Conservative failure – Page 7 – Saddleworth Liberal Democrats

10Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Nurses Pay: Lib Dems at PMQs call out pitiful 1% pay rise

Daisy Cooper MP, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has called on the Prime Minister to reconsider the real terms pay cut for NHS workers at Prime Minister's Questions. Daisy Cooper MP said: "The Government is throwing a staggering £37 billion at a Test & Trace system that we know has made barely any difference but yet it says that it cannot afford to give more than a pitiful 1% pay rise to NHS workers. "The Prime Minister has said that he owes his life to them, he stood on the steps of No 10 and applauded them. So will the Prime Minister do more than pay lip service and pay them them the wage they deserve." The Liberal Democrats are calling for a proper and substantial above real terms…

08Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Free Nazanin or face sanctions, Govt must tell Iran

Parliamentary news

Responding to the news that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been released but faces a new court date in Iran, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development Layla Moran said: "Nazanin should be coming home to her family today. It is completely unacceptable that the Iranian Government is suddenly finding new trumped up charges to bring against her in order to hold her hostage. "The Foreign Secretary must make it clear that if Nazanin is sentenced a second time, the UK Government will impose Magnitsky sanctions. This is a crucial week to secure Nazanin's freedom. Strong words must be backed by the threat of real action if the Iranian authorities do not do the right thing. "Nazanin has been unlawfully held for five years, and the UK Government must do…

03Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Budget: Crushed hopes for small businesses

Parliamentary news

Christine Jardine MP, Treasury Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, reacted to the budget: “Small businesses across the country remain on the brink, while millions of workers remain excluded from Government support altogether. "Small businesses were looking to the Chancellor to give them a lifeline - something to give them hope of getting through the next few months. Instead for many, the Chancellors paltry proposals for small business support will have crushed those hopes. “From beauticians to launderettes, florists to café owners - small businesses in our communities and the millions who depend on them are left looking over a cliff-edge. The Chancellor had the opportunity to save them today, but instead he fell far short of what is needed. “We needed a plan today which was ambitious for the small…

25Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Exams: Williamson has failed to show leadership

Parliamentary news

Responding to the announcement that A level and GCSE results are to be decided by teaches, Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education, commented: “Parents, teachers and pupils have been left in limbo for months because the Government has dithered and delayed about how to carry out assessments this year. Liberal Democrats led the calls for exams to be cancelled as soon as it was clear that holding traditional exams in a way which would be fair to all pupils would be impossible, given the very different experiences pupils have had of the pandemic and school closures. Kirsty Williams, the Liberal Democrat Education Minister in the Welsh Government, confirmed in November last year that assessments would not go ahead in the usual way. By contrast, this government has needlessly…

17Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Liberal Democrat Leader appeals to Home Secretary over DBS checks for Councillors

Borough news, CSE

The Oldham Liberal Democrats have appealed to the Home Secretary to change the law to make it lawful and easier for local authorities to conduct enhanced criminal records checks (now called DBS checks) on local councillors. The Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has recently corresponded with the Disclosure and Barring Service, which is responsible for carrying out DBS checks. They informed him that under the law as it currently stands local authorities are unable to carry out such checks on elected members. Dismayed at the response, Councillor Sykes yesterday wrote to the Home Secretary, Priti Patel MP, asking her to ‘make Councillors a specifically listed role in the Exceptions Order to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (so) local authorities…

11Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Heartbreaking death stats reveal ‘abject failure’ on protecting disabled

Parliamentary news

New figures show disabled people make up 60% of all COVID-19 related deaths. Responding to the Office for National Statistics information, Liberal Democrat Equalities Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse MP said: “It is heartbreaking that so many disabled people have died during this pandemic. They have been hit particularly hard in so many ways, but they and their carers are still too often forgotten and ignored by people in power. “Far too many lives have been lost because of Ministers’ abject failure to protect people in care homes. The Prime Minister must set up an independent public inquiry without further delay, so we can learn the lessons and prevent more unnecessary deaths. “The Government must urgently do far more to protect disabled people’s health, including making sure they and their carers are vaccinated…

10Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Moran: “Outrageous” government manoeuvres deny Uyghurs their day in court

Parliamentary news

Responding to the defeat of the Genocide Amendment by the Government, Liberal Democrats Foreign Affairs spokesperson Layla Moran MP said “Today the Government used outrageous procedural manoeuvres to avoid any straight vote on the Genocide Amendment and avoid defeat, in a flagrant attempt to deny MPs from having their democratic say. If they were confident in their arguments, why do that? They are running scared of the Commons. By allowing parliamentary committees to rule on genocide, the Government has contradicted its own policy that genocide is a matter for the courts. Both relevant committees have already rejected these proposals. “The Uyghur people have been betrayed and denied their day in court. The Government has turned a blind eye and has chosen to not put human rights first, despite clear cross-party…

27Jan 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Boris Johnson running scared of a public inquiry

Parliamentary news

Responding to the Prime Minister's latest COVID 19 press conference, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey MP said: “Boris Johnson says there will come a time to learn the lessons of the pandemic, but the public will rightly ask, if not now, then when? “The best time to learn lessons and prevent the most deaths is today. The Prime Minister can’t tell us exactly when schools will return safely, can't tell us when most of the country will be offered a vaccine and can't tell us when the current lockdown will end. What would make us think that he has any idea of when this pandemic will be over? "The Prime Minister’s insistence that there will be some definitive end point to the pandemic just isn’t borne out by…

27Jan 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

We must have a public inquiry now – Ed Davey

Parliamentary news

Responding the Prime Minister's press conference as 100,000 people have been lost to COVID-19, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey MP said: “Waiting for the end of this pandemic to hold a public inquiry leaves the country destined to fight yesterday’s battles. Lessons learnt after the event will come too late for thousands in our country who will lose loved ones in the coming months. They will also come too late for thousands more who will suffer the after effects of this virus such as long COVID. Liberal Democrats first called for a public inquiry six months ago: it was the right action to take then and that is even more true today. "If the loss of 100,000 people in this country is not a good enough reason to…

21Jan 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Government has chosen to turn a blind eye to genocide

Parliamentary news

Responding to Conservative MPs voting down changes to the Trade Bill which would have put human rights at the heart of UK trade policy, Liberal Democrats Foreign Affairs spokesperson Layla Moran MP said: “Today the Government turned down a crucial opportunity to say ‘never again’ and put ending genocide and protecting human rights at the heart of the UK’s trade policy, despite clear cross-party support. “On the same day that the US recognised what is happening in Xinjiang as genocide, the Government has chosen to turn a blind eye and to not put human rights first. But this isn't over - we will support a new amendment when the Bill goes back to the Lords. "The Liberal Democrats will always fight to protect human rights around the world, and we'll…

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