17 May 2017

*Co-leader Jonathan Bartley: “These pledges will never be enough to win back the young voters the Lib Dems betrayed”

The Green Party has responded to the Lib Dem manifesto, which has been published online and will be officially launched at an event in London later today [1].

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“The Lib Dems are trying to repair their broken relationship with young people but these pledges will never be enough to win back the young voters they betrayed in coalition with the Tories. While the Green Party shares some similar policies, such as votes at 16, banning fracking and taking in more refugees, how can we trust the Lib Dems to actually implement them?

“The Lib Dems are not the only ones with a strong stance on Brexit – the Greens have already promised a second referendum with the option of staying in the EU if voters don’t like the Government’s deal [2].

“But Brexit isn’t the only urgent issue we’re facing – the Lib Dems need to take off their Brexit blinkers and commit to tackling inequality as well. Shouting about Brexit and trying to woo young people will not hide Tim Farron’s terrible voting record: for reducing housing benefit, for the Bedroom Tax and against a bankers’ bonus tax.

“If the Lib Dems truly wanted to create a better future for young people they would be putting the fight against climate change and protecting our planet at the heart of their manifesto. The Lib Dem manifesto lacks a bold vision for the future. The Green Party is the only party committed to offering a real choice on the Brexit deal, protecting the environment and tackling inequality caused by Tory cuts.”

Notes:

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39942573
2. https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2017/05/02/greens-give-voters-chance-to-stay-in-eu/

Tweet

Back to main news page

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

This
morning the Chancellor, Phillip Hammond, further proved that he and the
Conservatives have no grip on the public finances. After seven years of Tory
economic failure, which has seen £700 billion added to the national debt despite
massive spending cuts, every household in Britain should fear more years of
Tory failure and incompetence.

In
the course of only five minutes of a car-crash interview, Philip Hammond showed
that he:

·        
Doesn’t
know the cost of his government’s biggest single investment, the HS2 high-speed
line, getting the cost wrong by more than a staggering £20 billion;

·        
Doesn’t
know how his own fiscal rule for spending works as he confused day-to-day
spending and investment spending;

·        
Doesn’t
have any clear plan in place to balance the public finances, including filling
the £2 billion black hole that his National Insurance u-turn created.

Just
a day after Labour published its comprehensive and fully-costed plans for the
economy, the Tories’ plans are in total disarray. The Chancellor couldn’t even
rule out further tax hikes for low and middle earners, unlike Labour who have
guaranteed no rises in employee National Insurance, no rises in VAT, and no
rises in income tax for 95 per cent of taxpayers. 

And
Phillip Hammond confirmed that relations between him and Number 10 are so bad
that they are reduced to expletive-laden phone calls.

Even
Theresa May doesn’t trust Philip Hammond any more, refusing to confirm today
that he will stay on as Chancellor after the election. If the Prime Minister
can’t trust her own Chancellor, why should the British people?

Labour’s
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Peter Dowd, said

“This
morning Philip Hammond has shown the Conservatives have no grip of the public
finances. It is worrying that the Chancellor clearly doesn’t know how much a
massive infrastructure project currently underway will cost, or the difference
between revenue and capital spending. The fact he doesn’t know how much money
he needs to put aside for major capital infrastructure projects and has no
plan to balance the public finances beggars belief.

“We
should not forget that there is already a £2 billion black hole in his first
Budget following his u-turn on increasing National Insurance. Nor should we
forget he has been part of a Tory government that has added £700 billion to the
national debt – more than all Labour governments in history.”

“Labour
is the only party with a fully costed plan to revive Britain’s economy and
close the Conservatives’ never ending budget deficit, while protecting
everyone from tax increases on VAT and NICs, as well as guaranteeing 95 per
cent of income taxpayers won’t face income tax rises.”

17 May 2017

Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has “shown her true colours” after threatening councillors with suspension for not doing a deal with the SNP.

Earlier today, it was confirmed that the Scottish Conservatives and Labour would form a coalition to run Aberdeen City Council.

Shortly after, Labour bosses said any councillors who signed up to this deal “will be in breach of Labour Party rules and may be suspended from the party”.

The pro-UK move by councillors in Scotland’s third biggest city is not popular with the wider party, which appears more enthusiastic for town hall deals to be done with the SNP.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said:

“Kezia Dugdale has shown her true colours.

“As soon as the SNP finally comes under pressure, she can’t wait to help them out by propping them up in local government.

“She says she’ll ‘discipline’ members who even think about working with pro-UK colleagues like the Conservatives, despite Labour and Conservatives having formed the Aberdeen City administration for almost all of her time as leader.

“She really is lost. No wonder Scottish Labour is continuing its death spiral.”

For more information, visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-39940006

17 May 2017

A Scottish Government report has once again confirmed the serious issues facing teacher training in Scotland.

The ITE analysis report commissioned by the Scottish Government revealed a huge variation in the amount of time being set aside to teach literacy on teacher training courses.

It showed that some universities are only dedicating 4 hours respectively to the teaching of numeracy and literacy.

It backs up evidence heard by the education committee last week where several trainee teachers stated that they had only received a week’s training on literacy.

The report was published ahead of a Scottish Conservative debate this afternoon that will set out new policies to improve literacy and numeracy in schools – following growing evidence that Scotland’s standards are slipping.

Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Liz Smith said:

“This is yet another damning report into the SNP’s record on education.

“Even their own studies show that trainee teachers are not receiving enough training on literacy.

“With literacy rates in our schools plummeting this is simply not good enough, and it’s time that the SNP took action.

“Ever since the Donaldson Report was published we’ve known that this was an issue, but in ten years of SNP government things are going backwards.

“Scots want to see our education system improve, and they want Nicola Sturgeon to ditch her plans for a second referendum and get back to the day job.”

A copy of the report is available here.

Graph 5 on page 23 shows the number of dedicated hours to each key area.

Solera’s acquisition of Autodata faces an in-depth merger probe, unless it offers acceptable ways of addressing competition concerns.