The Welsh Liberal Democrats have responded to an Audit Wales report which labelled Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board as “dysfunctional”.
The issue of immigration is one of the most difficult political issues across the world. Despite the appalling language used by the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, the UK only receives a modest number of asylum applications in comparison with other European countries. In 2021 we had 50,000 applications whilst France had over 100,000 and Germany over 150,000. When you look at applications per 100,000 population we have 80 per 100,000 - behind most European countries with Austria at over 400 and Belgium at over 150. Recent reports in the press about a 'fast track processing system' and 'amnesty' are driven not by increasing numbers of applicants but Government failures since Boris's 'oven ready deal' that was enacted in 2020. We have a backlog of applications, over 120,000 up from 30,000 in 2019. This is because we are taking 15.5 months to process an application, whereas Germany takes 6.5 months and France 8.5 months. The Government blames the ECHR but this applies in Germany and France so clearly is just a
Responding to new Government figures showing that 17% of patients (or 13,714 people) in Wales are spending more than 8 hours in A&E and 51% of red ambulance calls are not being met within target times, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:
At a full meeting of Horsham District Council on Wednesday, 22 February, Lib Dems secured two important amendments to the District’s 2023/24 budget. These amendments secured cross-party support amidst the continuing chaos between the Conservative Cabinet and Conservative backbenchers.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today called on the Scottish Government to accelerate the process for moving Ukrainian refugees out of temporary accommodation and into longer term options after new statistics showed there are around 6,200 Ukrainians living in hotels and cruise ships.
Responding to Health Secretary Humza Yousaf’s appearance on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme earlier, where he claimed there was “much success” in the health service and that preventing strike action by NHS staff is “where one of his strengths lie,” Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
