Your Latest Briefing from the Liberal Democrats in Parliament. | | Dear John,
The Liberal Democrats have been working hard for local communities in Parliament over the past month. From supporting measures on mental health to holding polluting water companies to account, we’ve continued to push the government to be bolder in tackling the country’s problems.
Here are some recent contributions and achievements from Lib Dems in Parliament. 🔽 | |
Defending NHS targets on mental health | | | |
| Last week, the government’s new NHS mandate dropped a number of mental health targets.
With mental health waiting lists at record highs and many people unable to attend work due to poor mental health, our Health Spokesperson Helen Morgan MP asked the Secretary of State for Care whether he accepts targets should be reinstated and that mental health should be treated equally with physical health: | | | | | If you believe mental and physical health should be treated equally, you can back our campaign here: | | |
Securing a government concession on local community energy projects | | | |
| As the Great British Energy Bill entered its final stages in Parliament, the Liberal Democrats secured a big concession on community energy.
Earl Russell entered negotiations with the government after he tabled a series of community energy amendments and threatened to take them through the division lobby.
Great British Energy will now be required to work collaboratively with local communities on energy projects. This will boost local economies, promoting job creation and attracting investment.
This follows months of hard work by our MPs and Peers to ensure the Bill delivers for local communities.
In October, Pippa Heylings MP’s amendment called for an emergency home insulation programme with targeted support for people on low incomes, helping to reduce household energy bills while meeting our climate targets. The amendment sadly failed to pass with Labour voting against and the Conservatives not voting. | |
Supporting the UK-Ukraine 100-year Partnership | | | | In January, the government signed a 100-year partnership with Ukraine, with deeper cooperation to enhance security and boost our economies. Our Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Calum Miller MP welcomed the commitment, calling Ukraine’s fight our own.
However, Calum also highlighted concern for US President Trump’s stance on the war and asked the Foreign Secretary if the UK will therefore boost our security cooperation with other European countries. | | | | On the day President Trump spoke with Putin about starting negotiations to end the war this week, Ed Davey MP asked the Prime Minister if he had given assurances to Ukraine that we will continue our support, so it will not have to accept a deal that would hand victory to Russia. | | | |
Tackling the damage done by sewage pollution | | | |
| After years of neglect from the previous Conservative government, the new Labour government is not doing enough to hold water companies to account for their illegal sewage dumping and to repair the damage done to the environment.
In the House of Lords, Baroness Grender led a debate on ensuring fines paid by water companies are used to repair the damage done by water pollution. It’s been reported that the Treasury intends to keep all the fines, when the money should be used to restore affected rivers, lakes and coastlines. | | | | | Baroness Grender made clear that it is the polluter that must pay for restoration. | | | | Earl Russell also contributed to the debate, highlighting how many small charities are ready to clean up polluted rivers, and have even made funding applications to do so, but are being left in the dark. | | | |
Fighting for a fair, humane and effective immigration system | | | | During the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill’s Second Reading, our Home Affairs Spokesperson Lisa Smart MP reaffirmed our support for a fair and effective immigration and asylum system that treats people with dignity and respect.
Lisa stated that the Bill falls short of this. Action must be taken against criminal gangs, but we must also tackle the root causes of the crisis, improve safe and legal routes for asylum seekers, and ensure applications are processed quicker.
Lisa also highlighted how the Bill does not reverse all the Conservatives' rollbacks to the asylum system, which plays into the hands of the same criminals that are being targeted. | | | |
Standing up for minority groups in the Armed Forces | | | | Minority groups continue to face systematic challenges within the Armed Forces. Last month, our Defence Spokesperson Helen Maguire MP introduced an amendment to the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill to ensure transparency and accountability when tackling bullying and sexual assault.
The amendment would have required the new Armed Forces Commissioner to take action to address issues facing service personnel from minority groups: including women, black, Asian and minority ethnic personnel, LGBT+ personnel and those not from the UK. This would be supported by annual reporting on these issues. | | | | Unfortunately, the amendment did not pass, but we will not give up fighting for better protections for minorities in the Armed Forces.
For example, this week, Helen asked the Veterans Minister to provide an update on the compensation scheme for LGBT+ veterans who were impacted by the military’s anti-gay ban. | | | |
On Broadcast | Here are a few highlights from our media rounds from the past month:
Ed Davey MP - on Sky News talking about a UK-EU Customs Union, and on ITV’s Peston talking about Trump, Musk, and Reform.
Layla Moran MP - on The News Agents podcast talking about Trump’s Gaza plan.
Jess Brown-Fuller MP - on LBC's Cross Question.
Lisa Smart MP - on this week's BBC Question Time. | |
| 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: | |
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