Responding to DCMS Secretary Nadine Dorries' comments regarding the future of the BBC, Liberal Democrat DCMS Spokesperson Jamie Stone MP said:
"This latest Tory attack on the BBC threatens to destroy a service which is respected around the world for its high quality content.
"Freezing the license fee represents a stealth cut of almost £2 billion that will put services, including local radio stations and children's programming, at risk.
Liberal Democrat MPs have tabled a motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson and have written to Jacob Rees-Mogg to ask that it is given parliamentary time.
The motion been so far been signed by 18 MPs from four parties. These include all thirteen Liberal Democrat MPs, two Labour MPs, two from Plaid Cymru and Stephen Garry from the Alliance Party.
It's tempting to post another article which ridicules our Prime Minister for his ludicrous excuse that he attended the Downing Street "Bring your own booze party" but hadn't mentioned it in earlier denials because he thought it was work ( don't ask why he didn't notice there were 30 people milling around with glasses and there was a table laid out with tasty nibbles!).
A 3% rise in Band D Council Tax, increases in fees and charges, and cuts to staff are on the menu for the WC budget. Here's the WC announcement:
Wiltshire Council's proposed budget for 2022/23 has been published, outlining how the council is planning to bridge a deficit of £27m.
The impact of the pandemic is still being felt, but despite this the council is forecasting an underspend at the conclusion of the 2021/22 financial year. This will put the council in a strong position as it heads into the 2022/23 year, but amid the ongoing uncertainties of the pandemic, this continues to be a very challenging time financially for the public sector.
Shocking new figures have revealed that nearly 1,000 dentists across England have left the profession in the past year.
The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to do more to stop the decline in dentist numbers - and help people across the country access an NHS dentist.Lib Dem leader Ed Davey MP raised the issue directly with the Government minister in January. Ed said: "The lack of NHS dentists across England is a real crisis. The Conservatives talk a good game on the NHS, but leaving so many people without access to a dentist shows just how little they really care about the nation's health."
The Liberal Democrats have said that scrapping free Lateral Flow Testing would create a "cost of living with Covid crisis" for millions as the Government issued a non-denial denial of reports of a proposal to scrap free tests.
Southwest Wiltshire Liberal Democrats, Spokesperson Ellen Nicholson, herself a registered nurse in the NHS said "Lateral Flow Tests should remain free for as long as the Government are asking people with Coronavirus to self-isolate. The Government as spent billions on unlawful Covid contracts to their chums, but intends to scrap free covid tests plunging millions into a cost of living with Covid crisis".
"Scrapping free tests when cases are at record levels would be hugely counter-productive and would hit those who can least afford it hardest, at a time when families are already being clobbered by rising taxes and energy bills.
"It's clear that the Government's left-hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Ministers have already confirmed to our Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP that they will end free lateral flows but then said on national TV that they "didn't recognise" reports - a classic non-denial denial.
Ed Davey has said that Boris Johnson must resign over the Downing Street parties. He said:
"Boris Johnson has broken the law and lied to Parliament and the country, and he must now go.
"Millions of people obeyed the lockdown rules, often at huge personal cost. They missed funerals, cancelled weddings and said goodbye to dying loved ones on video calls - some on the very day that Number Ten illegally hosted a garden party.
The government's use of a "VIP lane" to award contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) to two companies was unlawful, the High Court has ruled.
Campaigners claimed the VIP lane was reserved for referrals from MPs, ministers and senior officials and gave some companies an unfair advantage.
In 2021 we achieved something we've not achieved since 1993: winning two Parliamentary by-elections in the same year off the Conservatives. We start this new year with a larger Parliamentary Party than any of us would have dared dream of a year ago. (A winning run that has continued with the first council by-election of this year too - congratulations to now councillor Andrew Dunkin who won a seat from Labour from third place.)
Following Conservative MPs voting against Labour's opposition day motion on energy bills, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
"We are bitterly disappointed that the Conservatives have voted to do nothing for people facing soaring heating bills.
"Millions of people are facing a choice between heating and eating and yet the Tories are still refusing to act.
"The Conservatives are forcing families into poverty and won't even take the simplest of measures to give people a bit of support."
Ellen Nicholson, South West Wiltshire Liberal Democrats spokesperson said "the Lib Dems have proposed a "Robin Hood Tax" - a one-off levy on firms who have made huge profits from record high gas prices. This would include oil and gas producers along with energy traders such as Gazprom's trading arm that profit from betting on fluctuations in energy prices. The levy would raise an estimated £5 billion to £7 billion".
This would be spent on:
Doubling and extending the Warm Homes Discount (£2bn): Taking £300 a year off the heating bills of around 7.5 million vulnerable and low income households, by more than doubling the Warm Homes Discount and extending it to all those on Universal Credit and Pension Credit. This would also reduce energy bills for all households across the country, as currently the Warm Homes Discount is paid for by other customers rather than through taxing the super-profits of oil and gas companies.
Doubling the Winter Fuel Allowance (£1.9bn): Giving up to £600 a year to 11.3 million elderly pensioners to help with their heating bills, through a one-off doubling of the Winter Fuel Allowance. Pensioners are currently facing a £208 real-terms cut to the state pension next year due to the Conservative government's decision to scrap the triple lock. This would cost an estimated £1.9 billion.
A new ten-year home insulation scheme (£500m): This would be spent on reducing people's energy bills in the long-term through an emergency home insulation programme to upgrade poorly insulated UK homes - including through fully funded grants for those in fuel poverty and on low incomes. This would cost an estimated £500 million in the next year.
Supporting energy intensive businesses (£500m): This funding would be used to support businesses and protect jobs in energy-intensive industries, while helping firms reduce their need for energy in the long-term.
