in Xinjiang - the persecution of the Uyghurs, which amounts to the crime of genocide. "For the last twelve months, Liberal Democrats have called on the UK Government to boycott these Games and it is right that no British ministers or…
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04Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Shaw and Crompton come together for “One Day” for Holocaust Memorial Day

Shaw and Crompton come together for “One Day” for Holocaust Memorial Day

Borough news
– Shaw and Crompton Councillors attended the annual Holocaust Memorial Day service. This year's Holocaust Memorial Day service, held at Crompton War Memorial, was about “One Day”* and passages were read by Sade, (Farrowdale House Preparatory School pupil), Aizah (Crompton Primary School pupil) as well Crompton Councillor Dave Murphy. “It was an absolute pleasure and delight to see so many young children taking part in the service,” said Councillor Diane Williamson. “We had three different schools in attendance, which also included Royton and Crompton EACT-Academy; this has been our vision from the very start – that school children attend and take back the understanding of the Holocaust and never forget.” After the service, stones were laid on Crompton War Memorial. The act of placing visitation stones is significant in Jewish…
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04Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Johnson and Patel misled on crime stats, official watchdog rules

Johnson and Patel misled on crime stats, official watchdog rules

Parliamentary news
The Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir David Norgrove, has ruled that Boris Johnson and Priti Patel "misrepresented" crime statistics and presented them in a "misleading way". It comes after Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael reported the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary to the watchdog for falsely claiming that crime had fallen by 14% between September 2019 and September 2021, when the exact opposite had happened. Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson, Alistair Carmichael MP, said: “This is a damning verdict from the official watchdog. Yet more distortions from Boris Johnson and his Cabinet to play down the extent of crime. “When the Government’s record on crime is so bad that both the Prime Minister and Home Secretary feel the need to fiddle the figures, it is clear we…
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03Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Saddleworth abandoned by Government’s broken promise on broadband

Saddleworth abandoned by Government’s broken promise on broadband

Borough news, housing and development
Boris Johnson’s promise to provide 85% of homes and businesses in Oldham with high-speed broadband by 2025 is set to be broken, local Liberal Democrats can reveal, with just 6.6% of homes in the more rural areas constituency getting high speed connections. Analysis of House of Commons Library data by the party has found that just 3.1% of premises in Oldham East and Saddleworth had gigabit broadband availability in 2021, and just 8.7% in Oldham West and Royton. At this rate of progress, just 37.2% of homes in Oldham West and Royton will hit the target, a poor enough rate. However, this just serves to highlight the far worse figures in Oldham East and Saddleworth – only 6.6% are on track to get high speed access.  Saddleworth Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam…
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03Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Davey: Shell profits quite simply grotesque

Davey: Shell profits quite simply grotesque

Parliamentary news
Responding to Shell announcing their highest fourth-quarter profits in eight years on the same day energy bills are set to soar, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey MP said: "“The amount of profit Shell has raked in whilst millions of people face soaring heating bills is quite simply grotesque. “It is money taken directly from millions of people being pushed into poverty and given to wealthy fat cats and Tory mates. “The Conservatives must take Shell’s ludicrous profits back through a Robin Hood tax, and give the money to people who are struggling to pay the bills.”
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02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Figures reveal PPE worth £2.7bn bought for NHS going unused

Figures reveal PPE worth £2.7bn bought for NHS going unused

Parliamentary news
The Government has been accused of “extreme negligence” after it has emerged that almost one in five items in its stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) are not usable, with billions of pounds having gone down the drain. A written parliamentary question tabled by Liberal Democrat Chief Whip, Wendy Chamberlain, has revealed that the Department for Health and Social Care has identified 3.4 billion units of PPE as “potential excess stock”. This would represent £2.2 billion of expenditure on items without demand. Of 6.96 billion items of PPE that are not currently provided to frontline services, 1.2 billion of these (17.2%) are deemed to be not fit for use. These items were purchased for £458 million. Meanwhile, storage of all PPE - usable or otherwise - is costing the taxpayer…
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02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Partygate: Lib Dems table Bill to force Boris Johnson to admit if fined over Covid breaches

Partygate: Lib Dems table Bill to force Boris Johnson to admit if fined over Covid breaches

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats are proposing a Bill to force Boris Johnson and any other government ministers to reveal whether they have been issued with a fine for breaching Covid rules. Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP will be presenting the Ministerial Disclosure Bill to the Commons this afternoon. Analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found Boris Johnson could face fines of up to £12,300 for the six gatherings currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police which is currently suspected of having attended. If Boris Johnson receives a fine, there is currently no legal mechanism to force him to reveal this to the public. Under the terms of the Liberal Democrat Bill, Boris Johnson and any other government minister who was fined for a breach of Covid rules would…
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02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Finance Bill: Enough is enough on dirty Russian money

Finance Bill: Enough is enough on dirty Russian money

Parliamentary news
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran is today leading a cross-party grouping of MPs supporting an amendment to the Finance Bill making the case for a Register of Beneficial Ownership - a key step in combating the flow of Russian dirty money in the UK. The amendment has received high profile support from all main parties, including Conservative MPs Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Kevin Hollinrake; Labour’s Dame Margaret Hodge and Ben Bradshaw; and the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesperson Alyn Smith. The amendment is the latest attempt by MPs to push the Government to finally legislate for a register. Last month, Layla Moran MP tabled the Registration of Overseas Entities Bill, which also received cross-party support and is due to receive its second reading on 18th March. A register of foreign…
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02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Lib Dems report Johnson & Patel over false crime stat claims

Lib Dems report Johnson & Patel over false crime stat claims

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have reported both the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary to the statistics watchdog for falsely claiming a reduction in overall crime levels. Alistair Carmichael, the party’s Home Affairs Spokesperson, has written to Sir David Norgrove, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, about comments made by Boris Johnson in the House of Commons yesterday and by Priti Patel in a Home Office press release last week. During his statement on the Sue Gray investigation, Johnson claimed “we have been cutting crime by 14%”. In a press release on Thursday, Patel said “This Government continues to cut crime through our Beating Crime Plan”. Both claims are directly contradicted by the latest official crime figures, published by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday. They show “a 14% increase…
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02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Levelling up: Yet another of Boris Johnson’s empty slogans

Levelling up: Yet another of Boris Johnson’s empty slogans

Parliamentary news
Responding to the Government's new levelling up plan, Liberal Democrat Communities and Local Government Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said: "These promises will ring hollow in communities that have been neglected by the Conservatives for decades. “Families are facing a cost of living crisis and Tory tax hikes are just months away. They need support now, not rhetoric about far off targets in 2030. "The Government has failed to invest in some of the most deprived regions, in catch up funding for our children and in faster broadband for rural areas. "Levelling up has been exposed as yet another of Boris Johnson's empty slogans."
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