We have now launched our manifesto for the General Election on 8 June. It sets out how we will ensure that there is strong opposition to a re-elected and increasingly hard line Tory government at Westminster.
THE TIDE IS TURNING AGAINST THE NATIONALISTS – ALISTAIR DARLING
The tide is turning against the Nationalists as more and more voters demand they get back to the day job instead of campaigning for another divisive independence referendum, Alistair Darling said.
The former Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the successful Better Together campaign spoke with voters in East Renfrewshire today, where Labour candidate Blair McDougall is best placed to defeat the SNP.
While Nationalists marched in Glasgow in support of another divisive independence referendum, Labour stepped up its campaign against more SNP attempts to divide the country.
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of Better Together Alistair Darling said:
"The tide is turning against the Nationalists. More and more people across Scotland just want the SNP to get on with the day job, and drop its plans for another unwanted and unnecessary referendum.
"Instead of campaigning for better standards in our schools and hospitals, once again the Nationalists have taken to the streets to campaign for another divisive independence referendum. It shows how badly out of touch the Nationalists have become with what the majority in Scotland want.
"In seats throughout the country, for example in East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh South and East Lothian, Labour is best placed to defeat the Nationalists.
"On June 8 voters can back a local Labour champion who will fight for better schools and hospitals, or an SNP candidate who will spend every day campaigning for another divisive independence referendum."
Blair McDougall said:
"At the last General Election it was a straight contest between Labour and the SNP in East Renfrewshire. Despite rejecting nationalism in 2014 by overwhelmingly voting to remain in the UK, our area is represented by the SNP because the pro-Union vote was split.
"If voters in East Renfrewshire want to send Nicola Sturgeon a message that we don't want another divisive independence referendum then they have to vote Labour on June 8."
As the former Business Secretary I can’t not intervene at this decisive moment in British politics.
In a speech this week I condemned the Tories and Labour for turning their backs on the economy, and explained that the Liberal Democrats are the only real party of business.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Today the Lib Dems were endorsed by none other than The Economist. And a letter in the Financial Times from prominent tech figures also backs us.
Both Labour and the Conservatives are adopting a Brexit strategy that seems explicitly designed to inflict maximum economic damage. The storm clouds are already gathering – we are seeing rising inflation, falling real wages and rising personal debt.
Only the Lib Dems have a positive economic plan, including boosting spending while still achieving a surplus on the current budget.
Theresa May keeps insisting that no deal is better than a bad deal, but an extreme Brexit could be disastrous. Theresa May just doesn’t seem to care. If we crash out of the Single Market and customs union, respected independent estimates suggest that our trade will slump by almost a third by 2030.
Meanwhile, Labour’s plans for a spending spree funded by taxing the rich and corporations have been described by the IFS as wholly unrealistic, and will certainly scare off the investment and talent that are fundamental to our global economy.
The Lib Dems are the only party that genuinely recognises the crucial role of entrepreneurship in generating job creation, innovation and productivity.
As our endorsement by The Economist shows, we are rapidly becoming the only party of business.
Vote Lib Dem on 8th June.
Labour is
calling on the Tories to come clean on how many pensioners will be hit by their
plans for a dementia tax and means testing for Winter Fuel Payments.
With six
days to go until voting, Theresa May has still not ended the uncertainty facing
millions of pensioners.
Tory
plans to scrap universal Winter Fuel Payments could hit as many as 10.8 million
pensioners, according to a Labour analysis of Pension Credit data.
Meanwhile,
the Tories are still refusing to give a figure for the cap they will put on
their dementia tax, the name given to their plan to force people to pay for
social care with their homes.
An
analysis by the Labour Party shows the effect of the Tory dementia
tax on older people living in a house worth the average UK price of £217,500 if
the cap is set at £72,000 or £100,000 and they find they need home care at the
capped level.
At a cap
of £100,000, a person in this situation needing the capped amount of care would
lose 42 percent of the value of their estate. The more someone’s house is
worth, the lower the percentage they would lose.
Labour
has set out its pledges to older people – maintaining the triple-lock on state
pensions to protect incomes, investing £37 billion into the NHS and £8 billion
into social care over the next parliament and protecting Winter Fuel Payments
and free bus passes.
Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the
Labour Party,
commenting on this analysis, said:
“It is staggering that just six
days from polling day millions of pensioners still don’t know what’s in store
for them if they are unlucky enough to get dementia or any other condition that
needs care in the home.
“The dementia tax is itself unfair
but what’s made matters even worse is the way Theresa May announced a cap and
then failed to say how much it would be.
“Alongside this, older people face
the additional uncertainty of not knowing who will be eligible for a Winter
Fuel Payment. The introduction of a means test could mean more than ten million
people losing the payment.
“Theresa May’s only offer to
pensioners is insecurity and cuts. Labour will stand up for older people by
maintaining the triple-lock on state pensions, investing £8 billion into social
care over the next parliament and protecting winter fuel payments and free bus
passes.”
John McDonnell, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to
Michael Fallon’s claim to protect a wealthy few from income tax changes, while
not ruling out tax hikes for low and middle earners, said:
“The mask has finally slipped. The only guarantee
the Tories are prepared to give at this election is to big business and high
earners. While low and middle income earners have seen no guarantee from
Theresa May that their taxes won’t be raised. And pensioners are left to worry
about whether they will be able to heat their homes or even keep their homes,
with no clarity on cuts to winter fuel payments or the dementia tax.
"This confirms that the Tories truly are the party
for the few not the many. As only Labour can guarantee no rises in NICs or VAT, while 95 per cent of income taxpayers will be protected from tax hikes in the
next parliament.”