Your August Briefing from the Liberal Democrats. |  | Shocking sewage revelations | A lot has changed for our party over the last couple of months - we now have many more Liberal Democrat MPs and are now the third largest party in Westminster.
But some things never change...
We’ve been talking about sewage a lot over the last month!
Our research in recent weeks has revealed: | - A shocking rise in the number of permit breaches by England’s water companies last year, with almost 700 permit breaches, with 250 breaches related to discharges when there was no rainfall or snowmelts.
- Sewage dumping near Blue Flag beaches was up by 55% last year, with a record 2,328 discharges near these prestigious beaches, lasting over 17,174 hours.
- 8 in 10 dog owners have been put off letting their dogs swim in the sea due to sewage dumping.
| Water companies have been riding roughshod over their customers for years with the last Conservative government turning a blind eye. Now water firms are claiming that despite rising bills for consumers, it isn’t enough to stop sewage spills.
Yet it’s been revealed that 20,000 homes could avoid bill rises if water bosses at three firms gave up their £1.6m bonuses…
It’s an absolute outrage that families face sky high bills that continue to rise, whilst water firm CEOs pocket millions of pounds in bonuses, and all the while filthy sewage continues to destroy our seas and rivers.
It’s clear to see that the current regulator Ofwat is not fit for purpose, and it’s high time they were replaced. That is why we have been calling for a new regulator to crack down on water companies and hold them accountable to end this sewage scandal once and for all. | Watch & Share Layla Moran MP discussing this on Sky News: | | | |
- Hatred will never divide us
- Summer Health Watch
- Ed Davey Guardian Interview
| - Exam Results
- Winter Fuel Payments
- In the Media
- Work for Us
| |
Hatred will never divide us | | The past month has been incredibly challenging. First, the horrific attack in Southport that claimed the lives of three innocent young girls. Then, the far right extremists who exploited this tragedy to incite and commit appalling acts of violence.
We must work together to consign this hatred to history because Islamophobia and racism have no place in our society. That’s why we’ve urged the government to adopt a formal definition of Islamophobia and appoint a new independent adviser on Islamophobia.
But we’ve also seen the best of British values, with communities coming together to clean up the damage and stand in solidarity with those targeted.
These events highlight the importance of our work to reach out to all communities to foster a united, inclusive country.
Hatred will never divide us. Unity will prevail.
You can read Ed Davey MP’s response to these recent events here: | |
| ⏲️ Est. reading time: 2 mins | |
 | Summer Health Watch | While the weather this summer has been a bit hit and miss, the dangers associated with higher temperatures and sunny days are still prevalent - and with the NHS on its knees thanks to the Conservatives, we’ve been working to urge the new government to take action.
Heat stroke response times
Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP called for urgent cross-party talks on social care and a review of the UK's preparedness for heat waves after our research revealed that there has been a staggering 84% increase in ambulance response times when going on call outs involving heat stroke since 2018/19.
In one tragic case, a pensioner in the East Midlands waited close to nine-and-a-half-hours for an ambulance in the midst of a heatwave last year.
This appalling revelation proves yet again that the Conservatives brought our NHS to its knees, and the Labour government must act immediately to resolve it.
Battling Skin Cancer
Sadly, increased wait times are a problem across many areas of the NHS as more of our research has discovered that the number of patients on NHS waiting lists for skin cancer treatment has risen by over 25% in the past five years.
The figures show a staggering 38,392 patients in England were on an NHS waiting list to start treatment for skin cancer in the year 2023/24, up 25.8% compared to 2019/20.
One patient was left waiting a staggering 345 days following an urgent referral for treatment.
The shocking increase in referrals shows we must do more to prevent people from getting skin cancer in the first place.
That’s why we’ve called for a VAT cut on high-factor sun cream in order to make it more affordable for people to protect themselves from skin cancer. | Watch & Share the BBC News report on our campaign on: | | | We have put forward a comprehensive plan to tackle the crisis in cancer care. We need to ensure that all patients start treatment as soon as possible and this government needs to make recruiting more cancer nurses a top priority.
You can read about our plans to improve cancer care here: | | | | ⏲️ Est. reading time: 3 mins | |
‘We took down a lot of the blue wall… now we need to finish the job!’ | In his first sit down interview since the General Election, Ed Davey spoke with The Guardian about the campaign, what it means for our party going forwards and why the Conservatives are making a compelling case to be consigned to history. | | | | ⏲️ Est. reading time: 7 mins | |
 | Exam Results | Congratulations to all those students across the country getting their exam results in the last couple of weeks. Every student should be immensely proud of the results they received.
But there will be thousands of students who will have missed out on the grades they hoped for, including those who have been learning in schools affected by RAAC.
An estimated 27,000 students studied for these exams in schools facing issues with crumbling concrete and have had to deal with sudden closures, relocations and significant disruptions to learning.
However, currently pupils impacted by the discovery of crumbling concrete in their school are not set to receive any moderation in their exam marking to reflect these challenges.
We have called for a special appeals process for A-level and GCSE students who have had their education disrupted by crumbling concrete in schools to allow them to appeal for higher grades. | | | | ⏲️ Est. reading time: 3 mins | |
Winter fuel payments | On BBC Breakfast this week, Ed Davey MP called on the government to allow MPs to have a vote on their decision to withdraw winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners.
With energy bills set to rise, cutting Winter Fuel Payments will leave millions facing a £670 bill rise this winter.
We’re standing up for vulnerable pensioners and urging the government to rethink their plans. | Watch & Share on: | | | |
 | Work for Us | We’ve got a wide variety of vacancies - both paid and voluntary - currently available. If you’re keen to contribute in whatever capacity suits you best, we’d love to hear from you! | | | |
|
|
