Tag: 2022

PRESS RELEASE : Train cancellations – Kick in the teeth for commuters [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Liberal Democrats on 19 December 2022.

Commenting on this morning’s ral chaos which has seen services across London and commuter belt cancelled despite there not being a train strike, Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson said:

“This is a kick in the teeth for commuters and our struggling hospitality industry.

“Most people can’t remember the last commute they did when the trains actually ran properly. Chaos, delays and misery are part of the daily struggle for those wanting to get into the capital, all despite paying for season tickets worth thousands of pounds a year.

“The Government needs to end this madness now. Ministers have been sitting on their hands for far too long whilst commuters suffer. It’s like they just don’t care about millions of people who simply want to get into the office or keep their business afloat.”

January 2, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Oliver Dowden – Playing scare tactics with the public and playing politics with the strikes [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Liberal Democrats on 19 December 2022.

Responding to the Oliver Dowden media round, Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said:

“In the week before Christmas we need more humanity not less from Oliver Dowden and his Government. Sitting down with the nurses and discussing pay is the obvious move right now. Instead he spent this morning playing scare tactics with the public and playing politics with the strikes. This Government has spent the past year giving tax breaks to the banks and leaving the NHS and nurses struggling, this has to change to get a fair deal for everyone.”

January 2, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : It All Adds Up energy campaign – Urgent investment in insulation needed [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Liberal Democrats on 19 December 2022.

It All Adds Up energy campaign: Urgent investment in insulation needed

“The Conservative government has doubled people’s energy bills and failed to insulate millions of leaky homes. This all adds up to a tougher winter ahead for families and pensioners struggling to get by,

“Advice and tips are all very well, but we also need urgent investment to insulate people’s homes and cut energy bills in the long term. That is the only way we will tackle the climate emergency, cut emissions and cut people’s bills.”

January 2, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Government weaken environmental targets – Short-sighted and irresponsible [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Liberal Democrats on 16 December 2022.

Responding to the publication of the Government response to the consultation on environmental targets which weakens a number of targets, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Environment, Tim Farron MP said:

“Once again, the Conservative Government has demonstrated just how short-sighted and irresponsible they really are.

“The Environment Secretary has a duty to protect our planet for future generations, but has once again kicked this responsibility into the long grass.

“Weakening these targets is an embarrassment and a betrayal. The Government must u-turn immediately.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

1. Link to the Government Response to the Environmental Targets Consultation

January 2, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Ministers “failing patients on a monstrous scale” as ambulance handover stats revealed [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Liberal Democrats on 15 December 2022.

The Liberal Democrat’s have accused Ministers of “failing patients on a monstrous scale” in response to new figures that reveal 29,000 hours were lost waiting to handover patients from ambulances to A&E last week alone.

The figures, published today by NHS England show that 34% of all patients arriving by ambulance from Monday 5th to Sunday 11th December waited for more than 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E: 25,182 out of 74,823.

12,534 patients were waiting for more than an hour, 17% of the total and 49% more than in the same week last year. That’s despite the total number of ambulance arrivals having fallen by 11% year-on-year.

Excluding the first 30 minutes, handover delays cost ambulances across England a total of 29,139 hours last week.

Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:

“Ministers are failing patients on a monstrous scale, with thousands of people spending thousands of hours stuck in an ambulance outside a hospital.

That’s thousands of hours with paramedics out-of-action, unable to respond to emergencies – a big part of the reason that so many people wait hours for an ambulance after calling 999.

“The Conservatives have driven our health and social care services into the ground for years, and this is the result.

“The Liberal Democrats have put forward a clear plan to tackle these shocking delays and stop our NHS slipping from crisis into catastrophe this winter. The Government must act now to tackle workforce shortages, fix the social care crisis and end the shortage of hospital beds.

January 2, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Grassroots football funding [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Conservative Party on 13 December 2022.

Well done England on reaching the Quarter-Finals of the World Cup. We’re delighted by and proud of what you have achieved and we’re sad it wasn’t to be this year.

The Conservatives are making major investments in football infrastructure to support our communities now and help the next generation of footie stars flourish, just as you have done.

Funding has been granted for many different projects, including:

Traditional grass pitches. The improvement of grass pitches is a key focus area for the Football Association (FA) in order to improve the consistency of matches across the season and to allow the players a better surface on which to play the game and develop their skills.

3G pitches: Third Generation synthetic surface. 3G pitches are suitable for playing various sports including football, rugby, Gaelic games and lacrosse, so they are very versatile community assets. Being synthetic, 3G pitches can be used all year round and can help reduce demand, and therefore wear and tear, on grass pitches.

Floodlighting. So sport can be played whatever the time of day or season.

Indoors football and Multi-Use-Games-Areas (MUGAs). So that poor weather doesn’t prevent playing opportunities and players have a decent pitch to train on.

Changing rooms. So players have good facilities. Many projects supported focus on provision for female and disabled sportspeople.

Other small capital projects. So players are supported as necessary. Projects supported include pavilion upgrades, pitch maintenance equipment, new goal posts, and security measures like fencing. Where possible, sites in highly deprived areas have been backed.

Funding has been provided across our great United Kingdom:

England

The total Football Foundation Grant awarded was over £51 million; the Grant includes contributions from The Department for Culture, Media and Sports, Sport England, the Premier League and the English Football Association. Projects supported:

52 3G pitches. For example:

£6 million was granted in Barking to support a new site with 3 full size 3G pitches, a gym, and a large social area including a café, in an accessible design – helping address social challenges in a deprived area.

£100k invested in Liverpool (Fazakerley) for 3G pitches – helping boost activity in lower socio-economic communities and to get women and girls to engage with football.

15 grass pitches, a typical project is:

£25k for Accrington Stanley Football In The Community in Hyndburn to make the pitch available for more hours of play and ensure that play time is not affected by bad weather or poor drainage.

29 changing rooms improvements. For example:

£247k for Rastrick Juniors Football Club in Calder Valley so they can build a new pavilion and clubhouse, supporting high growth in the number of teams who can be accommodated by the club.

6 MUGAs. For example:

£183k for Manchester City in the Community to deliver a floodlit MUGA – in a highly deprived area lacking in structured activities for the local community.

13 small capital projects. One such project is:

£25k for Tiffinian Association in Elmbridge to buy pitch maintenance equipment, which will mean the community can use the pitch throughout the year, and there will be hundreds more opportunities to play on a decent and well-maintained surface.

Scotland

£2 million has been provided for 18 projects, including:

£200k for Gala Fairydean Rovers Football Club / Community Trust in the Scottish Borders to resurface the pitch. This will allow the facility to be used by a wide variety of groups including football training and matches, Walking Football for the over 60s, Para Football and children’s soccer.

£150k for Drumchapel United in Glasgow. The Club is a lynchpin of the community, providing much more than just football: food poverty programmes, visiting care facilities in the area, Christmas toy collections, the period poverty campaign, and many other initiatives.

£150k for Buckie Thistle Football Club in Moray. The local school’s 3G pitch is used by the local school as well as the football club. Resurfacing work will ensure that it continues to be used by the school and club, and to ensure it contributes to the social, economic and environmental well-being of the wider community.

Wales

More than £1.3 million has been invested in 17 projects, including:

£33k for Bangor University’s Treborth Playing Fields in Arfon, to upgrade the pavilion and changing rooms, so they are fit for all and provide equal access for female participants. This will grow female participation and allow multiple events whether football, rugby or athletics.

£185k for Llanrumney Community Sports Hub in Cardiff to construct a community multi sports pavilion, with new gender-specific changing rooms. This will help create a more welcoming place to exercise for women in particular, and support the growth of female sports.

£98k for Pontarddulais Town FC in Swansea, to renovate and return to use an old changing room block to include female facilities and allow other community groups to benefit from the extra new space.

Northern Ireland

£700k spent on 26 projects, including:

£30k for Saintford United Football Club in Strangford for a multi-phase development plan to provide a better experience for players and supporters alike and encourage more people to get physically active.

£26k for Belfast Celtic CIC in Ulster for carpark improvements to help disabled people access the pitch. There is a wider project ongoing to upgrade the pitch to 3G and support the women’s game with new dugouts.

£20k for Enniskillen Rangers in County Fermanagh to upgrade the floodlights at their training pitch, so they can open the facility all year round. This project was started as a result of consultation with the local community.

The Conservatives are providing level playing fields across the UK, backing local communities to level up through sport, and giving the sports stars of the future the facilities they need to flourish.

January 2, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : New data reveals “hypocritical” fire bosses on six figure sums whilst firefighters forced to foodbanks [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Fire Brigades Union on 29 December 2022.

Fire service bosses are being paid six figure sums as firefighters face ‘real terms’ pay cuts and ‘In Work’ poverty.

Chief fire officers are paid an average pay of £148,000, with the highest being £206,000 – over six times more than an ordinary firefighter (basic annual pay for a competent wholetime UK firefighter).

The stark inequalities in pay for firefighters and management were revealed in data released as a result of Freedom of Information requests.

The staggering sums are paid to top level management while some firefighters have to rely on food banks and take on additional jobs to afford the basics.

Meanwhile, firefighters and control staff working under senior management are being forced into a ballot for industrial action.

Firefighters and control staff have rejected a 5% offer, with inflation currently at 10.7%.

After a decade of below or at-inflation pay settlements, the Fire Brigades Union has had reports of firefighters and control staff being forced to foodbanks and struggling to pay their bills.

This most recent pay offer, a ‘real terms pay cut’, has led to a ballot for strike action.

The news comes against a background of fire bosses undertaking a number of activities on the pay dispute including meetings and written communications to FBU members.

Much of this interference has been with the intention of dissuading firefighters and control staff from taking industrial action. These communications have included seeking expressions of interest in working during strikes and highlighting pay that would be lost.

In North Yorkshire the fire and rescue service provided a calculator to staff to highlight how much they would lose in pension and pay if they took strike action. The chief fire officer there is on at least £128,647.

In London commissioner Andy Roe has held meetings with staff, and issued a circa 20 page memorandum seeking to persuade against rejecting the 5% pay offer. He is paid £206,040 a year.

Many other services have undertaken similar activities.

A competent wholetime firefighter is paid £32,244.

11 chief fire officers are paid more than the prime minister, and every single chief fire officer in the country is on £100,000 or more. There is a chief fire officer for each of the UK’s 48 fire and rescue services.

Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, commenting on the findings, said:

“Firefighters and control staff are facing yet another real terms pay cut while fire chiefs rake in huge salaries. FBU members are increasingly facing real ‘In Work’ poverty, with firefighters having to rely on foodbanks and take on additional jobs to afford the basics.

“At the same time, some fire chiefs are also trying to persuade firefighters and control staff to step back from industrial action, to simply shut up about salaries that are several times smaller than their bosses.

“It’s insulting and stinks of hypocrisy of some chief officers who refuse to make the case for better pay for their workers. Chief fire officers are not worth six times more than firefighters, it was the latter who were called key workers during the pandemic delivering vital services including moving the bodies of the deceased. Firefighters and control staff are being left with no other choice but to take action.”

Pay Details (Pay is for 2022 or latest/most recent available figure given)

Avon

£148,238

Bedfordshire

£100,490

Berkshire

£153,570

Buckinghamshire

£153,717

Cambridgeshire

£153,828

Cheshire

£168,993

Cleveland

£167,810

Cornwall

£103,818 to £112,139

Cumbria

£124,470

Derbyshire

£157,876

Devon and Somerset

£162,660

Dorset and Wiltshire

£165,296

Durham

£149,190

East Sussex

£150,150

Essex

£150,001 – £160,000

Gloucestershire

£135,000 – £139,999

Greater Manchester

£172,205

Hampshire & Isle of Wight

£167,223

Hereford & Worcester

£136,050

Hertfordshire

£131,730 – £177,879

Humberside

£151,790

Kent

£160,273

Lancashire

£157,651

Leicestershire

£135000 – £139999

Lincolnshire

£124,404

London

£206,040

Merseyside

£174,241

Mid and West Wales

£157,749

Norfolk

£115,173 and £133,521 per annum.

North Wales

£138,060

North Yorkshire

£128,647 – £136,250

Northamptonshire

£123,259

Northern Ireland

£130,187

Northumberland

£135,000-139,999

Nottinghamshire

£145,000

Oxfordshire

£145,765

Scotland

£185-195k

Shropshire

£132,666

South Wales

£139,831

South Yorkshire

£159,278

Staffordshire

£144,873

Suffolk

£129,000 – this is a spot salary.

Surrey

£114,405 – £137,286

Tyne and Wear

£157,745

Warwickshire

£132,228.00

West Midlands

£184,961

West Sussex

£142,450

West Yorkshire

£172,123.00

NB. If pay band given the upper bound has been taken

Source: FBU FOI requests

FOIs were sent in July 2022 and responses received over the following 3-4 months.

January 2, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Empey comments on Lord Benyon letter [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionist Party on 30 December 2022.

Ulster Unionist Peer, Lord Empey, who is a Member of the House of Lords Committee on the Northern Ireland Protocol, said of the letter sent by Environment Minister Lord Benyon to Committee chair Lord Jay:

“I read Lord Benyon’s letter with great concern. While he confirms that physical infrastructure will be constructed at Northern Ireland Ports to provide for checks on SPS (phytosanitary) products, he links this to the Protocol Bill currently going through Parliament. He says that this is to enable red and green channels to operate, so that goods destined for the EU can be subject to full EU checks and controls and full customs procedures.

“I am not persuaded that the Minister is giving the real reason for this process. On 1st March this year, Doug Beattie MC MLA, led an Ulster Unionist delegation to Brussels. At a meeting with European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, it was made clear that many of the irksome checks and a lot of paperwork could be streamlined and reduced to make the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland easier and less expensive. This, however, would have to be negotiated by the UK and the EU.

“The question of physical infrastructure was and is another matter. The EU is insisting on it for two main reasons:- 1) It is in the Treaty between the UK and the EU and 2) the EU is ensuring that in the event of a future outbreak of disease that could threaten the Single Market, the facilities are there to manage what would be significantly increased checks.

“The decision of Whitehall to brush aside the NI Department of Environment and Rural Affairs, whose responsibility it should be to provide these facilities, illustrates the commitment the Government is making to implement the Protocol.

“These facilities, when constructed, will be the physical manifestation of the ‘Border in the Irish Sea’ and downstream consequences of a badly negotiated and ill thought through Brexit.

“The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill is currently stalled in Parliament; no date has yet been set for its Report stage in the House of Lords and the Government is delaying its progress to avoid defeats and amendments which are highly likely to happen.

“The EU knows this and nobody is fooled by talk of trying to ‘show good faith in the negotiations’.

“It’s a sad day indeed when we are discussing arrangements to impede the flow of goods within our own country, and those who campaigned for a poorly designed Brexit have much to answer for. Had there been no Brexit there would be no border in the Irish Sea, no Protocol and no interruption to the working of the Devolved Institutions.

“I see no sign that the DUP policy of boycotting Stormont is working – quite the contrary.

“I think all of unionism needs to review the way forward on this very dangerous constitutional and economic crisis: things can’t go on as they are, especially in the middle of a terrible increase in poverty.

“Since January 2019, Ulster Unionists have advocated an alternative way forward, which would go some way to ending the democratic deficit we have here and lessen damage to our economy (attached).

“I hope these ideas could form the basis of talks between the parties here and between the UK and the EU.

“We need a fresh start in 2023 and these proposals could form the basis of serious negotiations.

“It is a scandal that Northern Ireland politicians continue to be excluded from the negotiations.”

January 2, 2023
Doug Beattie – 2022 New Year’s Message

The new year’s message made by Doug Beattie, the Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, on 31 December 2022.

As we come to the end of 2022 it would not be an understatement to call it an historic year. We celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, 70 years as our Monarch, an incredible achievement. Later we mourned her passing and then proclaimed a new Monarch, King Charles III. The Ulster Unionist Party also mourned the loss of our former leader, Lord Trimble, who did so much to bring peace to Northern Ireland alongside others, through the Belfast Agreement. Our thoughts are with his family and all those who lost loved ones.

Politically things have been difficult for the United Kingdom in 2022 with the Westminster Government going through several Prime Ministerial changes and our own devolved Government at Stormont, collapsing once again. Underpinning all this we saw war returning to Europe with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a cost-of-living crisis that has left many families struggling.

The Northern Ireland Protocol has dominated political discourse throughout 2022. The Ulster Unionists’ position on the protocol has not changed since 2019. We made the argument then that the protocol would not work and we have been proven right in the same way we said BREXIT could destabilise the United Kingdom and again we were proven right.

As the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party I have been clear that I am a whole United Kingdom unionist – that our actions as unionists in Northern Ireland must complement the Union of nations that make up the United Kingdom. This means taking our place within that Union, having our voice heard, putting country before party, people before self.

Unionist cooperation goes far beyond just political parties here in Northern Ireland. Unionist cooperation means cooperating with unionists in England, Scotland and Wales ensuring our actions do nothing to undermine any part of the Union while at the same time ensuring we create a prosperous United Kingdom with democracy, fiscal responsibility, security, social justice, equality and opportunity for all our citizens at its heart.

It is fair to say that throughout 2022 the ideals of the United Kingdom have been tested as never before as individual and party self-interests came to the fore. Unionism needs to be very careful that the protections for Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom that the late David Trimble and his colleagues brought about through the Belfast Agreement, are not washed away without a strategic estimate even taking place.

The Northern Ireland Protocol must be dealt with. It undermines the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom and that in itself, goes against well-established norms for international treaties. Yet due to BREXIT we must do something to protect our farming industry and other industries and services that create a strong economy which in turn creates a strong Northern Ireland that will maintain our place in the United Kingdom.

As a party we have put forward many solutions, some of which are now the main negotiating points between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

The Northern Ireland Protocol is a problem which will be solved by negotiation or legislation. However, the cost-of-living crisis, the crisis in our National Health Service and within our service sectors will only be dealt with through a functioning devolved government.

This will not be easy, but doing the right thing is seldom easy. As we enter 2023 we as Ulster Unionists have stark choices to make.

We either work to solidify our place within the United Kingdom by reaching out to all corners of our society with understanding, respectful of difference; by being confident, optimistic and positive unionists looking to promote ourselves within the United Kingdom, Europe and further afield.

Alternatively, we can withdraw from the government mechanisms of the United Kingdom, set ourselves alone and apart, and fail to have our voice heard or even acknowledged; promoting pessimistic, isolated unionism in Northern Ireland and watch it continue to flounder.

I am dedicated to following the first path in order to reach out to those who view themselves as unionists, who have pro-union views, or those who will happily remain within a prosperous United Kingdom although they may have different cultural views or have different long-term aspirations.

As I finish I would just ask you all to look beyond the slogans. View things strategically for 2023, see how by making this part of the United Kingdom prosper, by focusing on the economy, we secure Northern Ireland’s future.

Happy New Year to you all.

January 2, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Enhancement of Protocol related infrastructure at Northern Ireland ports is unacceptable – Tom Elliott [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 28 December 2022.

Ulster Unionist Party DAERA spokesperson, Tom Elliott MLA, has said the UK government are playing the role of a double agent by indicating the Westminster Protocol Bill is acting in the best interests of Northern Ireland, but then announcing the enhancement of the checks at local ports for incoming goods that are going onward to the EU.

Following the publication of a letter from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs late this afternoon (Wednesday 28th December 2022), Tom Elliott MLA, said:

“In what appears to be UK appeasement of the EU to enhance checks at Northern Ireland ports, there is no indication of anything positive coming from the UK Protocol legislation that will resolve the issues of the Protocol in Northern Ireland. The UK Government seems to be giving whilst getting nothing in return.

“It is time that we were provided with information on the progress of the negotiations between the UK and EU to establish if there is anything positive for those transporting goods into Northern Ireland.

“Many hauliers indicate that the paperwork associated with the Protocol is significantly adding to their workload and expense. There is nothing in this announcement to indicate that will be removed for ‘Green Lane’ goods, specifically those goods that remain in Northern Ireland.

“Unfortunately this announcement is enhancing the Protocol, which could potentially be to the detriment of addressing the core issues and ongoing problems.”

January 2, 2023