Flying start to 2023

 [Data from ALDC}

In total 38 principal council by-elections were contested in the first quarter of 2023. The Lib Dems are net up by 5 seats, while the Conservatives are down by 9 councillors.

The New Green Liberal Democrat Executive

The Green Liberal Democrats elected their new executive committee at Lib Dem Spring Federal Conference in York last weekend.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chair: Keith Melton
Honorary Treasurer: Jordan Summers
Vice Chair Policy: Kevin Langford
Vice Chair Organisation: Anne Robson
Vice Chair Communications: Jules Ewart & George Miles
Vice Chair Campaigns: Jed Marson
Youth Officer: VACANT

Local party secretary Frank Little writes:

It is sadly typical of our times that no younger person has come forward to work to further the development of the organisation. 

Tory MPs vote for 15 more years of sewage dumping

 

New regulations passed by Conservative MPs will allow water companies to continue dumping sewage into our rivers and seas for another 15 years.

In the last two years water companies in England dumped raw sewage 775,568 times lasting 5,768,679 hours.

The new legislation set a target of an 80% reduction in phosphates in rivers by 2038. Phosphates are naturally occurring minerals found in human waste and can lead to a dramatic growth in algae and deplete oxygen levels when they are dumped in rivers.

This is a pathetic target which allows water companies to get away with a staggering 15 more years of shameful sewage dumping. This is a betrayal of the British public who rightly want tougher action against water companies.

Why on earth would you do this? https://t.co/0F2bfDzaXw

- Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) January 26, 2023

The water companies that are responsible for dumping sewage into our rivers, lakes and coastal waters every day, now have 15 years to clean up their act. Meanwhile their top execs have paid themselves £51 million, including £30.6 million in bonuses over the last two years.

Conservative MPs should be ashamed of themselves. It will be swimmers and treasured wildlife which pay the price for the flimsy target. Water company execs will be cheering this through parliament.

Liberal Democrats proudly voted against these unacceptably weak targets.

Happy International Women's Day to all women across Wales!

 

Let down by Labour/Plaid cooperation

 The current emergency in our A&E departments is directly linked to a failure to reform social care.

Reforming social care was a key promise of the Labour and Plaid Cymru Co-operation Agreement, yet things appear to be worse than ever.

We need action now.

Save families in Neath and Port Talbot from £500 energy bill rise in April

Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats demand that the Government cancel plans to hike the average household energy bill by £500 in April, and bring in a tax on the “bonanza bonuses” of oil and gas bosses.

The party is calling for cuts to people's bills instead, combined with a new energy support package for businesses and essential public facilities,

In April the Conservatives are planning to hike the energy price guarantee by £500. 

The Liberal Democrats' plans would mean that in Neath Port Talbot the average household would be £410.64 better off. In total, Neath Port Talbot would save a huge £26,202,586.

Local Lib Dems see new price hikes now as a “hammer blow” to families and businesses already struggling and that action is needed now to save people from a “cost of living cliff-edge.”

Nationally, the Liberal Democrats have set out their plan to tackle the energy crisis including: 

1. A windfall tax on oil and gas companies to raise billions of pounds

2. A cancellation of the Governments £500 energy bill rise in April 

3. A one-off bonus tax on oil and gas executives

4. Doubling the Warm Homes Discount to £300.

5. A U-turn on plans to slash energy bill support for businesses, leisure centres, schools and hospitals by 85%, and instead extend current levels of support for another six months.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey added:

“Rishi Sunak must act now to save families from a cost-of-living cliff edge, by cutting energy bills instead of increasing them. People deserve a fair deal - with a large cut to their energy bills, paid for by a proper windfall tax and a one-off levy on the bonuses of oil and gas bosses.”

A year on, our unequivocal support continues

 

Lib Dems in parliament force government retreat on sewage

 This message came through tonight from Richard Foord, our MP for Tiverton:

Frank, after nearly 18 months of campaigning at every level across our party, we Liberal Democrats have finally worn down the Government on sewage. I have just tabled an amendment to the UK Infrastructure Bank Bill, which has just been passed in the House of Commons, with the Government standing down their opposition to our campaign. The amendment ensures that the Government’s new Infrastructure Bank will not invest in water companies unless they produce a costed and time-limited plan to end sewage discharges into local rivers. The prospect of taxpayers' funds going to water companies who are paying their executives millions of pounds in bonuses, while permitting prolific sewage discharges is scandalous. Together, we have stopped this from happening. This is a victory for millions of people across the country who have voiced their outrage at water companies being allowed to get away with polluting rivers, lakes and coastlines. As the only political party tackling this issue, the Liberal Democrats have been their voice on this environmental scandal and we will continue to champion their cause. This has truly been a victory for our entire party. From grassroots activists protesting on beaches and at riversides to local campaigners, councillors, MPs and Peers tackling this matter on every level of Government. Our Parliamentary staff and advisers have worked tirelessly to produce damning research and get this amendment passed, and our Media and Digital teams have made sure our story hit the headlines and our social media campaigns are seen by millions of people across the country. We have proved that when we work together, we can win together. However, there is still a long way to go. The Government is still refusing to ban sewage discharges into swimming water and areas where protected wildlife live. And they are still refusing to ban water company CEO's rewarding themselves with bonuses whilst this environmental scandal happens. Will you join our campaign to Stop Sewage Dumping today, and help us continue to fight for what we know is right?

Back our Campaign  ➜ A further example of the value of Liberal Democrat representation at Westminster.

Lost £4.3 bn, recovered only a fraction

 

By the end of last year, the authorities had recovered only £18m of the money lost over fraudulent PPE contracts.

Ambulance targets in Wales are not being met

 

Sign here to back our five-point plan to solve ambulance waiting times in Wales:

Today's GIG stats painting a pretty abysmal picture

 

 

UK by-election review of 2022

 Thanks to ALDC for these infographics

(NB: the net figures conceal a few Conservative gains from Labour.)

Westminster and Cardiff Bay laissez-faire attitude to sewage on beaches

 

Wales' beaches are being spoiled by water companies that show little regard for where they dump sewage.

Meanwhile, both the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay and the Conservative Government in Westminster are failing to tackle the problem.

https://nation.cymru/.../sewage-dumped-on-wales-blue.../

Building Safety Crisis: Labour must act

 

Welsh Labour has let victims of the Building Safety Crisis down for almost 6 years. Enough is enough, Labour must act and put an end to victims suffering.

There are easy steps they can take to fix this crisis.

https://www.welshlibdems.wales/cladding

Back Our Campaign to Rejoin the Single Market

Our departure from the EU has fundamentally changed how Wales interacts with the rest of the world. It is now abundantly clear that Brexit is seriously damaging the Welsh economy, from our ability to trade with the world to the damage to our ports, to adding to the cost-of-living crisis.

This damage is not down to “teething problems”; it is inherent in the model of the Conservatives' Brexit Deal - including the departure from the Single Market and the Customs Union - that the Conservative Party chose to pursue.

Sign our petition below and help us work towards re-joining the Single Market and Customs Union.

https://www.welshlibdems.wales/rejointhesinglemarket

St David's Day should be a bank holiday

 

You can back our campaign below:

https://www.welshlibdems.wales/make_st_david_s_day_a_bank_holiday/

Ed Davey's Christmas Message

Merry Christmas!

I love this time of year. The cards, the carols, the chocolate. And spending precious time with our family. To celebrate together, to have fun together, and to give each other presents and thanks.

And to give thanks to God. For me, the message of Christmas is for us to treat others - as we would wish to be treated. And the symbol of Christmas is light, even in the darkest week of the year, the light of hope. Hope we so desperately need in these most challenging of times.

So from my family to yours: We wish you a Christmas full of peace, joy and love. And hope. Hope for a better future.

And as we hold in our hearts those less fortunate than ourselves. Who won't share Christmas with the comfort of family. Whether because loved ones have died. Or because they've been separated by war and destruction. Let’s give them the gift of hope this Christmas too.

Happy Christmas.

 

Congratulations

 

Aberavon and Neath Lib Dems: Ban home repossessions and evictions over the Christmas period

Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to bring in an emergency ban on banks repossessing people’s homes over the Christmas period.

It comes as analysis by the party revealed a “nightmare before Christmas,” with roughly 62,500 homeowners nationwide due to see their mortgage rate hiked between now and 31 December.

Locally in Neath Port Talbot there were 21 possession warrants and 6 mortgage repossessions in the last 12 months. 

The Liberal Democrats are also calling on the Government to immediately bring in its long-promised ban on no-fault evictions to protect renters, along with an increase in housing benefits and a moratorium on evictions based on rent arrears to protect those facing soaring rental prices. In Neath Port Talbot, official stats show 21 tenant evictions in the past year. 

Liberal Democrats warn that the government must act now. No-one should face losing their home over Christmas because the Conservatives crashed the economy.

The Liberal Democrat proposals would include a temporary ban on banks repossessing people’s homes over the Christmas period. The party is also calling for a Mortgage Protection Fund to support homeowners hardest hit by soaring mortgage prices. 

The latest figures nationally show a significant increase in people at risk of seeing their home repossessed, with 3,680 mortgage possessions claims in the courts between July and September, up 30% on the same period last year.

Families in Wales are facing a nightmare before Christmas, with monthly mortgage and rent payments going through the roof. The anxiety of eviction hangs over far too many people's heads. 

UK Finance data show that 600,000 fixed-term mortgage deals will expire in the second half of 2022, with those mortgage holders usually moved to much higher Standard Variable Rate mortgages. This suggests that roughly 62,466 will see their fixed-rate deals end in the 19 days between today (Wednesday December 14th) and December 31st.

In November, the Bank of England said that a typical mortgage holder in this group would face an increase in mortgage payments of around £3,000 a year (Monetary Policy Report, p. 53).

A temporary ban on home repossessions was brought in during the Covid pandemic, but was lifted in May 2021. Banks also collectively agreed last year not to carry out any repossessions over the Christmas period.

The Liberal Democrats are proposing a new Mortgage Protection Fund, which would provide temporary grants to those most at risk of repossession – homeowners on the lowest incomes and those seeing the sharpest rises in mortgage rates. Anyone who sees their mortgage payments rise by more than 10% of their household income would get a grant to cover the cost of that rise for the next year, up to a maximum of £300 a month. 

The Liberal Democrats are also calling on the government to urgently bring back pandemic-era protections for renters, including:

• An immediate ban on no-fault evictions
• A moratorium on evictions on grounds of rent arrears, unless arrears exceed 6 months. This measure was in place for 6 months in 2020-21.
• Extend the mandatory notice period given by landlords from the current 2 months to 6 months. This was in place for 18 months in 2020 and 2021.

O, what a falling-off was there

Things have changed: last month, nearly 2,000 voters were asked to give their view of Liz Truss in just one word. Here’s what they said:

And here’s what people said last weekend:

This is one of the most astonishing and precipitous falls in popularity on record. The time has come to return to a different kind of political party. Liberal Democrat members shape our direction and approach, not union bosses nor hedge funds, multinational corporations or Russian money. The message is now hitting home:  this Conservative Government is taking you for granted, the Liberal Democrats would offer you a fair deal, and our local candidate is a true local champion. The voters of Tiverton & Honiton, of Chesham & Amersham and of North Shropshire have shown that they have taken this message to heart.