- Workforce figures: clear the Government must change course
- Spending Review must deliver progress on social care
- “Conveyor belt of Trump sycophants” rolls on as David Bull appointed Reform Chairman
- Spending review: Home Office at risk of £500 million shortfall as Home Secretary on ‘resignation watch’
- Ben-Gvir and Smotrich: Davey welcomes sanctions and calls for recognition of Palestine
- £3 Bus cap extension: Labour clearly isn’t listening
Workforce figures: clear the Government must change course
Responding to the latest workforce figures which show unemployment and the number on jobless benefits rising, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:
These figures could not be a clearer signal to the Chancellor, ahead of the spending review, that the Government must change course.
The Chancellor’s pig’s ear of a jobs tax is crushing the growth potential of our high-streets and small businesses, pushing people out of work, and ramping up the benefits bill.
This week, instead of pursuing another round of devastating departmental cuts, the Government needs to take the handbrake off our economy and go for growth. That means negotiating a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union to turbocharge our economy and raise billions of pounds to protect public services and struggling families.
Spending Review must deliver progress on social care
Ahead of the spending review today (11th June) Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:
People have been left desperately disappointed in the Government’s failure to break clean from years of Conservative neglect and finally start delivering the change that people were promised.
Today’s spending review must deliver progress on social care. The Government’s bid to start reforms has barely progressed since it was announced six-months ago. Yet we all know the simple truth: without solving the social care challenge, putting money into the NHS today will be like pouring water into a leaky bucket.
Ministers should also be slashing the reams of red tape that are holding local businesses back and negotiate a bespoke UK-EU customs union, rather than pursuing painful cuts to already stretched budgets. Until they do, the Chancellor will still be trying to drive the economy forward with the handbrake on.
“Conveyor belt of Trump sycophants” rolls on as David Bull appointed Reform Chairman
Responding to David Bull being appointed as Reform UK Chairman, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said:
The conveyor belt of Trump sycophants appointed by Nigel Farage rolls on.
Reform is more interested in advancing Donald Trump’s agenda over here, not standing up for the communities that they are supposed to represent.
This elevation of yet another Trump lapdog is just further evidence of this.
Spending review: Home Office at risk of £500 million shortfall as Home Secretary on ‘resignation watch’
Unprotected departments could be hit with real-terms cuts worth nearly £5 billion by the end of the Parliament, with the Home Office at risk of a £490 million real-terms shortfall, House of Commons Library analysis commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. This analysis ahead of the Spending Review comes amid rumours Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is now on ‘resignation watch’.
The Library used the OBR’s assumptions from the Spring Statement about the overall real-terms cuts faced by unprotected Government departments to estimate the impact on different budgets. The analysis found that unprotected departments, which are the departments excluding NHS England, the core schools budget and defence, could see real-terms cuts worth nearly £5 billion in total by 2028/29.
That comes off annual real-terms cuts of 0.8% pencilled in by the OBR, effectively taking the budgets of these departments from around £216.5 billion in 2025-26, down to roughly £211.5 billion in 2028-29, once inflation is taken into account.
Major departments could be in line for large cuts. The analysis found that the Home Office could be hit with funding cuts around £490 million over the next three years. It comes after several police chiefs said that any spending cuts could have “far reaching consequences” with some services already having been “pushed to the brink”. It is also reported that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is on ‘resignation watch’ following the funding settlement her department has been allocated.
The unprotected elements of the Education budget covering areas such as adult education and apprenticeships could face real-terms cuts worth over £685 million by 2028-29, while councils, who are responsible for social care provision, could see their central government funding squeezed even further, with potentially £350 million in real-terms cuts to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government across the next three years.
The Liberal Democrats said that the scale of the expected cuts was “staggering” and that with public services “on their knees” the Labour government needed to take immediate steps to boost growth and avoid these spending shortfalls. Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper added, “it is no wonder that the Home Secretary is on resignation watch”‘ after the reporting of the funding settlement for her Department.
The party called on the Government to begin negotiations on a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union and to complete their social care review by the end of the year to get the reforms in place to fix the underlying problems in the NHS, freeing up hospital beds, ensuring people have to the care workers they need and helping family carers back into and staying in work. The review is currently scheduled to be completed in three years time.
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP said:
The potential scale of these cuts at the spending review is staggering. It is no wonder the Home Secretary is on ‘resignation watch’ as the Chancellor looks to take a scythe to her department’s budget which could put frontline policing at risk.
From social care to neighborhood policing, this Labour government is at risk of failing to deliver the change that people were promised. The best way to avoid this devastating spending squeeze is to generate meaningful growth, but the Chancellor is acting more as a handbrake rather than an accelerator.
The Government needs to change course, negotiate a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union to slash red tape, boost our economy and the Exchequer’s coffers. And ministers must complete their social care review by the end of the year – so we can properly fix our NHS.
Only with these measures will the Government be able to rebuild our public services and protect family finances.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich: Davey welcomes sanctions and calls for recognition of Palestine
Responding to the announcement of sanctions on Israeli ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
I’m relieved to see the Government finally sanction the extremist ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. Their calls for the forced displacement and dispossession of Palestinians are utterly abhorrent, and it’s right that they will now face consequences.
Liberal Democrats have been calling for these sanctions since last February. It’s disappointing that the Conservative government refused and Labour took so long to act.
The antidote to the extremism of ministers like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich must be to officially recognise the independent state of Palestine. The Government should take this vital step at next week’s summit – rejecting extremism, demonstrating the UK’s commitment to self-determination, and giving both Israelis and Palestinians hope of a lasting peace.
£3 Bus cap extension: Labour clearly isn’t listening
Responding to reports that the Government is set to extend the £3 bus fare cap, Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Paul Kohler MP said:
Household budgets are still really feeling the squeeze, so many will be really disappointed to see that the Government is moving to make the bus fare hike permanent.
This will hit those who rely on public transport to get around to their local high street or to work and school in the pocket. People have been telling them they got this wrong, but Labour clearly isn’t listening.
Meanwhile, vital local bus services are in a death spiral, with rural communities particularly badly hit as routes are slashed. The Government should be heeding Liberal Democrat calls to scrap the bus tax and bring the cap back to its previous level.