Your Latest Briefing from the Liberal Democrats in Parliament. | | Dear John,
This month, we’re celebrating one year since our stunning General Election result.
Our 72 MPs have achieved so much in the past year, from securing the expansion of Free School Meals and the requirement for new-build houses to be fitted with solar panels, to changing the law to better support victims of sexual and domestic abuse offences. | |
| In this newsletter, we’re marking another Lib Dem Private Members’ Bill becoming a reality, as well as other important work as we continue our fight for a fair deal.
Read more about this and other recent contributions from Lib Dems in Parliament below. 🔽 | |
Standing up for SEND services | | | |
| After years of Conservative neglect, the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system needs fundamental change, with children and families forced to fight long battles to get the support they need.
This week, Ed Davey MP and Munira Wilson MP (our Education, Children, and Families Spokesperson) wrote to the Prime Minister to outline five fundamental principles which we believe should underpin any upcoming reforms of the SEND system.
Read the full letter and our five principles here: | | | | | At Prime Minister’s Questions, Ed Davey asked whether the Prime Minister would look at our five tests and work with Liberal Democrats to protect SEND. Disgracefully, Conservative MPs laughed as Ed raised this important issue on the national stage: | | | | Please share our five tests with your friends and family to share how we are holding the Government to account and ensuring it doesn’t strip away the rights of children and parents as part of a cost-cutting exercise. |  | |
Pushing for an elected second chamber | | | |
| As the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill reached the report stage, Liberal Democrats tabled an amendment to put us on the path to an elected second chamber.
Although we support the Bill in removing hereditary peers, it does not go far enough - the chamber needs democratic accountability at last.
Lord Newby outlined why this was so important, to boost democratic legitimacy, reduce regional imbalance, and curb excessive prime ministerial control over appointments. | | | | | Despite the amendment being defeated by 84 votes to 263, we’ll continue to make the case for an elected second chamber. |
Lib Dem win: Banning puppy smuggling | | | | This month, Danny Chambers MP’s Private Members’ Bill to ban puppy smuggling passed through the House of Commons after it received Government support. The Bill stands a great chance of passing through the House of Lords and becoming law. | | | | | | The law will close the loophole through which mutilated or heavily pregnant dogs and cats are imported into the UK for sale, under the guise of travelling with their owners. This practice meant that many mutilated animals, with abuses like cropped ears and docked tails, entered the UK for profit.
In his speech, Danny outlined why his Bill is so crucial to protect animal welfare and prevent the spread of disease: | | | | Please share our win with your friends and family to show the difference Liberal Democrats are making: |  | | |
Protecting small and medium-sized businesses | | | |
| During the House of Lords stages of the Employment Rights Bill, Liberal Democrat Peers have focussed on supporting small and medium-sized businesses, alongside other aims, like establishing a framework for whistleblowers and making paid carers leave a statutory entitlement.
Lord Palmer highlighted how small businesses may face disproportionate compliance costs and regulatory burdens, which could limit their growth. He called for more transparency and impact assessments to ensure the new regulations support productivity and economic growth. | | | |
Supporting more free to air football | | | | This week, the Liberal Democrats tabled an amendment to the Football Governance Bill to ensure at least ten Premier League football matches are made available on free-to-air TV every season, as well as the League Cup Final, and the Championship, League One and League Two play-off finals.
Last year, at Spring Conference, Liberal Democrat members passed our policy Sport for the People; now our MPs are campaigning on that policy in Parliament.
Max Wilkinson MP, our Culture, Media and Sport Spokesperson, outlined why we must tear down the paywall and give football back to the fans. | | | | Our campaign was picked up by the BBC, becoming the most read article on the BBC Sports website with over one million views and 1,800 comments, and posts about the vote from PoliticsUK on X reached over 11 million users. | | | | YouGov polling shows that 6 in 10 Brits support our campaign, so it’s disappointing that Labour MPs voted against the amendment, while Conservative MPs didn’t even make it onto the pitch. Instead of siding with big broadcasters, they should follow our lead and stand up for the fans.
Share our list of every MP who voted to block more free-to-air football with your friends and family, to show them which side we’re backing: |  | | |
Calling for more oversight of citizenship removal powers | | | |
| Lisa Smart MP, our Home Affairs Spokesperson, used the debate on the Government’s Deprivation of Citizenship Orders (Effect during Appeal) Bill to call for more transparency and oversight of citizenship removal powers. This includes ensuring the power is only used in the most extreme cases. | | | | At Home Office Oral Questions, Lisa also secured a commitment from the Government that the trial period of a longer move-on period for new refugees will be extended until the end of the year. A longer move-on period provides vital time for new refugees to prepare for life in the UK as they transition from asylum support. | | | |
Thank you to Lord Newby | After almost a decade, Dick Newby has announced he will be standing down as leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords at the end of July.
Dick’s leadership steered us through some tumultuous times for our country, and the Party, leading the Lords team through Brexit, the pandemic, and three General Elections.
He has worn many hats, including Chair of the Manifesto Committee, helping shape our policies for the election, and brought political insight, good judgement and a calmness to his leadership, while strengthening the Lords group’s campaigning prowess.
A huge thank you to Dick for everything you have done over the years.
A new Lords Leader will be elected by Lib Dem peers before the summer recess. | |
On Broadcast | Here are a few highlights from our media rounds from the past month:
Josh Babarinde MP - on his successful campaign to create a specific offence of domestic abuse in law and on the Political Thinking with Nick Robinson podcast.
Munira Wilson MP - on Sky News to talk about the need to reform the SEND system without harming children and families.
Anna Sabine MP - on BBC Politics Live talking about the need to fix social care.
Pippa Heylings MP - on BBC Breakfast talking about our proposal for ‘cool hubs’ to keep people cool during the heatwave. | |
| We aren’t able to share everything that happens in Parliament so make sure to check out the social media accounts and websites of our MPs and Peers to find out more about them and their work: | |
| Why not forward this email to your friends and family, so they too can see the important work we are doing to fight for a fair deal? | |
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