coronavirus – Saddleworth Liberal Democrats

21Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Living with Covid: Shambolic Government taking NHS & Care services for granted

Responding to the Government's plan on Living with Covid, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: "The Conservatives have been planning to end free Covid testing for more than two months, yet still we have no clarity on what this means in reality.” The press conference [Monday 21 February] with Boris Johnson announcing the end of restrictions gave no clear answer as to what free testing would remain in place. This was despite the British Medical Association saying that the plan failed to protect the most vulnerable. She added: “Boris Johnson wasn't even able to answer the simple question of whether any free testing plans would be kept in place for essential workers, such as NHS staff, or for those who are clinically vulnerable. "This so-called plan has been…

21Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Scrapping of Covid tests: Four million people to face £500 “tax on caring”

Parliamentary news

The Liberal Democrats have warned that the scrapping of Covid lateral flow tests will amount to a “tax on caring,” with almost four millon people facing costs of over £500 a year to take regular tests and visit vulnerable relatives. Despite the easing of Covid restrictions, the latest figures show that every week nearly four million people take regular Covid tests, taking two tests a week on average. This includes people who take tests to protect their elderly relatives and friends, or vulnerable workers who work in people-facing industries such as hospitality and are concerned about their health. Analysis by the Liberal Democrats estimates that people who take two tests a week face an average hit of £534 a year, assuming lateral flow tests cost around £5.80 each. This is…

15Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Scrapping free Covid tests will leave public “flying blind”

Parliamentary news

Responding to the news that free PCR and lateral flow tests will be scrapped for everyone next week, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “Scrapping free tests when case rates are still sky high will leave the public and scientists flying blind. If there’s one sure fire way to put the country at risk of another lockdown, it’s scrapping all the warning lights like this. “It will also be impossible for the immunosuppressed to take 'personal responsibility' for assessing their risk if there’s no actual data on the level of risk in their community." In Oldha, Covid figures are below the national average, although in the week to 5th February 2022, Oldham had a total of 1,067 new cases, lower than the previous week’s total of 1,672. This…

10Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Partygate picture: Johnson is not fit to be Prime Minister

Parliamentary news

Responding to the new image which shows Boris Johnson pictured with an open bottle of bubbly at an alleged No 10 Christmas Quiz, Liberal Deomcrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: "These new images confirm what we already know - Boris Johnson is not fit to be Prime Minister. "The Met Police must add this to the long list of rule-breaking parties to investigate without delay. "Conservative MPs must also look themselves in the mirror and do the patriotic thing by calling on Boris Johnson to resign. Everyday the Prime Minister stays in office is an insult to those who endured such hardship during the pandemic."

10Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

NHS waiting lists: The Conservatives are playing with people’s lives

Parliamentary news

In reaction to new NHS waiting list figures being over six million people, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP commented: “NHS waiting lists were already at crisis point before the pandemic and now they’re off the charts. “This Government has brought the NHS to breaking point and the public isn’t fooled: the Tory attempts to rehash old cancer targets, and pretend it’s all down to the pandemic just won’t cut it. “After years of driving our health and care services into the ground, the Conservatives need to come up with something better, or it’ll cost people’s lives.”

07Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Over 90,000 children could miss out on top grades under government’s exam plans for 2022

Parliamentary news

90,644 children could lose out on the top grades for GCSEs and A Levels this year due to Government plans on exam grading, new analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. It comes as Ofqual is set to confirm arrangements today (Monday 7 February) for this summer’s GCSEs and A levels, along with details on what mitigations will be in place. The Chief Regulator of Ofqual, Dr Jo Saxton, plans to set the grading boundaries in a way that “reflects a mid-point between 2021 and pre-pandemic grading”. Analysis by the Liberal Democrats suggests this would mean 24,524 GCSE pupils missing out on grade 7,8 or 9, and 66,120 A-level students missing out on As or A*s compared to the grading system used last year. The Lib Dems have called the…

02Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

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…

01Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Davey: PM must “come clean” if fined by police

Parliamentary news

Responding to reports Number 10 won't say if Boris Johnson and others in Downing Street are fined by the police over law-breaking parties, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: "This stinks of a cover up by Number 10. Even Richard Nixon believed a country deserves to know whether their leader is a crook. “Boris Johnson must come clean with the public and resign if he's broken the rules and been fined by the police. We cannot allow justice delayed to become justice denied."

01Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Taxpayer left with £10bn bill for ‘criminal’ PPE waste

Parliamentary news

The National Audit Office has reported that last year the Department of Health and Social Care had £1.3bn of spending not signed off by the Treasury whilst almost £10bn was wasted on unsuitable and unusable PPE. The damning report states that: “The Department was not able to manage adequately some of the elevated risks, resulting in significant losses for the taxpayer.” Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “Losing £10 billion of taxpayers' money on PPE isn’t just careless, it’s criminal. “With billions being lost to fraudsters, and now this, it’s plain to see that this Tory government cannot be trusted with our money. "Sajid Javid must now come before Parliament, explain how his government ended up throwing good money after bad and what he's going…

26Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Put Boris on gardening leave whilst Met investigate

Parliamentary news

The Liberal Democrats have called for Boris Johnson to be placed on gardening leave and removed from Number 10 while the Metropolitan Police investigate the numerous rule-breaking parties that took place. Traditionally, people under investigation are placed on leave whilst the proceedings are ongoing. This is to prevent them from attempting to prevent a fair investigation from being carried out by influencing witnesses or destroying evidence. It’s been reported in recent weeks that Downing Street staff have been advised to delete emails or texts pertaining to parties, ahead of the Sue Gray investigation. Whilst Boris Johnson is on leave, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab would be expected to take over running the day-to-day affairs of the Government. Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: “Since Boris Johnson is…

Tag: coronavirus