National News from the Liberal Democrats

Fri 4th Jul 2008:

Bad day for MPs accountability - Hughes.

Commenting on Thursday’s votes on MPs pay, Liberal Democrat Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, Simon Hughes said: "Today was a bad day for openness and accountability for MPs. The Commons had the chance to vote for proper auditing of all we do but an unholy coalition of Labour and Conservative MPs prevented it. "Liberal Democrats strongly supported the recommendations of the Speaker’s Committee to tighten up on allowances and much regret that we were prevented from doing so."

Google ruling very worrying for UK consumers - Foster.

Commenting on the US court ruling that Google must hand over all its YouTube user data to Viacom, Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster said:"This ruling sets a very worrying precedent for the future of the internet, with internet users’ personal details being passed around different corporations without consent. "Action needs to be taken against piracy but this cannot be at the expense of internet users’ security. "I am also deeply concerned about the implications this ruling has on UK consumers. "If Google hands over information about its UK customers, it could contravene our data protection laws."

Red tape stopping police from dealing with shocking costs of crime - Huhne.

Commenting on today’s Taxpayers’ Alliance report on the costs of crime, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "The costs of crime are shocking whether calculated financially, with violent crime accounting for half of the total at £8.5 billion, or in its human dimension. "Ministers must stop directing the police from Whitehall and allow them to respond to the concerns of local people. "Over-centralisation and the ridiculous targets system have left police forces unaccountable to local people and tangled in red tape."

Teachers must be freed to teach engaging and topical issues - Laws.

Commenting on the report published today by education charity DEA, which finds that one in five schoolchildren are ‘globally illiterate’ due to a failure to teach them about world events, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws MP said: "These are astonishing results given the huge range of modern technologies and access to information that are now available. "Too much of what goes on in schools is dictated by Government ministers. This has made it very difficult for teachers to cover many topical subjects in the classroom. "Teachers need the freedom to teach an engaging and relevant curriculum, which opens children’s minds and encourages them to be thoughtful and tolerant citizens."

Motoring taxes hit those without choice hardest - Baker.

Commenting on today’s RAC Foundation report calling for a root and branch review of motoring taxation, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: "I support the RAC in its call for a review of motoring taxes. "The current system isn’t working and hits those without a choice the hardest. "We need a system that discourages environmentally damaging behaviour and makes sure that travellers without any other option than their car are not penalised unfairly. "The Government should work towards introducing revenue neutral motorway and trunk road pricing by abolishing Vehicle Excise Duty and cutting fuel duty. This would encourage a switch from cars to trains, while saving rural drivers money."

Britain cannot afford IT drain on MoD resources - Harvey.

Commenting on today’s NAO report on the MoD’s Defence Information Infrastructure Programme, which highlights delays and budget overruns, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said: "This report is yet more evidence of the Government’s incompetence when it comes to the procurement of major IT contracts. "It is especially worrying that the risk of escalating costs threatens the MoD’s ability to meet the programme’s requirements. "At a time when our armed services are already massively overstretched abroad, Britain cannot afford a further drain on its defence budget."

Thu 3rd Jul 2008:

Cost of aborted plane feasibility studies unbelievable and outrageous - Baker.

Commenting on figures that show feasibility studies into aborted plans to buy two private jets to carry Gordon Brown and the Royal Family cost £1.25m, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: "This is unbelievable and outrageous. Gordon Brown is burning money like a jet plane burns fuel. "How on earth can it cost over £1 million just to decide whether or not to buy a plane? I could have told them the answer for nothing - don’t."

Zimbabwean cricket team must be banned from playing internationals - Foster.

Commenting ahead of the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting tomorrow, which is due to discuss Zimbabwe’s membership, Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster said: "It is extremely important that all members of the ICC recognise the appalling situation in Zimbabwe. "The ICC must ban Zimbabwe’s cricket team from all international matches. It is unacceptable for Zimbabwe to be represented on the world stage while Mugabe’s tyranny continues. "The cricket world should take a stand in order to register a protest against the abuses occurring there."

Ministers cannot be trusted with fingerprints - Huhne.

Responding to the Biometric Assurance Group’s (BAG) comments that officials could struggle to cope with the number of mismatched or unclear fingerprints, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "Far from being the gold standard of identity as the Government claimed, the experts are now clear that the ID card scheme will be riddled with errors and vulnerable to fraud. "If ministers lose your bank account and benefit details, these can be changed. If they lose your fingerprints, the cost of cosmetic surgery is in a different league. "The Government has proved time and again that it cannot be trusted with sensitive data. Ministers will be totally incapable of maintaining the security of the enormous identity database. This unnecessary, intrusive and extravagant plan should be scrapped immediately."

Ministers turn blind eye to costly mistakes - Willott.

New figures released today show that the Department for Work and Pensions has been forced to spend £52m compensating people for mistakes made over the last 6 years. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Jenny Willott said: "These figures reveal how endemic and costly official error is at the DWP. Ministers have turned a blind eye as the cost of these mistakes has risen. "Not only is it hurting the public purse, it is hurting those most in need who rely on these payments to make ends meet. "The benefits system is so complex that even officials don’t understand it. It must be simplified to cut out the mistakes and fraud that are proving so costly to the taxpayer."

Councils must be set free - Clegg.

Councils should be set free from depending on Whitehall funding by raising three-quarters of their money locally, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg will say today in a speech to the Local Government Association Conference in Bournemouth. Explaining the Liberal Democrats’ position as the only party willing to properly devolve power and money away from central government by re-localising business rates and scrapping the council tax, Nick Clegg will accuse the Government and the Tories of only ‘talking the talk’ about empowering communities. Nick Clegg will also label the regional ministerial posts introduced a year ago by Gordon Brown as ‘pointless gimmicks’ and call for them to be scrapped. Nick Clegg will say: "Centralised government simply doesn’t work to deliver the change I want for Britain. It doesn’t improve services fast enough. "And it certainly doesn’t deliver fairer outcomes - where everybody gets opportunities no matter what their background is. "If the New Labour decade has taught us anything - this is surely it. "The great experiment of trying to improve our public services for everyone by pouring money in through a tight funnel in Number 10 Downing Street has failed." Speaking about radically reforming how local government is funded, he will say: "The Liberal Democrats are committed to scrapping Council Tax. It’s Britain’s unfairest tax. Based on property values nearly twenty years ago, instead of what people can afford to pay. "But our commitment to Local Income Tax isn’t just about fairness. It’s about localising power, too. Because with a local income tax in place, we can decentralise our tax system. Transferring tax-raising powers from national to local government. "My ambition is to switch from a regime where councils raise just a quarter of the money they spend, and get the rest in handouts from the centre. To a regime where they get a grant for just a quarter of the money they spend - and get the rest from local taxes, decided by local people." Calling for regional ministers to be scrapped, Nick Clegg will say: "It’s time to scrap regional ministers and spend the money on something useful. "Devolving power isn’t about having a national minister ‘advocating’ national policy in the regions. "It’s about letting the regions - and below them, councils, communities and people - make decisions for themselves. "I’ve looked into this - and by the time of the next general election we taxpayers will have spent well over two million pounds on this futile project. In fact, it’s not clear what these pointless gimmicks spend their time doing. Except costing us a lot of money." To read the full text of the speech click here

Bradshaw remarks must be backed up by facts - Lamb.

Commenting on comments by Ben Bradshaw that some GPs enter into ‘gentleman’s agreements’ not to accept each others patients, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: "Ratcheting up his war of words with the BMA in this way demonstrates the complete breakdown in trust between the Government and those on the health service’s front line. "If Ben Bradshaw is going to make provocative and inflammatory statements about GPs’ behaviour he must back them up with facts. Does he have any evidence of what he is alleging? "There is currently little incentive for GPs to take on new patients. They must be encouraged to take on patients from disadvantaged backgrounds. These are problems of the Government’s own making."

Nicol Stephen outstanding politician - Clegg.

Commenting on Nicol Stephen's resignation as leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said: "Nicol Stephen has been an outstanding politician and force for change in Scotland. "As a Minister and Deputy First Minister, he played a pivotal role in showing what Liberal Democrats can deliver in Government. As a campaigner, he led the party to a stunning win in the Dumfermline and West Fife by-election, overturning a huge Labour majority. "He is without doubt the most effective opposition to Alex Salmond in the Scottish Parliament, and his performances at First Minister’s Questions have been incisive and forceful. "Liberal Democrats owe him a huge debt of gratitude, and I personally want to thank him for his friendship and dedication to the party. His integrity shines through in taking what must be a very difficult step, but everyone will understand and respect his decision in view of the enormous strains and pressures of combining family life with a hugely demanding role. "He will remain an important figure in the Liberal Democrats and I look forward to working with him as a valued friend and colleague."

Wed 2nd Jul 2008:

Government failing abjectly on knife crime - Huhne.

Commenting on figures compiled by Hospital Episodes Statistics which show a dramatic rise in under-16s admitted for stab wounds, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "These appalling figures show that the Government’s strategy for tackling teenage knife crime is failing abjectly. "Ministers claim that crime is falling, but these figures show serious attacks that require hospital admission are up. They cut through all the problems with the crime reported to the police and the lack of information about teenagers in the British Crime Survey. "We appear to be locked in a vicious circle where teenagers don’t feel safe on our streets, and therefore carry more knives, which in turn just fuels the spiral of knife crime. "The solution has to be more knife arches, more targeted stop and search in hot spots, a sustained campaign in schools, and more detection and prosecution for carrying knives. "Instead of spending billions on unworkable and unnecessary ID cards, the Government should spend the money on actually making people safer by putting more police on our streets."

Darling's growth prediction laughable - Cable.

Commenting on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s projection that unemployment in the UK will rise by 100,000 over the next two years, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "The OECD is rightly pointing out the economic reality that Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling refuse to acknowledge. "It is painful but almost inevitable that the perfect storm of rising prices, over-indebtedness and the credit crunch will lead to higher unemployment. "Alistair Darling’s prediction for growth at the time of the Budget looked unbelievably optimistic. The OECD has shown, it now looks laughable. "Rather than burying its head in the sand the Government must now act to help those struggling to meet rising bills and high debt repayments."

Decline in pension schemes a worrying trend - Willott.

Commenting on new figures from the Office of National Statistics, which show that the number of private sector workers that are members of occupational pension schemes has fallen by 400,000 since last year, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Jenny Willott said: "This is an extremely worrying trend. All the evidence shows that people need to be saving more and saving earlier in order to have a decent standard of living when they retire. Unfortunately, these figures suggest that the reverse may be happening. "At a time when people’s minds will be focused on immediate financial pressures, it is vital that the Government encourages people to build up pension savings to avoid financial hardship in retirement. "At the same time, innovation must be encouraged to ensure employers can continue to offer competitive schemes - this will be increasingly difficult in an economic downturn."

60 per cent of hospitals on emergency alerts - Lamb.

Almost two-thirds of hospitals have been on emergency alert over the last five years, according to a survey by the Liberal Democrats. Half of hospitals surveyed will cancel or delay elective surgery when on emergency alert, while over a third will delay patient treatment and almost a quarter will divert patients to other hospitals. The figures differ around the country, with six hospitals on black or red alert for over 350 days in the last five years, and some going on alert over 100 times each year. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: "These figures are a damning indictment of Labour’s target-obsessed culture. Despite pouring record sums into the NHS over the past five years, over half of hospitals have found themselves on emergency alert. "Many hospitals are under intolerable pressure, putting a massive strain on staff and compromising patient care. "There must be a thorough review of bed capacity in both acute and community hospitals. Local people must be able to secure sufficient bed numbers to meet local needs."

Government fares policy is 'walk-on/rip-off' - Baker.

Commenting on today’s report by the Campaign for Better Transport, which shows that walk-on rail fares are often four or five times as high as advanced fares, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: "The Government’s policy on fares is ‘walk-on/rip-off’. It is pushing up rail fares as a substitute for providing extra capacity and is pricing people off trains and on to the roads. "With train companies having to pay for their franchises in many cases, the Government has now introduced a railway stealth tax on passengers."

Government plunging us into dark age of dentistry - Gidley.

Commenting on today’s Health Select Committee report into dentistry, which highlights problems that have developed since the introduction of the new dental contract, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson and Select Committee Member, Sandra Gidley said: "This is another example of the Government meddling and rushing through changes without thinking about the consequences. "The facts speak for themselves. The number of patients seen by NHS dentists between December 2005 and December 2007 has fallen by a million. "The scandal for patients is that many are receiving less sophisticated treatment and are paying more for the privilege. "The Government has plunged us headlong into a dark age of dentistry."

Blair comments underline Labour's appalling record - Huhne.

Responding to Cherie Blair’s comments to the Home Affairs Select Committee on knife and gun crime, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "Anyone would think that Cherie Blair was not in Downing Street while violent crime doubled. "Labour’s record on gun and knife crime is appalling. Young people do not feel safe on our streets but all the Government has done is to posture on penalties that are not enforced because the offenders are not caught."

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