Liberal Democrats Your latest exclusive update is here



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Your Latest Briefing from the Liberal Democrats in Parliament.



Dear John, a new session of Parliament kicked off this month, following the
Government's unambitious King’s Speech on the 7th November.

While the Conservatives may have run out of ideas, our representatives in the
House of Commons and House of Lords are continuing to tackle the issues facing
their constituents, and the country as a whole.

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





Responding to a deceptive Autumn Statement




Last week, Jeremy Hunt delivered the Autumn Statement.

Sarah Olney (MP for Richmond Park), our Treasury spokesperson, responded in
the Commons by calling out the deception the statement brought after years of
unfair tax hikes on hard-working families from this Conservative government.

Conservative chaos has sent mortgages and tax bills soaring, and the
Chancellor’s announcements won’t even touch the sides.

Worse still was the deafening silence on health. Hunt failed to mention GPs,
dentists or ambulances once in his Autumn Statement. That’s just how out of
touch he is.

It beggars belief that this Conservative government is slashing funding for
our NHS, while giving billions in tax giveaways to big banks. We must reduce
NHS waiting lists if we are going to get people back to work and the economy
back on track.


Watch: Sarah in the Commons ➜
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⏲️ Watch time: 1 min


Watch: Ed Davey on LBC ➜ <[link removed]>

⏲️ Watch time: 1 min




Read: 5 Hidden Horrors of Hunt's Budget ➜
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⏲️ Read time: est. 1 min







Calling for an immediate bilateral ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict



Liberal Democrat Parliamentarians have been making the case for an immediate
bilateral ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict, which would allow for the
release of hostages, for aid to be delivered into Gaza, and space to allow
negotiations aimed at a political solution - with Hamas out of Gaza, a
two-state solution and a lasting peace.

Recently, Ed Davey (MP for Kingston and Surbiton) and Layla Moran (MP for
Oxford West and Abingdon) met with the Palestinian Ambassador where they gave
condolences on behalf of the Liberal Democrats to the Palestinian people.

This week, Lib Dem MPs have also written to new Foreign Secretary David
Cameron, urging him to advocate for the Red Cross to be given access to the
Israeli hostages held by Hamas.


Read the letter ➜ <[link removed]>


⏲️ Read time: est. 2 mins






Lib Dems win in the House of Lords on immigration assessments




This week, Baroness Brinton led Peers to win two significant motions against
the Government's unscientific and harmful immigration age assessments.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has categorically said that
there is not a single reliable method for making precise age assessments.

And yet this callous Government wants to subject asylum seekers to illogical,
mediaeval testing.

This move from Sal ensured that the concerns of the House were firmly
expressed and included a call on the government to revoke these harmful
measures.




You can watch Baroness Brinton explain why this was so important here:


Watch ➜ <[link removed]>

⏲️ Watch time: 1 min






Challenging the Prime Minister on his Hospitals pledge




In this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, party leader Ed Davey grilled Rishi
Sunak on the Conservative’s promise three years ago for 40 new hospitals and
significant upgrades to hospitals in most need, highlighting the severe lack of
progress since.

With our NHS is in crisis and around 6.5 million people, waiting for 7.8
million courses of treatment, the government must take urgent action to ensure
our hospitals and healthcare facilities are fit for use and safe for patients
and staff.

Without that investment and progress, our NHS will continue to fall behind.


Watch ➜ <[link removed]>

⏲️ Watch time: 1 min






Tackling the young person’s mental health emergency




Our newest Peer in the House of Lords, Earl Russell, secured a three-hour
debate this month on the important topic of improving mental health support for
our children and young people.

We have a young person's mental health emergency in this country, with 1 in 5
experiencing problems.

Watch Earl Russell discuss the debate:


Watch ➜ <[link removed]>

⏲️ Watch time: 1 min


Read Earl Russell’s opening of the debate ➜
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⏲️ Read time: est. 6 min


We must end the wait for mental health treatment, expand effective and
age-appropriate mental health support beyond the age of 18 so that all under
25-year-olds are able to access mental health support when they need it, and
provide support to schools to be able to cope with this growing crisis.

The Liberal Democrats have a plan to end Mental Health injustice
<[link removed]>, in
our young people, and the rest of the population - read our plans and sign up
to our campaign:


Add your name ➜ <[link removed]>






Committing to the European Convention on Human Rights




Following the ruling by the Supreme Court on the Government’s unlawful Rwanda
plan, Munira Wilson (MP for Twickenham) asked the Justice Secretary if he
agreed with the Prime Minister and fellow senior Conservatives that the
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) shouldn’t apply to their immoral
scheme, with some suggesting they should go ahead with the plan regardless.

The Liberal Democrats strongly believe that the ECHR is an important
guarantor of human rights, which the Conservatives have all too frequently
disregarded while in Government.


Watch ➜
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⏲️ Watch time: 1 min


At our Autumn Conference in September, we passed a motion
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calling on the Government to commit to staying in the European Convention on
Human Rights, ensuring all future legislation is compliant with the Convention,
and scrapping the Illegal Migration Act in full.






Putting an end to Conversion Therapy




The Liberal Democrats have taken the lead in addressing the issue of
conversion therapy, with Baroness Burt presenting the Conversion Therapy
Prohibition Bill for its first reading in the House of Lords earlier this month.

This legislation, set to be debated early next year, aims to prohibit any
person practising or offering conversion therapy in the UK.

The Conservatives haven’t acted upon their promise to ban such practices for
five years now, so we will take action to end this harmful practice. There is
cross-party consensus for dealing with this awful practice and we are pleased
with the support our Bill has received so far.


Read BBC News Coverage ➜ <[link removed]>

⏲️ Read time: est. 3 mins


Follow the Bill ➜ <[link removed]>




And finally, in case you missed it in our monthly party newsletter...





‘Eye-watering’ fees to obtain court transcripts




Sarah Olney (MP for Richmond Park) is leading a campaign to urge the
Government to scrap fees that victims have to pay for court transcripts. This
comes after Sarah’s constituent Juliana Terlizzi, a victim of rape, was charged
over £7,000.

Terlizzi was advised that reading a transcript of the proceedings would aid
her healing. In many cases like this, victims do not attend trial.

Sarah explained that, ‘Justice should not have a price tag. Yet currently
victims like Juliana are being denied access to justice if they cannot afford
to pay eye-watering fees’.

Sarah has tabled an amendment in Parliament to make transcriptions free for
victims and has sent a letter, signed by 41 other cross-party parliamentarians
and charities, to the Justice Secretary calling for the law to be changed.

Read the full story, and Sarah’s letter to the Justice Secretary here:


Read more ➜
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⏲️ Read time: est. 3 mins


Read Sarah's letter ➜
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⏲️ Read time: est. 2 mins






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

Layla Moran MP - on Question Time
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last night, discussing everything fromLevelling Up
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Migration and thelatest situation in the Middle East
<[link removed]>.

Tim Farron MP - on That’s TV Cumbria
<[link removed]> expressing his
anger at the King’s Speech not mentioning the ongoing sewage scandal.

Wendy Chamberlain MP - on BBC News
<[link removed]> delivering her verdict
on the King's Speech, and onChannel 4's Political Slot
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discussing the importance of strengthening Scotland's tourism sector, visiting
a local distillery and golf course in her constituency of North East Fife.



As always, 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 ➜ <[link removed]>


Our Peers ➜ <[link removed]>



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With best wishes,
Liberal Democrats




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