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Tag: Liberal Democrats

  • PRESS RELEASE : Liberal Democrats – A new right to see your GP within 7 days [November 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Liberal Democrats – A new right to see your GP within 7 days [November 2022]

    The press release issued by the Liberal Democrats on 7 November 2022.

    Far too many people are struggling to get a GP appointment when they need one, leaving them waiting anxiously for the care they deserve.

    In September alone, 8.9 million GP appointments involved a wait of more than a week, with 5 million waiting longer than the Government’s own target of two weeks.

    This has terrible consequences for people’s health, and for our NHS. It can lead to important diagnoses being missed or delayed, and can force desperate people to call an ambulance or take themselves into A&E.

    The blame for this crisis is clear, and it isn’t the country’s overstretched GPs. It’s the Conservative Government. Back in 2019, the Conservatives promised to deliver 6,000 more doctors, but the number of qualified GPs has actually fallen by 500.

    People across the country are suffering from years of neglect under the Conservatives, who have repeatedly broken their promises on local health services. It’s just not good enough.

    That’s why the Liberal Democrats are calling for patients to have a new right: to see a GP within 7 days, or within 24 hours if they urgently need to.

    Of course, delivering on that right can’t mean copying the Conservatives’ failed approach, of just setting the targets, cutting GP numbers, and then blaming GPs when the targets are missed.

    That’s why we have set out a clear plan for how the Government should step up and recruit 8,000 more GPs and free up more of their time, including by:

    Increasing training places for GPs and medical school places across the country.

    Fixing the broken NHS pension rules to help experienced GPs stay in the profession.

    Giving more prescribing rights and public health advisory services to qualified pharmacists, nurse practitioners and appropriately trained paramedics.

    Introducing a 24/7 phone line to manage the booking of appointments more efficiently.

    Empowering GPs to spend more of their budgets as they see fit by removing top-down bureaucracy.

    By giving doctors the time and the tools they need to do their jobs, we can make sure everyone gets the care they need, when they need it.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Liberal Democrats Fight Draconian Measures in the Public Order Bill [November 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Liberal Democrats Fight Draconian Measures in the Public Order Bill [November 2022]

    The press release issued by the Liberal Democrats on 1 November 2022.

    Today, Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords have strongly opposed the Government’s draconian Public Order Bill. 

    This Bill is yet another desperate Conservative attempt to distract from their incompetence by giving the police yet more unnecessary powers.

    Having served as a Public Order Specialist in the Metropolitan Police, I know the limiting factor in controlling protests is the lack of suitably trained police officers, not inadequate police powers, and currently serving police officers agree with me.

    Of course, no one should be obstructing ambulances from taking patients to hospital, but those found guilty of obstructing our roads can already be sent to prison, and some are already behind bars. This Government wants more.

    These are about cracking down on everyone’s rights to peacefully gather and to protest. These rights are fundamental to democracy and our principles as liberals. We will not stand by as this Government strips them away from us.

    The already disgraced Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, is pushing for new powers to:

    ● Ban people from future protests even if they’ve never been to a protest before and have never been convicted of any offence

    ● Give the police even more ‘stop and search’ powers, including blanket powers to search without any reason to suspect someone of wrongdoing

    ● Target climate change protestors 

    People could be banned from protests based on rumour or gossip on the balance of probabilities but sent to prison if they breach any of the conditions imposed on them, which could include being electronically tagged. All this for merely encouraging or facilitating a protest that ends-up causing disruption, even if they did not know that would be the result.

    These new laws will not only restrict the democratic rights of every citizen, but they will also disproportionately affect those from minority backgrounds – you’re 19 times more likely to be targeted by the police if you’re black under existing suspicionless stop and search powers.

    Many minorities feel they are not represented in Parliament, so their right to protest is even more important, and yet they are the most likely to be discouraged from taking to the streets by these dreadful new laws.

    As Liberal Democrats, we will not tolerate this clear assault on our human rights. 

    Alongside my Liberal Democrat colleagues in the House of Lords, we will fight this Bill every step of the way.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Conservatives must do patriotic duty and back election [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Conservatives must do patriotic duty and back election [October 2022]

    The press release issued by the Liberal Democrats on 20 October 2022.

    Boris Johnson failed our country and Liz Truss trashed our economy. The Conservatives have proven time and time again they are not fit to lead our great country.

    We do not need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis, we need a general election, we need the Conservatives out of power and we need real change.

    It is time for Conservative MPs to do their patriotic duty, put the country first and give the people a say.

    Boris Johnson

    The fact that Conservative MPs are even considering putting Boris Johnson back in Number 10 shows how out of touch they really are. They think there’s one rule for them and another for everyone else.

    Boris Johnson was forced to resign in disgrace after countless lies, scandals and failures. He shattered public trust in the government and plunged the UK into a political crisis. He must never be allowed near Downing Street again.

    The future of our country should be in the hands of voters, not the Conservative MPs who have caused all this chaos.

    Deny Truss the £115k a year taxpayer dividend

    Liz Truss will forever be known as the fifty-day Prime Minister. There is no way that she should be permitted to access the same £115k a year for life fund as her recent predecessors – all of whom served for well over two years.

    To make matters worse, Truss’s legacy is an economic disaster – for which the Conservatives are making taxpayers foot the bill. For Truss to walk off into the sunset with a potential six figure dividend, while leaving the British public to suffer, would be unconscionable.

    This huge potential payout will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of the millions of people struggling with spiralling bills and eye-watering mortgage rate rises thanks to the Conservatives’ economic mismanagement.