Les Bonner

Mr Hague is guilty of a cynical cover-up for a shabby decision which has cost British taxpayers more than £100 million”, says the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary

Commenting on William Hague’s admission of a “mistake” concerning Lord Ashcroft’s tax status, Chris Huhne said: “William Hague promised the Prime Minister that before Lord Ashcroft received his peerage he would pay “tens of millions” in British tax, but then never even checked whether the promise was kept. He has treated the taxpayer with total contempt.

It is utterly unbelievable to say, as William Hague did this morning, that he was not aware of the tax implications of these negotiations that dragged on for four months when he was kept informed by his closest loyalist, the Chief Whip.

Mr Hague is guilty of a cynical cover-up for a shabby decision which has cost British taxpayers more than £100 million.

William Hague is not fit for any role in Government, let alone that of Foreign Secretary. Lord Ashcroft must now meet his £100 million tax bill.”

“Prison clearly isn’t working to reduce reoffending and yet all Labour and the Tories offer are threats to lock up more people,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Justice Secretary.

Commenting on Ministry of Justice figures showing nearly half all criminals released from prison go on to commit further offences, David Howarth said:

“Prison clearly isn’t working to reduce reoffending and yet all Labour and the Tories offer are threats to lock up more people.

“We’re throwing billions of pounds at something that is creating future crime.

“We can cut crime if we start reducing the prison population by having a presumption against short sentences which don’t work and moving drug addicts and the mentally ill into more appropriate accomodation.”

Labour’s hypocrisy on the environment was today revealed by Liberal Democrat research showing that Jim Murphy has doubled the number of ministerial cars used by the Scotland Office, despite Scottish Labour’s call today for action to reduce the emissions of government cars.

Meanwhile, Scottish Labour’s energy spokesperson Lewis MacDonald is completely at odds with Labour’s Energy Secretary Ed Miliband over coal power:

• On Monday 15 March, Lewis MacDonald said: “If Scotland is going to make a significant contribution to cutting carbon emissions, it makes no sense to start by building a coal-fired power station […] If this goes ahead it will set back Scotland’s prospects of meeting our commitment on climate change”
• This is entirely at odds with Ed Miliband’s claim that “In order to ensure that we maintain a diverse energy mix, we need new coal-fired power stations”

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Scotland Secretary, Alistair Carmichael said:

“This shows the gulf between what Labour promise and what they actually do.

“It is hard to see how Labour can call for greener ministerial limos while Jim Murphy has doubled the number of cars he uses at the Scotland Office.

“Labour are also hopelessly split on energy, criticising coal power in Scotland while in Westminster they back new, dirty power stations.

“13 years of failure have shown that whatever Labour say during the election, they cannot be trusted to back it up with real action in Government.”

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg will today say this election is ‘an opportunity for the British people to vote to take their privacy back’.

In his speech to Privacy International to mark their 20th Anniversary, Nick Clegg will say:

“Labour has spent 13 years trampling over people’s privacy. From allowing children’s fingerprints to be taken at school without their parents’ consent; to making us a world leader in CCTV; to wasting vast sums of taxpayers’ money on giant databases that hoard our personal details. And now we hear that ministers want pensioners to swap their bus passes for ID cards.

“The Government’s staggering record on losing private data – leaving it in pub car parks and on commuter trains – just makes matters worse.

“And there’s an even bigger issue at stake: Labour’s flagrant disregard for our privacy flies in the face of hard won British liberty. It betrays a deep distrust of the British people, as well as an obsession with controlling every aspect of everyday life from Whitehall.

“Those same reflexes underpin this Government’s obsession with law-making. Since 1997 they have flooded the statute books with nearly 4,300 new ways of making us criminals. Some of them are completely bizarre, like ‘disturbing a pack of eggs when directed not to by an authorised officer’, and ‘causing a nuclear explosion’, as if we needed a new law for that.

“And where do all these new laws get us? Only one in a hundred crimes ends in a conviction in court.

“The Conservatives talk a good game on privacy, but scratch beneath the surface and it’s clear they can’t be trusted to roll back Labour’s surveillance state. Just look at their plans to make it even easier for the police to watch and record people getting on with their daily lives, all in the name of cutting red tape.

“Only the Liberal Democrats will bring an end to the endless snooping on innocent people.”

“There is a real fear that these cuts are preparing the ground for tuition fees to be raised,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Universities Secretary.

Commenting on the Government’s announcements of cuts to university budgets, Stephen Williams said:

“Universities and young people are bearing the brunt of Labour’s economic failure.

“There is a real fear that these cuts are preparing the ground for tuition fees to be raised.  It would be totally unfair for young people, the innocent victims of the financial crisis, to be punished in this way.”

“Dementia has a crippling effect on families across the country and this problem is only going to get bigger as people continue to live longer,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary.

Commenting on the findings of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia’s inquiry into the funding of the National Dementia Strategy (NDS) released today, Norman Lamb said:
 
“This report makes for depressing reading and reveals that Labour’s dementia strategy is failing.
 
“We urgently need to improve services for people suffering with dementia and make sure that funding is available to provide carers with valuable time off.
 
“Dementia has a crippling effect on families across the country and this problem is only going to get bigger as people continue to live longer.
 
“If we want to ensure this money gets to the people who need it we must give local people the power to hold their local health service to account.”

The panel for this week’s Any Questions has been announced, and once again they haven’t included a Liberal Democrats on the panel.

This week’s panel features a Conservative MP, a Labour MP, a right-wing pundit and a Green candidate – but no Liberal Democrat.

The story has been covered at http://bit.ly/ldvu0317 - and it includes details of how you can make a complaint to the BBC.

Although the BBC never directly admits “we’ve got it wrong”, the overall level of pressure does make a difference - so please do lodge a complaint and share the post with others.

There’s a link to all the different ways of making a complaint (phone, letter, web) at http://bit.ly/ldvu0317

North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus has been recognised regionally for innovations in dementia care. Five local services for people with dementia were recently showcased at an event in York including the Gardens, the Haverstoe Suite, the dementia academy, dementia care mapping and Admiral nurses. 

The Yorkshire and Humber Improvement Partnership (YHIP), which is coordinating the regional response to the National Dementia Strategy (published by the Department of Health in 2009), hosted a launch event earlier this month. ‘The Big Event’ showcased regional innovations in dementia care.  

The CTP was represented by all five innovative services, with one service holding an informative workshop, two others holding desktop discussions and two others having marketplace displays. 

Jeanette Logan, head of older people’s mental health services for the CTP, said:

“We are proud that locally we are striding ahead in terms of improving the quality of local services for local people, especially at a time when reports are disappointing around the national response to the challenges of the National Dementia Strategy.

 “We are developing and designing services that offer new solutions which not only enhance the quality of care for people with dementia and their carers but also go some way to addressing challenges posed by the rising numbers of local people with a type of dementia.   

“This is and has to be a multi agency approach and we are fortunate to have built a local network of key individuals and agencies that enables us to ensure services will be commissioned and provided according to the specific needs and demands of the local area.” 

The CTP is currently developing its commissioning strategy for dementia services and commissioners have been instrumental in terms of support and backing for the both the dementia care mapping and Haverstoe initiatives as well as supporting proposals for the development of the dementia academy. 

The five services have also been included in the soon to be published Yorkshire and South Humber innovations in dementia care directory and are among other services that have been identified as part of a baseline assessment of PCT/CTP positions against the National Dementia Strategy.

Andrea Parr, strategy coordinator, older people’s mental health services, said: “A significant amount of hard work by a number of people has gone into designing and delivering services of this standard. 

“The shared goal of the health and social care community within NE Lincs should be to enable people to maintain their independence and remain in their own homes for as long as possible.  There still remains a significant amount of work to be done, but having our efforts recognised in this way makes us feel proud of our achievements and spurs us on with other developing projects.” 

Project details:

The Gardens – acute inpatient and assessment suite. An innovative design and staffing structure which allows for the highest quality of care provision both while in hospital and on discharge.  A new element to the staffing means that care and support can also be offered in the home to prevent an admission where possible. 

The Haverstoe Suite – a specially designed and staffed unit at Huntleigh Lodge in Cleethorpes which caters for people with dementia with more complex needs, providing intensive input from specialist OPMHS services and preventing out of area placements.  

The dementia academy – a joint project with the local independent and third sector as well as other key partners which will establish North East Lincolnshire as a centre of excellence for dementia care. Offering training, advice and support to anybody delivering care or interacting with somebody with dementia from specialist staff to members of the public. 

Dementia care mapping – a method of assessing the impact of one to one or group care provision on a person with dementia.  Feedback allows for individuals and teams of staff to identify areas of good practice as well as areas for improvement. 

Admiral nurses – The CTP is fortunate to have two of 80 national Admiral nurses.  Working in partnership with the charity For Dementia, the CTP is able to offer specialist support and advice to the carers of people with dementia and to work on developing and rolling out programmes of information and training for carers.

The prime minister has written to Sir John Chilcot to clarifythe evidence he gave to the Iraq inquiry. Mr Brown claimed that defence spending had risen in real terms every year, however the letter to Sir John Chilcott shows that defence spending actually fell in real terms during four of the years that Mr Brown was chancellor.

Here is the full text of the prime minister’s letter:

“It is time for a simpler, more cost-effective system which helps farmers get their payments efficiently, effectively and on time,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Rural Affairs Secretary.

Commenting on the UK’s £15.9milliuon fine for failing to comply with Common Agricultural Policy rules, Tim Farron said:

“The British taxpayer is now stumping up for the Government’s incompetence but British farmers have already paid a high price.

“The Government’s failure to issue payments promptly in 2005 pushed many farmers to the brink.

“The chaotic handling of the Rural Payments Agency has now cost the British taxpayer £90million in fines to the EU.
 
“It’s absolutely staggering that Defra is throwing money down the drain at a time when all Government departments are being asked to tighten their belts.
 
“It is time for a simpler, more cost-effective system which helps farmers get their payments efficiently, effectively and on time.”