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 18th Jul 2008:

Welfare green paper ignores poverty pitfalls - Willott.

Commenting on today’s leaked version of the Welfare Green Paper, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Jenny Willott said: "Liberal Democrats have long been calling for the introduction of a single working age benefit while the Government has dragged its heels and made the present system ever more complex. "This green paper ignores that fact that over half of the adults living in poverty in the UK are in work, largely thanks to the poverty trap Labour has created with the prevalence of means-tested benefits. "Personalised back to work support represents progress, but this paper fails to address the needs of those with mental health problems, who make up 40% of those on incapacity benefit. "The Conservatives have resoundingly failed to explain how they would deal with any of these issues, concentrating on scoring cheap political points instead of providing substance. "The paper represents a step in the right direction, but there are potential pitfalls for child poverty and vulnerable people which must be addressed before the bill is presented to parliament."

Loss of more sensitive information shows shocking incompetence - Teather.

121 USB sticks containing sensitive information have been lost or stolen from the Ministry of Defence since 2004, including five containing information classified as ‘secret’. The figures were released in response to a Parliamentary question from Liberal Democrat MP, Sarah Teather on data loss in the MoD. Commenting, Sarah Teather said: "It seems that this Government simply cannot be trusted with keeping sensitive information safe. It is frightening to think that secret MoD information can be lost or stolen. "This shows a shocking degree of incompetence across the entire Government. "When different departments are losing sensitive data left, right and centre it is no wonder that people have lost confidence in Gordon Brown and Labour. "How can they expect us to trust them to keep our personal information safe in their unnecessary and expensive ID card scheme?"

Energy rises could leave families facing difficult winter - Clegg.

Commenting on warnings that energy bills could rise by more than 60% within the next few years, Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg said: "The time has come for the Government to admit that many families are going to face an increasingly difficult struggle paying their fuel bills. "The energy companies were recently handed a £9bn windfall thanks to the European emissions trading scheme. They should use that money for a massive home energy efficiency programme. "As the winter approaches, the energy firms should also be making sure that the poorest and most vulnerable customers are offered the best deals."

SATs should be scrapped - Laws.

Key Stage 3 SATs tests should be scrapped, following the debacle over this year’s test results, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws has said. Commenting, David Laws said: "The marking of this year’s national tests has been a disgrace. Thousands of children will now not receive their results until next term. "Following this marking and administrative shambles, the Government needs not merely to replace its contractor but to scrap Key Stage 3 tests altogether. "It is now clear that not only are the tests taken by 14-year olds expensive and unnecessary, but they are unreliable as well. It is unfair to put pupils and schools into high stakes tests where there is simply no confidence in the reliability of the marking. "While there is still a good case for having external tests at the end of primary school, many teachers agree that national tests at 14 are pointless and could be replaced with the school’s own exams. "The tens of millions of pounds saved by ending the Key Stage 3 tests should be used to identify and address educational failure where it first arises - in infant and primary schools."

Assessment of fiscal policy must be made by independent body - Cable.

Commenting on reports that the Treasury is to rewrite its fiscal rules, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: “The fiscal rules have no credibility when the Government keeps fiddling or changing them. “This step underlines what I and my colleagues have said for years, the assessment of fiscal policy must be made by an independent body in the same way interest rates are determined. “It’s completely lacking credibility for the Treasury to be marking its own exam papers and setting its own questions. What we need is an Ofsted for the economy.”

Thu 17th Jul 2008:

Plans for local policing flawed - Huhne.

Commenting on the police reform green paper, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "Ending central targets, more local policing and local accountability is the right way forward, but the details of this plan are flawed. "Electing only one person per borough or district to police authorities will create appalling geographical distortion with Tories wiped out in the North and Labour wiped out in the South. These plans will also systematically under-represent both women and ethnic minorities. "There is nothing in this paper that addresses the urgent need for a consensus on what works to cut crime. We need less heat and more light in this debate. One reason why the public think crime is rising when it is falling is the toxic battle between Labour and the Tories on populist measures. "We need an agency assessing the most effective police and criminal justice measures much as NICE does with treatments in the health service. "The police should be allowed to get on with the job of catching criminals, which all the research shows is the most effective deterrent to crime."

Number of children taking drugs shockingly high - Lamb .

Commenting on today’s NHS statistics which show that 25% of children aged 11-15 have tried drugs at least once, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: "While the fall in children experimenting with drugs is welcome, the percentage of children trying drugs is still shockingly high. "The Government must ensure that public health messages on the dangers of drugs and alcohol continue to get through."

Ghost flights are disgraceful - Baker.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker today challenged Gordon Brown to take action against airlines that run so-called ‘ghost flights’, in which they fly short-haul trips with near-empty aircraft in order to preserve their take-off and landing slots. Norman Baker said: "It is disgraceful that these environmentally damaging ghost flights are taking place. "I welcome Gordon Brown’s admission that these flights are unacceptable and his promise to look into the problem. "However, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. Will he take action or will he continue to cave in to the aviation industry?"

Compensation packages cannot repair damage done by long-term neglect - Harvey.

Commenting on Des Browne’s announcement that compensation packages for injured soldiers are to be improved, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said: "Under intense public, media and parliamentary pressure, the Government has at last issued a handful of proposals to make life better for our service personnel. "Gordon Brown is setting himself high standards with this paper but it remains to be seen whether he will deliver. "Hopefully these measures will improve the lot of forces’ personnel, but they cannot repair the damage already done by the long-term neglect of the welfare of service men and women. "Neither will the changes make any significant difference to the intense pressures that forces’ families are put under by the critical overstretch of our armed forces."

Fear of crime rises as crime figures fall - Huhne .

Commenting on today’s crime figures, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "The public has lost faith in the crime figures. The Government tells them crime is falling but a rising number of people - now two thirds - think it is getting worse. If crime and the fear of crime are to be tackled, Labour and the Tories must stop posturing on penalties and start focusing on what works, which is getting more police on the street and catching criminals. "The contrast between falling crime and rising fear of crime is a product of Labour and the Tories, ably supported by sections of the media, seeking to exploit a politics of fear for their own ends. "The responsibility for crime statistics must be taken away from the Home Office and given to the Office of National Statistics as a matter of urgency. "It shows just how slow the Government has been to tackle knife crime that it has only just started recording knife offences and still does not survey crimes concerning under-16s, even though this group has seen rapidly increasing hospital admissions for stab wounds. "Unlike most journalists, ministers still cannot tell us how many murders were committed using knives last year. It is shocking and troubling that 13.4% of those aged 16 to 24 years old have been victims of violence, according to these figures. "Only one in four crimes that people can be bothered to report to the police are actually cleared up, including less than half of violent crimes. Increasing the detection rate will have a far greater impact on crime than any bidding war in the tabloids about who can set the toughest sentences. "Ministers are quick to trumpet their record on crime but in reality crime has been falling since the mid-90s, before Labour came to power, as it has across Western Europe. The only western European country where crime is rising is Belgium."

Superbug rise show Government success claims premature - Lamb.

Commenting on Government figures released today which reveal cases of the superbug C. difficile have increased six percent in the last quarter, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: "These figures show that ministers’ claims of success were premature. The increase in C diff is particularly disturbing given that it was looking as though progress was being made in the fight against superbugs. "This casts doubt on the Government’s strategy, which focused on a clinically unjustified deep clean, and has ignored the problem of superbugs in care homes and nursing homes. "Ministers have failed to implement best practice across the country, with some hospitals winning the fight against superbugs, and others failing massively."

Ministers must implement Soham recommendations - Huhne.

Commenting on the news that recommendations made after the official inquiry into the Soham murders remain unimplemented, Liberal Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "Serious crime can only be tackled by cooperating with our EU neighbours. "Ministers continually trumpet their record on deporting foreign criminals but no one can be sure how many have slipped through the net because of their failure to implement basic safeguards. "Four years is an awfully long time in which to have made no progress on a number of Bichard’s recommendations, including a much needed common IT system."

University selection exams a barrier to participation - Williams.

Commenting on today’s Universities UK report that reveals one in seven universities are now using their own exams to select students, Liberal Democrat Shadow Innovations, University and Skills Secretary, Stephen Williams said: "There is a risk that the use of selection exams by universities could be acting as a further barrier to widening participation. "Taking such tests can be costly and pupils from better-off backgrounds are more likely to be ‘coached’ in advance. "Ministers should at least give serious consideration to radically overhauling the admissions system so that students apply after they receive their A-Level results. "Bright pupils who have not considered applying to university may then rethink their decision once they have got their results. It would also give institutions more confidence in prospective students’ abilities, rather than expecting them to rely on predicted grades."

Government has failed the elderly - Goldsworthy.

Commenting on today’s Audit Commission report on adult social care, Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said: "One of Gordon Brown’s first pledges was to deal with the ageing population but his Government’s record is one of failure. "The web of targets has trapped councils and prevented them acting innovatively to support older people in all areas of their lives. "A painfully tight budget settlement has left councils struggling to meet the immediate challenge of helping those most in need of adult social care. In too many areas around the country this is now rationed to those in the most extreme need. "Ministers would like to palm this challenge entirely on to local government, but they have ensured that resources are very scarce at a local level."

Government must admit it failed to regulate Equitable Life properly - Cable.

Commenting on today’s Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report into the collapse of Equitable Life, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "After eight years and 13 reports it’s time for the Government to finally admit that it comprehensively failed to regulate Equitable Life properly. "For years ministers have acted like they were in a castle under siege, hoping that Equitable Life policy holders would give up and go away. Today’s report shows that, rightly, this is not going to happen. "Gordon Brown has overseen a complete and repeated failure of regulation spanning a decade. The outrage expressed by policyholders over this ‘serial regulatory failure’ is entirely justified. "After months of dragging its feet, the Government needs to accept the Ombudsman’s recommendation that ‘wrongs should be remedied’. "If ministers choose to disregard this report, as they have done over tax credits and occupational pensions, it will be the final nail in the coffin for the Ombudsman’s credibility. "These are large sums of money, especially at a time when belts are being tightened. Gordon Brown must now admit fault and apologise to policyholders. "It is critical that the Government now sets out a credible, transparent and independent process to enter into a dialogue with policy holders over compensation."

Labour failing on ethnic minority employment - Willott.

Commenting on today’s Public Accounts Committee report on increasing employment rates for ethnic minorities, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Jenny Willott said: "Labour’s welfare policies have been neglecting hard to reach groups for a decade and ethnic minorities are sadly no different. This situation is dramatically worse for ethnic minority women. "The training and language courses on offer are falling short and must be improved as a matter of urgency or they will simply be a continuing waste of money. "Ministers must stop chasing headlines with badly thought out gimmicks and instead allow initiatives time to work. Otherwise we will never find a formula that really delivers for ethnic minorities."

University selection exams a barrier to participation - Williams.

Commenting on today’s [Thursday] Universities UK report that reveals one in seven universities are now using their own exams to select students, Liberal Democrat Shadow Innovations, University and Skills Secretary, Stephen Williams said: "There is a risk that the use of selection exams by universities could be acting as a further barrier to widening participation. "Taking such tests can be costly and pupils from better-off backgrounds are more likely to be ‘coached’ in advance. "Ministers should at least give serious consideration to radically overhauling the admissions system so that students apply after they receive their A-Level results. "Bright pupils who have not considered applying to university may then rethink their decision once they have got their results. It would also give institutions more confidence in prospective students’ abilities, rather than expecting them to rely on predicted grades."

Government has failed the elderly - Goldsworthy.

Commenting on today’s [Thursday] Audit Commission report on adult social care, Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said: "One of Gordon Brown’s first pledges was to deal with the ageing population but his Government’s record is one of failure. "The web of targets has trapped councils and prevented them acting innovatively to support older people in all areas of their lives. "A painfully tight budget settlement has left councils struggling to meet the immediate challenge of helping those most in need of adult social care. In too many areas around the country this is now rationed to those in the most extreme need. "Ministers would like to palm this challenge entirely on to local government, but they have ensured that resources are very scarce at a local level."

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