- Lib Dems commit £6 billion per year to strengthen welfare system
- Lib Dems: Unholy alliance signs up to Johnson’s disastrous deal
- Lib Dems: Tory migration policy panders to Farage
- Swinson: Clueless Corbyn cannot answer the most basic questions on Brexit
- Labour pursuing Brexit makes their dentist policy ‘undeliverable’
- Lib Dems: Tory nurse tax ballooning due to immigration health surcharge rise
Lib Dems commit £6 billion per year to strengthen welfare system
The Liberal Democrats will today (Sunday 17 November) announce bold proposals to invest £6 billion per year to strengthen the welfare system over the next Parliament. This forms part of the party’s ambitious plans to build a brighter future.
Tory austerity has left a fifth of UK citizens in poverty, unable to afford even the most basic essentials.
The Liberal Democrats will tackle this crisis by committing £6 billion per year to strengthen the welfare system over the next Parliament. Liberal Democrat proposals will prioritise tackling child poverty by abolishing the cruel two-child limit for Universal Credit and ending the unfair benefits cap.
A Liberal Democrat government will make work pay and tackle in-work poverty, by using part of the Remain bonus – the £50 billion of extra funding that would be generated by stopping Brexit – to restore Work Allowances and introduce a second-earner Work Allowance. A Liberal Democrat government will also invest in boosting the Local Housing Allowance by linking it to average rents in each area.
Liberal Democrat plans to strengthen the UK’s welfare system will protect the most vulnerable and help to build a brighter future.
Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Work and Pensions Tim Farron said:
For too many people in the UK today, working hard and playing by the rules is no longer enough to secure a decent life. Millions of people’s lives have worsened under the Conservatives. Since 2015 they have bungled the roll-out of Universal Credit, made brutal cuts to benefits and introduced their senseless two-child limit that is fuelling child poverty.
The Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit and invest billions of pounds from the Remain bonus in building a brighter future for those struggling in our society. We will fix our broken welfare system to ensure that everyone has the same opportunities regardless of where they come from.
Lib Dems: Unholy alliance signs up to Johnson’s disastrous deal
Responding to reports every Conservative Party candidate has signed up to vote for Boris Johnson’s deal, Liberal Democrat Shadow Brexit Secretary Tom Brake said:
Boris Johnson’s deal would be bad for our NHS, bad for our economy and bad for our environment. Every Conservative candidate has now signed up to an unholy alliance with Johnson, Farage and others that will make people poorer.
The Liberal Democrats are the only party at this election that can take seats from the Conservatives and stop Boris Johnson’s recklessness.
Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to defeat Johnson, stop Brexit and build a brighter future.
Lib Dems: Tory migration policy panders to Farage
Following Brandon Lewis’ appearance on Sophy Ridge this morning, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Affairs Secretary Christine Jardine said:
Brandon Lewis’ assertion that immigration will fall under a Conservative majority reaffirms what we already know: voting for the Conservatives is a vote to undermine the rights of those who have made the UK their home.
No matter how many assurances the Conservatives have given EU citizens, it is clear to all they’re not worth the paper they’re written on. In a Tory Brexit, Boris Johnson will not hesitate to sell-out citizens’ rights to the likes of Donald Trump in attempt to secure trade deals.
The Liberal Democrats understand the benefits immigration has to both our society and our economy. Pledging to cut immigration is just more evidence that the Tories are pandering to the likes of Farage in their lurch to the far right. Equally the Labour Party continue to fail to be any sort of form of opposition, with Jonathan Ashworth refusing to say what Labour’s immigration policy is.
The Liberal Democrats will build a brighter future, with a fair, effective immigration system that treats everyone with dignity and respect. We will scrap the Conservatives’ Hostile Environment, restore dignity and common sense, and stop Brexit to save freedom of movement.
Swinson: Clueless Corbyn cannot answer the most basic questions on Brexit
Following Jeremy Corbyn’s appearance on Andrew Marr, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson said:
Jeremy Corbyn’s car crash interview shows that he doesn’t know where he stands on big issues like Brexit, immigration or trade. The only thing that’s clear is Jeremy Corbyn is useless, clueless, and he cannot answer the most basic questions on Brexit.
The Labour Party aren’t even fit for opposition, let alone government. They have let the public down time and again and the British people deserve better.
In this general election the Liberal Democrats are providing a genuine and clear choice: we will stop Brexit and build and a brighter future.
Labour pursuing Brexit makes their dentist policy ‘undeliverable’
Responding to Labour’s proposal to scrap band one dentistry charges, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, Luciana Berger said:
Labour’s proposals do not account for the 22% of NHS dentistry that is provided by dentists from the EU and EEA.
Only this week, Labour failed yet again to confirm their position on freedom of movement. With the NHS reliant on dentists from the EU and nearly a third of EU and EEA dentists considering leaving the UK in the next few years, in large part due to Brexit uncertainty, Labour’s support for Brexit will be so damaging for the oral health of the UK.
Labour must stop proposing policies in this election that are undeliverable because of their support for Brexit. The Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit to protect our NHS and NHS dentistry.
Lib Dems: Tory nurse tax ballooning due to immigration health surcharge rise
Today the Liberal Democrats have slammed reports that Boris Johnson’s Conservatives have pledged to make all those permanently relocating to the UK to pay an increased surcharge of £625, further increasing what was dubbed by the Liberal Democrats the ‘nurse tax’.
The ‘nurse tax’ was the policy outlined just last week by the Tory Party that the Immigration health surcharge and immigration visa fee were being extended to EU health professionals, coming to the UK to work in the NHS.
Following these announcements, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Christine Jardine said:
The Tory nurse tax is ballooning due to the immigration health surcharge rise announced today and is an insult to the thousands of people who dedicate their lives coming to work for our health service from the EU.
The NHS relies on 20,000 EU nurses, 10,000 EU doctors, and we’ve already lost more than 5,000 EU nurses in the last 2 years. Without EU doctors and nurses our NHS would not be able to function and our loved ones would not receive the care they need.
Equally, Matt Hancock’s comments today are heartless. He should know better than anyone how important international workers are to our NHS.
For Matt Hancock to say that these doctors and nurses are not making a fair contribution towards our NHS is appalling. And for the Conservatives to charge people even more money to work in our NHS – when we are already struggling with severe staff shortages – is irresponsible and absurd.
The Liberal Democrats have the solution to the NHS staff crisis: stop Brexit so that we can build a brighter future for our NHS.