20 Most Recent Stories From Liberal Democrats : All News Feed

Thu 17th Jul 2008:

Nick Clegg launches 'Make It Happen'.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg today launched the party’s Make it Happen document, which is a statement of the party’s vision and values. ‘Make it Happen’ sets out in clear language the party’s position on important issues such as the economy, taxation and the health service.You can read Make it Happen here.

Mon 14th Jul 2008:

Liberal Democrats launch proposals to tackle youth crime - Huhne.

The Liberal Democrats will today outline radical plans to tackle youth crime.The dual approach aims to stop young people committing crimes in the first place by enabling them to play a full role in society through increased training and volunteering, as well as stopping criminal behaviour early by making young offenders face up to their crimes.The main proposals contained in the paper A Life Away From Crime include: The creation of a Youth Volunteer Force, to engage with young people, involve them in community projects and give them skills to benefit them in later life Establish Community Justice Panels across the country, where offenders admit their guilt to the community and agree on a Positive Behaviour Order as a course of action Create a dedicated PCSO youth officer within every Safer Neighbourhood Team to identify and work with teenagers most at risk of offending 10,000 more police on the streets by scrapping the ID cards scheme Intelligence-led stop and search and ‘hot spot policing’ targeted at gun and knife crime Restorative justice programs to be run in every community, specifically targeted at early intervention with widespread use in schools and care homes Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Affairs Secretary, Chris Huhne said:"This Government has spent 10 years trying to sound tough while failing to cut youth crime. "In fact, ministers have embarked on the mass criminalisation of a generation of young people. By dragging more and more young people through the criminal justice system, they have reduced the fear of a criminal record and contributed to the problem."Instead of shock tactics to grab headlines, we need practical measures that are proven to work. "Only the Liberal Democrats propose a dual approach to stop kids from getting involved in crime in the first place, and measures to make them face up to the consequences of their actions if they do." To download a copy of the proposals click here.

Fri 25th Jul 2008:

Doha trade talks must succeed - Clegg.

Commenting on the last day of the seven-year long Doha world trade talks, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg, who was one of the EU’s negotiators when the talks began, said: "These trade talks are incredibly important for the global economy and must succeed."Many British families struggling with rising fuel and food bills won’t be aware of these talks, but their success is crucial for securing prosperity over the coming years. "It is vital the British Government resists pressure from others to prevent the world sliding back into protectionism, whether it’s from French farmers or the US congress."

Ministers can't even find 100 foreign criminals - Huhne.

Commenting on the announcement that fewer than one third of the foreign criminals at the centre of the scandal which caused Charles Clarke to resign have been deported, and that over 100 have yet to be located, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "Ministers bang on about record numbers of foreign prisoners being deported, but the truth is that they still cannot even find some of the criminals that cost Charles Clarke his job, let alone deport them. Commenting on the UK Borders Agency’s update on its clearing of the backlog of UK asylum seeker claims, Chris Huhne said: "While the Government struggles to clear hundreds of thousands of asylum cases, many are left destitute and without access to healthcare or education. "Until they prove they can run a less shoddy system, ministers must allow asylum seekers to work to support themselves and their families."

Mental health discrimination unacceptable - Lamb.

Commenting on this week’s Healthcare Commission report, which showed that failures in mental health wards affect black people the most, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: "The state of our mental health services in many parts of the country is wholly unacceptable. "The depressing truth is that there are disproportionate numbers of black and ethnic minority people in mental health wards. "The Government needs to urgently assess why there appears to be discrimination within mental health services against black and ethnic minorities."

NHS financial crises happening here and now - Lamb.

Commenting on reports that hospital staff in Cumbria are being offered cash to quit their jobs following budget cuts due to centrally-imposed efficiency targets, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: "We’ve been led to believe that cutting NHS staff because of financial crises was a thing of the past, but it is happening here and now. "The danger is that the quality of patient care will suffer if large scale severance packages are made."

Outreach services are poor relation to a proper post office - Teather.

Commenting on today’s BERR Select Committee report on post office outreach services, Liberal Democrat Shadow Business Secretary, Sarah Teather said: "Outreach services are a poor relation to proper post offices. The Government seems to think it can get post offices on the cheap this way. However, even outreach services need to be properly funded. "At this rate many areas will end up with no post office services whatsoever. Ministers are presiding over the managed decline of our post offices. Commenting on the relationship between the Post Office and Royal Mail Group, Sarah Teather said: "This report questions whether the Post Office really benefits from its exclusive relationship with Royal Mail Group. "The time has come to separate the Post Office from Royal Mail, which would allow it to develop business with Royal Mail’s competitors. "This would allow the rest of the Royal Mail Group to flourish as a private business."

Eco-towns will be out of date by time they are built - pik.

The Government today announced that homes in eco-towns must achieve the environmental target of level four of the Code for Sustainable Homes, despite the fact that all new housing is to reach the stricter target of level six by 2016. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Lembit Öpik said: "There’s surely some mistake here. This means that eco-towns could be less environmentally friendly than normal towns. "Instead of setting challenging environmental standards, eco-towns will be out of date by the time they are even built. "The Government has swapped its vision of cutting edge developments for bog-standard homes with a pale green veneer."

Thu 24th Jul 2008:

Road statistics reveal catalogue of failures - Baker.

Commenting on today’s DfT annual road statistics, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: "Eleven years of a Labour Government has led to a comprehensive catalogue of road policy failures. "Despite John Prescott’s claim in 1997 that a Labour Government would cut the number of cars on the roads, it has now given up on reducing traffic and has resorted to discredited 1980s road-building policies. "Just last year Ruth Kelly announced yet another £6bn to widen motorways. This is an abdication of responsibility."

Road statistics reveal catalogue of failures - Baker.

Commenting on today’s DfT annual road statistics, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: "Eleven years of a Labour Government has led to a comprehensive catalogue of road policy failures. "Despite John Prescott’s claim in 1997 that a Labour Government would cut the number of cars on the roads, it has now given up on reducing traffic and has resorted to discredited 1980s road-building policies. "Just last year Ruth Kelly announced yet another £6bn to widen motorways. This is an abdication of responsibility."

Housing shortage has left 130,000 children homeless - Clegg.

Housing shortage has left 130,000 children homeless - Clegg Over 100,000 children in England are currently stuck in temporary accommodation because of a chronic lack of affordable housing. The figures were highlighted today by Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg, as he visited a homelessness project run by the charity Shelter in East London. Figures show that: · Around 130,000 children in England are homeless Homeless children miss on average a quarter of their schooling, often have nowhere quiet to do their homework and may face long, exhausting journeys to school Mental health problems such as anxiety and depression are three times as common among homeless children, even a year after being re-housed. There are now 10% fewer social homes available in England than when Labour came to power (down from 4.4m to just 3.9m) Social housing waiting lists have increased almost 70% from 1m in 1997 to 1.67m in 2007. Nick Clegg said: "Over 100,000 homeless children have been forgotten by this Government. "Homelessness can cripple a child’s life chances, stopping them receiving a decent education and harming their mental well-being. "As fuel and food bills continue to rise, it is likely that thousands more families will struggle to afford their mortgages or rent and be forced to leave their home. "The Government’s paltry efforts to fund more social housing and stop child homelessness have been wholly inadequate. Councils should be allowed to borrow against their assets to invest in new social housing. "It is a scandal that this summer thousands of children will not have a home to spend their school holidays in." Shelter Chief Executive Adam Sampson said: "Shelter is delighted that Nick Clegg has put child poverty and homelessness at the top of his political agenda. "With 5,600 homeless households trapped in temporary accommodation in the borough of Newham, Shelter’s Educational Support Project plays a crucial role in rebuilding the lives of those children whose education has been affected by their housing situation. "Nick Clegg’s visit will help raise awareness of the need to tackle the root causes of child poverty and homelessness in order to improve the life chances of children in bad housing."

Internet deal is step forward but legal downloads must be promoted more - Foster.

Commenting on today’s deal between ISPs and the music industry on how to clamp down on illegal file downloading, Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster said: "This is a welcome step forward in dealing with piracy, which is having a serious impact on the British music industry. But we have to accept that there is no single solution to solving this problem. "The reality is that people who are determined to continue downloading music illegally will not be deterred by a threatening letter and will soon find ways to get round this system by masking their IP address. "The real challenge will be changing the culture that believes intellectual property is free for all online. "The only way the music industry can deal with this in the long-term is to do a lot more to promote legal downloading websites through low prices and innovative products."

Spiralling food and fuel costs hitting people's pockets - Cable.

Commenting on today’s ONS figures showing that retail sales volumes fell 3.9% between May and June, the largest decrease since records began in 1986, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "This is yet further evidence that the massive personal debt and spiralling food and fuel prices are now hitting people’s pockets."People and businesses are now paying the price for an economy which Gordon Brown allowed to get dangerously out of control. "The real danger now is that with consumer spending drying up there will be serious job loses in the retail sector. "This dramatic slowdown in consumer spending may yet bring relief to the Bank of England, which has been hamstrung in cutting interest rates as inflation stayed persistently high."

Learn English but don't cut English lessons - Huhne.

Commenting on Government proposals on integrating immigrants, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "The Liberal Democrats have introduced a law - now in force - to make forced marriage a civil wrong as the most practical way of stopping this awful practice. "The Government’s proposal to ensure people learn English is welcome, but it would be better coming from ministers who were not cutting the budget for English as a foreign language. This is a false economy, not just in terms of integrating immigrant communities but also when providing translation and other official services."

Government has left local planning departments defenceless - Goldsworthy.

Commenting on today’s CLG Select Committee report, which warns that a shortage of planners could cause house building targets to be missed, Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said: "The shortage of planners is sending councils into battle with big developers unarmed. "Without sufficient local expertise and manpower it is difficult for councils to ensure that developments are planned to benefit local people. "But with the Government attempting to railroad local planners with its unpopular eco-town policy, it’s not surprising that they have been content to leave local planning departments virtually defenceless."

Wed 23rd Jul 2008:

Olympic quango wasting 600,000 - Foster.

A quango set up to give National Lottery money to the Olympics has spent almost £600,000 on salaries despite having only six members of staff, according to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats. The Olympic Lottery Distributors Annual Report has revealed that it had only made two grants in the last year. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster said: "It beggars belief that we’re paying an enormous amount of money for yet another Olympic body which seems to do little more than hold the purse strings. "With the 2012 budget stretched to the limit, and so many other bodies already scrutinising expenditure, the Government must look at getting rid of this type of unnecessary cost. "It’s quite clear that there are a number of other Lottery distributors who would be more than competent at carrying out this job for a fraction of the price."

Land Girls announcement long overdue - Lamb.

Liberal Democrat MP, Norman Lamb today welcomed the news that tens of thousands of women from the Women’s Land Army and the Women’s Timber Corps during World War II are to be formally recognised. The announcement came after a campaign by Norman Lamb on behalf of a member of his constituency to recognise the contribution made by the women during the war. Commenting, Norman Lamb said: "Recognition of the role these women played in World War II is long overdue. It is right that their massive contribution to the war effort is being celebrated today. "This is a fantastic breakthrough, and will mean a great deal both to the women who served in the war and to their families."

Doctor assessments must not be bureaucratic - Lamb.

Doctor assessments must not be bureaucratic - Lamb Commenting on Government plans to introduce a system of five-yearly assessments for all UK doctors, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: "Plans to ensure that patients receive a higher standard of care are naturally welcomed. "However, ministers must ensure that this system is not bureaucratic or overly burdensome. It would be counterproductive to take doctors away from critical patient care."

Knife sellers allowed to ply deadly trade - Huhne.

Knife sellers allowed to ply deadly trade - Huhne None of the people caught selling knives to young people in the last five years were sent to prison and only one was given a community sentence, according to figures revealed by the Liberal Democrats The figures also show that the average fine given out was just £411. The information, given in Parliamentary Answers to Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne, shows how: · Only 71 people have been successfully prosecuted for selling knives to the children in the last five years · None were sent to prison and only one was given a community sentence · 56 were fined, of those 11 were given a fine of between £50 and £100, a further 10 were given fines of less than £200 · In the last 5 years 42 people (75% of all those fined) were given fines of less than £500 · The total value of the fines levied against the 56 people caught selling knives to kids between 2002 and 2006 was £23,025 · The average fine was just £411.16 Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "Unscrupulous shopkeepers who sell knives to kids are profiting from the violence on our streets. "It is unacceptable that so few of them are being punished and those that do are being given such pitiful fines. "If we are to tackle knife crime, a strong message must be sent to those who ply this deadly trade. "Fining them a few hundred quid is not going to do that."

DWP must learn from mistakes - Willott.

Commenting on today’s National Audit Office report on complaints-handling in the Department for Work and Pensions, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Jenny Willott said: "The department will keep making the same mistakes at huge cost to the taxpayer if it doesn’t improve how it records and reviews complaints. "It is absurd that there is no system in place across the DWP to ensure civil servants are learning from complaints and mistakes, not simply repeating them. "Ministers must ensure that all complaints are recorded accurately and lessons learnt, or the cost will keep rising."

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