Your Latest Briefing from the Liberal Democrats in Parliament

Dear John,

The Liberal Democrats have achieved a great deal in Parliament over the past few months and our MPs and Peers are ready to drive through more change in Parliament’s next session, which will follow the State Opening of Parliament on 7th November.

Much has changed since our last parliamentary briefing. Most notably, we had the election of our new MP Sarah Dyke! Sarah is already working hard for the people of Somerton & Frome, championing her constituents’ views in the Commons and holding the Government to account.

If you haven’t heard Sarah’s maiden speech yet, you can do so here:

Watch ➜

⏲️ Watch time: 11 mins

Here are some recent contributions and achievements from Lib Dems in Parliament. 🔽

The Israel-Gaza conflict

The horrifying conflict in Israel and Gaza has been top of the agenda in Westminster since Hamas’ appalling terrorist attack on 7th October.

Layla Moran (MP for Oxford West and Abingdon) is the first British-Palestinian MP and has immediate family in the West Bank and extended family in Gaza, giving her a powerful voice on this subject. Layla spoke about standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Jewish community, sharing a common grief, and seeking consensus:

Watch ➜

⏲️ Watch time: 1 min

Ed Davey (MP for Kingston & Surbiton) affirmed that Israel unquestionably has the right to protect its citizens and target Hamas. He called for a temporary humanitarian ceasefire: a pause in hostilities to allow the hostages to be released and to get essential aid to Palestinian civilians:

Watch ➜

⏲️ Watch time: 1 min

The Israel-Gaza conflict

Meanwhile in the House of Lords, Lord Newby condemned the antisemitic incidents in the UK which have tragically already increased following this awful violence, and urged the Government to get far more aid into Gaza:

Watch ➜

⏲️ Watch time: 5 mins

Lord Purvis of Tweed recalled the kibbutz he and other Liberal Democrat parliamentarians visited last year, where 16 people were murdered on 7th October. He spoke about the need to work even harder for a two-state solution where both Israelis and Palestinians can live in security and peace.

Watch ➜

⏲️ Watch time: 15 mins

Workplace Harassment Bill passed

We are delighted that Wera Hobhouse’s (MP for Bath) Private Members’ Bill on workplace sexual harassment has now become law.

This legislation makes employers liable to their employees if they have not taken reasonable steps to prevent harassment, effectively shifting the responsibility for prevention from individual employees to employers.

The Bill aims to transform workplace culture, addressing the blight of harassment that afflicts our society. Countless cases of workplace harassment go unreported, often due to individuals feeling embarrassed or concerned about the potential repercussions on their careers. Shifting the responsibility to employers will confront this.

You can read the full Bill here and watch Wera’s speech on the bill via the following link:

Watch ➜

⏲️ Watch time: 1 min

Congratulations to Wera, Baroness Burt (who steered the Bill through the Lords), and their teams on this outstanding achievement.

Defeating the Government on nutrient neutrality laws

At a time when our rivers, lakes, and seas are frequently polluted with sewage, it is inconceivable that the Government would plan to cut environmental protections.

But that’s exactly what they planned to do by scrapping nutrient neutrality laws as part of their Levelling Up Bill. Doing so could have increased river pollution and further degraded water quality.

Fortunately, our fantastic Liberal Democrat Peers helped to successfully defeat the Government’s plans, meaning builders must continue to prove their projects are ‘nutrient neutral’ in protected areas.

The Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson for Communities and Local Government Baroness Pinnock said:

“This is a great victory against the Government’s plans to remove regulations that protect British rivers from pollution… The Liberal Democrats will continue to stand up for house building and the protection of our rivers. The Conservatives must be held to account for their broken promises on the environment."

Holding the government to account on crumbling schools

September saw Parliament return from the summer recess, but not all schools got the same luxury. Many schools have been forced to close due to the risk of crumbling concrete.

With at least three schools in her constituency possibly affected, Sarah Dyke (MP for Somerton & Frome) used her maiden question to ask the Education Secretary whether she would apologise for the stress the Government has caused families due to their reckless cutting of repair bills:

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⏲️ Est. reading time: 1 min

Munira Wilson (MP for Twickenham) also quizzed the Education Secretary about what she will say to schools following the Government’s refusal to provide any new money to fix roofs:

Watch ➜

⏲️ Watch time: 2 mins

Supporting proscription for terrorist organisations

The Government finally proscribed the Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation in September. This is welcome progress, but we have been calling for this for over a year.

During a debate in the House of Lords, Lord Purvis highlighted the damage this delay has caused, and stressed that all elements of the Wagner network should be proscribed as such to avoid loopholes, given the disparate nature of the group:

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⏲️ Watch time: 7 mins

Layla Moran MP also questioned why it took the Government so long to take action on this in the Commons. Layla argued that lessons must be learnt, saying that the Government should proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran as a terrorist organisation now:

Watch ➜

⏲️ Watch time: 6 mins

Challenging the Voter ID Scheme

Wendy Chamberlain (MP for North East Fife) challenged the Government’s Voter ID law with an urgent question in the Commons.

The Electoral Commission’s report warned that disabled people, the unemployed, young people and people from ethnic minorities all found it harder to show the required ID, while more deprived areas had a higher proportion of people turned away at polling stations.

You can watch the full exchange on the urgent question here:

Watch ➜

⏲️ Watch time: 2 mins

We have been fighting this law strongly over the past year, with Helen Morgan (MP for North Shropshire, and Lib Dem Spokesperson for Housing, Communities & Local Government) delivering several speeches against it, including at Conference, where we also passed a motion to scrap this needless and discriminatory scheme.

The law is just one of several measures the Conservatives have enacted to give them an edge in elections.

On Broadcast

Here are a few highlights from our media rounds from the last month:

Ed Davey MP - on ITV Tonight talking about his experience of being a young carer, and committing to the pensions triple lock on Sky News.
Layla Moran MP - on BBC Politics Live talking about the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Munira Wilson MP - on LBC's Cross Question.
Wendy Chamberlain MP - on BBC’s Question Time.

We aren’t able to share everything that happens in Parliament every month, but if you’d like to find out more about what individual MPs or Peers are working on, be sure to check out their social media accounts or websites.

You can find out more about our MPs and Peers by visiting our website below.

Our MPs ➜

Our Peers ➜

As the next General Election approaches, it’s important we spread the word on what Liberal Democrats in power can achieve so why not forward this email to your friends and family so they too can see the important work we are doing?

Best wishes,

Liberal Democrats

Your Latest Briefing from the Liberal Democrats in Parliament

The Israel-Gaza conflict

The Israel-Gaza conflict

Workplace Harassment Bill passed

Defeating the Government on nutrient neutrality laws

Holding the government to account on crumbling schools

Supporting proscription for terrorist organisations

Challenging the Voter ID Scheme

On Broadcast

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