Sam Al-Hamdani – Page 43 – Saddleworth Liberal Democrats

07Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Helen Morgan challenges Boris Johnson in Parliament on local ambulance crisis

Within two hours of being sworn in as an MP, Helen Morgan has asked the Prime Minister a question in the House of Commons on the ambulance crisis in North Shropshire. In her question during the Coronavirus statement in Parliament, Helen asked the Prime Minister to commit to her calls for a “full and proper review of ambulance services by the care quality commission.” The Prime Minister refused to commit to such a review. Patients have been left waiting hours for ambulances to arrive in Shropshire, and in recent months, four local ambulance stations have closed in Shropshire despite the crisis. It has left residents with horror stories, with services being overstretched and struggling under pressure. Commenting after her question Helen Morgan MP said: “There is no time to waste…

07Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Revealed: Boris Johnson’s stealth tax to cost families £10.9 billion by 2026

Parliamentary news

The Conservative government’s stealth tax raid will cost the average family in England and Wales £430 a year by 2026, or a total of £10.9 billion, research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. The figures reveal the scale of the cost to families of the government’s decision to freeze the personal tax allowance and higher rate tax threshold until 2025/26, compounding the growing cost of living crisis. The new analysis by the House of Commons Library has found the freeze will mean an additional 1.5 million people on low pay will be dragged into paying income tax by 2026, while a further 1.25 million people will fall into the higher rate tax bracket. The research is based on modelling using the latest inflation forecasts from the Office of Budgetary…

07Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Johnson in denial over NHS staff shortages with military personnel sticking plaster

Parliamentary news

Responding to the news that 200 armed forces personnel have been drawn in to help in hospitals across London amidst the NHS staff shortage crisis, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “Whilst Conservative Ministers pat themselves on their backs for inaction, the ability of our health and care services to provide urgent care to patients is now in freefall. “The magnitude of the catastrophic staffing shortages in our NHS and care system is being laid bare. Boris Johnson seems to be in denial about the desperate situation in which our local health services are finding themselves. "Drawing in help from military personnel is just a temporary sticking plaster, it is not sustainable in the long-run. The Government needs to urgently ramp up the supply of lateral flow tests,…

06Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Lib Dems demand “Robin Hood tax” on oil and gas super-profits

Parliamentary news

Liberal Democrat Leader and former Energy Secretary Ed Davey has called for a “Robin Hood” tax on the super-profits of oil and gas firms to raise money to support millions of families facing soaring energy costs. The proposed one-off levy would raise an estimated £5 billion from companies that are making record profits from soaring energy prices. This would be used to support vulnerable families facing a crippling 50% increase to their energy bills. Earlier this week it emerged that Russian energy giant Gazprom’s trading arm, based in London, has cashed in a £179 million dividend. Meanwhile, the boss of BP has described his company as a 'cash machine' after soaring oil and gas prices boosted its profits to £2.4 billion in the third quarter of 2021 alone. Ed Davey,…

06Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Worst possible time for unfair and disproportionate NI tax hike

Parliamentary news

Responding to reports that Jacob Rees-Mogg called for the forthcoming National Insurance hike to be scrapped during a Cabinet meeting, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "This was an insult of a hike to every struggling tax payer from the day it was announced. Where was Jacob Rees Mogg then? "People are already feeling the pinch from soaring heating bills, rising inflation and stagnant wages. This is the worst possible time to hike taxes that will disproportionately hit low and middle income families. "The Tories must scrap this unfair tax that will kick people and businesses when they're already down."

05Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Give £30 catch-up vouchers for every day a pupil misses to plug lost learning gap

Parliamentary news

The Liberal Democrats have called for a £30 catch-up voucher for every day missed by primary and secondary school students for covid-related absence. At a rate of covid-related absence of 120,724 a week, as was seen in the most recent data, this scheme would cost £3.6 million a week - just over 1% of the Government's initial National Tutoring Programme catch-up fund. The voucher would be given to the parents of all pupils in state-funded schools to help cope with the difficulties of remote learning. It comes as the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has said that it could be impossible to avoid the return of remote learning as the Omicron variant causes havoc for teachers, pupils and parents on the day schools return. Studies from the Education Policy Institute have…

05Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

By-election winner Helen Morgan arrives in Westminster

Parliamentary news

– By-election winner Helen Morgan arrives in Westminster with demand for Javid to fix ambulance crisis – Sajid Javid ignored a meeting request from the West Midlands Ambulance Trust despite patients dying from dangerous waiting times. – Ed Davey welcomes Helen Morgan to Parliament saying: “Boris Johnson has still not woken up to North Shropshire’s damning verdict” The winner of the North Shropshire by-election, Helen Morgan, will use her first day in Westminster to ask for urgent action on the ambulance crisis facing Shropshire and areas across the country. n her first act as North Shropshire’s new MP, Helen will write to the Health Secretary Sajid Javid calling for an urgent meeting with the West Midlands Ambulance Trust, which asked to see him over four months ago. The Trust asked…

05Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Ambulance crisis: “Appalling” that heart attack sufferers forced to make their own way to hospital

Parliamentary news

Responding to reports that ambulance trusts have begun asking patients with a stroke or a heart attack to get a lift to hospital with family and friends instead of waiting for an ambulance, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “The idea that someone suffering a stroke or heart attack should or even could find a friend, family member or neighbour to drive them to A&E because an ambulance isn’t available is appalling. “It’s frankly shocking that it has come to this. Make no mistake that this is the result of an incompetent Conservative Government which has completely failed to get a handle on Omicron and which has run our health services into the ground for years and years. “It is clear the Government must direct more funding into…

05Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Vaccines Minister hasn’t got a clue on staff shortages

Parliamentary news

Responding to Vaccines Minister Maggie Throup's comments this morning - in which she could not say how NHS trusts have declared a 'critical incident', nor how many former teachers have returned to teaching - Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: "If ever proof was needed that the Government is asleep at the wheel with this staff shortage crisis, the Vaccine Minister's non-answers this morning just about sum it up. "Our hospitals are at breaking point and schools are spread thin, yet hapless Ministers haven't got a clue about the true extent of the problems in these settings. "It's high time the Government gets a grip on this. Families deserve reassurance that their children's education won't be disrupted and that loved ones can get the care they need, when…

04Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Christmas burglaries in your area going unsolved

Borough news, Saddleworth News

Figures reveal over eight in 10 Christmas burglaries in Greater Manchester go unsolved Most burglaries committed in Greater Manchester during the Christmas period go unsolved by the police, new analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. 3,555 burglaries in the Greater Manchester area went unsolved by police in the period between October and December last year. Overall, 87.6% of burglary cases in the Greater Manchester area recorded between October and December over the past five years went unsolved. This compares to 84.6% burglaries going unsolved during the rest of the year. The figures also reveal there is usually a spike in burglaries over the Christmas period in the area. In the last five years, police recorded an average of 402 domestic burglaries per week in October, November and December. This…

Author: Sam Al-Hamdani