News, Events and Opinions from Our Region and beyond
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Article: Jul 20, 2022
Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper makes a good point.
"Every one of the remaining Conservative leadership candidates served in Boris Johnson's Government. They are all complicit in propping him up while families suffered.
"Every day this soap opera drags on, families and businesses can see that the Conservative Party has no answers to the issues they are facing.
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Article: Jul 12, 2022
A trio of Lib Dem by-election winners have been appointed to spokesperson roles by Ed Davey. Helen Morgan is now Levelling Up Spokesperson, Sarah Green will take on international trade and Richard Foord will take over the Defence Spokesperson role after the summer recess. A full list of Lib Dem spokespeople can be found here.
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Article: Jun 22, 2022
"Tory Block Vote keeps Council Report Secret"
"Councillors Ordered out of Meeting and Refused Right to Listen to Debate"
Tensions are running high in Harborough as a Conservative Block vote stopped all but a handful of Councillors from seeing a detailed confidential report.
In an electric atmosphere Lib Dem Leader on Harborough District Council, Cllr Phil Knowles, backed by his Deputy Cllr Roger Dunton took the fight to get the report released to all councillors to the heart of the Council Chamber. Click the link to read the Harborough Mail Article
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Article: Jun 9, 2022
The Liberal Democrats have joined with Liberal parties from across Europe to condemn the British government's proposals to scrap the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The annual ALDE Congress last weekend in Dublin called for genuine, workable solutions to the Protocol as opposed to the current ideological approach.
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Article: May 26, 2022
Sunak scam: Families being hit with £800 tax hike Whilst Chancellor Rishi Sunak' has announced further help with energy bill today he's also still levying a £22.4 bn tax bill:
● £13.8 bn in personal tax rises this year - through the National Insurance rise and the freezing of Income Tax thresholds
● £8.6 bn in extra VAT due to inflation this year
There are 28 million households in the country. This means the £22.4 billion amounts to a total tax hike of £800 per household.
According to the latest Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast from March 2022, the Government will raise an additional £13.8 billion from personal taxes in 2022-23. This comprises £2.9bn from the freezing of Income Tax thresholds and £10.9bn from the National Insurance increase. This takes into account the increase in NI thresholds announced at the Spring Statement.
The additional £8.6bn VAT hit is based on the latest forecasts for VAT receipts from the OBR, compared to its previous forecast published last year. VAT receipts forecasts are taken from the OBR's Economic and fiscal outlooks for March 2021 and March 2022. The difference between the March 2021 and March 2022 forecasts amounts to an additional VAT hit of £8.6bn in 2022-23.
Responding to the Chancellor's announcement on the cost of living, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
"The Chancellor is hammering families with a £800 tax hike this year, more than wiping out what he announced today.
"It is the Sunak scam, promising you help but picking your pockets while you're not looking.
"Soaring inflation and devastating tax rises have left proud families who never dreamed they would find themselves in trouble struggling to pay the bills.
"The British people need help right now, but instead have been left abandoned again for months on end.
"The simplest way to help people right now would be for Rishi Sunak to scrap his unfair tax hikes, starting with VAT. That would put money now back into people's pockets, boost the economy and support struggling businesses."