Comments made today on Twitter by Goldman Sachs boss Lloyd Blankfein highlight very real concerns about the threat of Brexit to our financial sector.
The government must take urgent action following a UN report warning that CO2 emissions have reached a record high.
The Conservatives have savaged our police force – inflicting deep cuts that have left officers struggling to respond to crime and weakening their ability to protect our communities.
“The Prime Minister cannot say one thing in Brussels and another in Britain. She needs to face down the right-wing Brexiteers in her party in order to guarantee the talks actually move forward. Above all she still needs to protect citizens’ rights to ensure they are not a casualty of a no-deal Brexit, and the European Union must also do more to make this happen.
• Local authorities in England recorded 1,002,154 cases of fly-tipping in 2016-17, up 7% on the previous year. This is equivalent to 114 every hour.
• The estimated cost to the taxpayer for clearing up fly-tipping was £58 million, up 16% on the previous year
• The number of prosecutions for fly-tipping fell by a quarter to 1,602, compared to 2,135 the previous year
• 83 of 150 local authorities in England will see per pupil funding fall in in real terms during 2017-18, i.e. once inflation is taken into account.
• England as a whole will see spending per spending per pupil fall by £29 (0.65%) in real terms.
• Local authorities with some of the worst school results in England, including Blackpool, the Isle of Wight and Poole, will be hardest hit by the funding cuts
• The South East will see the largest real-terms fall, with funding per pupil falling by £131 (3%.)
Knife crime was up 26% year-on-year, while overall crimes increased by 13%.
Meanwhile, prices in the shops increased by 3.3% compared to last year, the largest annual rise since March 2012.
"Labour's Brexit blank cheque was cashed in by Theresa May six months ago, after Labour MPs were ordered to vote through Article 50 with no conditions.
“This report shows that a whole section of society are being failed by this government and remain permanently trapped in low-paid work.
Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions spokesperson Stephen Lloyd MP said:
"The government has shown contempt for parliament by yet again seeking to ignore votes that happen to be inconvenient. Parliamentary votes are meant to matter, this is not a debating society.
These are empty, hypocritical words from Theresa May. EU citizens, many in a state of panic, who have already waited 15 months to have their rights protected, will be deeply disappointed.
This morning, Theresa May has penned an open letter on her Facebook page on EU Citizens Rights. Unfortunately, the message is a huge disappointment.
The festival of lights is upon us once again; across the country streets will be aglow with lights and decorations as thousands of Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists gather to celebrate the ancient festival of Diwali.
Nationally England, Wales and Northern Ireland have not hit one of their three key targets for 18 months.
Footage covertly filmed by BBC Panorama allegedly showed staff at Brook House, near Gatwick airport, "mocking, abusing and assaulting" detainees held there.
The comments from the Secretary of State regarding the current state of the talks process in Northern Ireland is deeply troubling. There are very real consequences for the people of Northern Ireland with the continuing stalemate – budgetary decisions are waiting to be taken, NHS targets are being missed and waiting lists are getting longer, and there is uncertainty for economic investment. Northern Ireland is also lacking a voice in the crucial Brexit negotiations.
“I welcome the government's change of heart, but it is no compensation to the those on the breadline who have already been fleeced. Given the mess of Universal Credit, this is likely to become the hotest hotline in Britain.
Lorely Burt said:
"The whole system of business rates is not working and is not fair. The government has tried tinkering but this is no longer enough. We need to look at land tax valuations.
Vince Cable said:
“One in six of the population could not cope with even a modest rise in mortgage payments. Consumer credit is running at 10% a year. With the Bank of England predicted to increase interest rates, a recession could lead to repossessions and people defaulting on their debts. The danger is that this becomes a negative spiral.
Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Alistair Carmichael last week secured an emergency debate in the Commons over whether the government is abusing the parliamentary process by ignoring opposition day motions.
The delays to this Bill make Southern Rail look punctual.
Between June to August 2016 and June to August 2017, in real terms regular pay for employees in Great Britain fell by 0.4%.
Stephen Lloyd said:
“This is a slow motion car crash. One and a half million people are in private rented accommodation and in receipt of housing benefit. Private landlords are not in a position, financially, to be as forgiving as councils and housing associations. With the delays in payment we have already seen, many vulnerable people will lose their homes. And many landlords will simply stop taking on Universal Credit tenants, so where are these hundreds of thousands of people supposed to live?
However, the Paris-based thinktank also said the economy would see a “significant boost” if there was another referendum leading to Brexit being reversed.
The increase is thought to reflect both a genuine rise in hate crime around the time of the EU referendum and ongoing improvements in crime recording by the police.
Rising food prices made a large contribution to the change, with an increase of 0.8% between August and September 2017, compared to a 0.4% fall last year.
The Liberal Democrats have always advocated democratic reform of the House of the Lords. But the brutal truth is that this Government simply has no appetite for the fundamental reform which the House of Lords desperately needs.
Its findings show that under WTO rules, the average household would see price rises worth an extra £260 a year, while over three million families would see price rises of over £500 a year.
Vince Cable said:
"News of this massive write-down shows our economy is in real trouble. Jobs are being lost at major employers such as Vauxhall and BAE, the pound has already lost 20% of its value in a year, our balance of trade and productivity are poor, and we have fallen to the bottom of the growth league for major economies.
“The Lib Dems will work with any party to stop a ‘No Deal’ scenario and would vote against a No Deal outcome in Parliament. ‘No Deal’ would mean ports at a standstill with ferries unable to unload and load, aircraft stranded at airports and manufacturers operating ‘Just in Time’ production reduced to ‘Never on Time’.
I am proud to lend my support to National Hate Crime Awareness Week, which serves as an important reminder that the tenets of hate, division and prejudice have no place in 21st century Britain.
Tom Brake, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson, has tabled a number of FOI requests calling on the Department for Exiting the European Union to publish the studies. He has also called for a debate on the cost of Brexit and the content of the reports in the House of Commons.
This government’s internal battles are weakening their hand in Europe. Every report of a Cabinet split destabilises our negotiating team and strengthens the position of the EU negotiators.
"This is yet another example of Trump's boneheaded belligerence.
I have just appointed my first team of principal spokespeople since becoming leader this summer.
"This is not yet a decision but it soon could be, if the government is allowed to get away with cuts which would betray the best traditions of our past and damage our ability to defend ourselves in the future.
“This was the speech of a brave Prime Minister struggling on, while her disloyal Cabinet colleagues openly plot against her.
“Under the Tories, building of both social and affordable housing has plummeted.
"This audit shows that prejudice and bias based on the colour of someone’s skin continues to blight people’s life chances, and this is utterly unacceptable in 21st century Britain. It is not right that our BAME friends and neighbours are far less likely to have a job or own their home - it is an unfairness that should have ended long ago.
“Boris Johnson’s failure to condemn the Spanish government over this violence is a shameful dereliction of duty.
