Archive for the ‘National News’ Category
Hero cops have injury pensions slashed says Chris Huhne
October 7th, 2009 | 
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Thousands of police officers forced to retire after being injured in the line of duty face having their injury pensions cut back to minimum levels, research by the Liberal Democrats has found.
Previously, officers were allocated an additional sum each year to compensate them for the injuries they received, even when they reached retirement age. However, since Home Office guidance was issued in 2004, many forces have reassessed officers when they have reached retirement age and reduced their injury awards to the lowest possible level. The Government’s recent response to a consultation on this subject suggests that this practice is about to become more widespread. |
| Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne has written to Alan Johnson to demand that he put an end to the practice of police injury pensions being changed retrospectively.
Commenting, Chris Huhne said: “The thousands of police officers who have been injured in the line of duty are a reminder of what a dangerous and difficult job it can be. “As a result of Home Office guidance, many have had their injury pensions slashed and even more are at risk after the Government endorsed the policy in a recent consultation. “When ill health forced them to retire, they were promised that they would be compensated for the rest of their lives. It is unfair to move the goalposts now. “There is an exact parallel with the military covenant, and it will prove just as embarrassing to the Home Office as it was to the Ministry of Defence. “Hero cops who put their bodies on the line in the name of the public safety deserve to be more than just a victim of budget cuts. “These brave men and women are now faced with a hefty drop in income once they reach retirement age and a very uncertain future as a result. “This is another example of the Government breaking promises to those that choose to serve.” A copy of Chris Huhne’s letter to Alan Johnson can be read here. |
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Clegg: Brown’s leadership is “running out of steam”
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Nick Clegg has described Gordon Brown’s policy plans as “a hotch potch of unrelated Whitehall schemes” with no unifying” vision from a prime minister who was “running out of steam”.Mr Clegg said both the Prime Minister and David Cameron were treating the voters as if they were children who were “too young to know the truth”.
He said: “Neither are willing to come clean on the difficult long-term savings we will need to make to balance the nation’s books.” |
| “It’s like a big hoax: they trade insults and numbers but hide the truth.” The public had been promised a vision based on decentralisation and personal entitlements but many of these entitlements were “just the recycled versions of old targets”, he said.
“Last week you called a cut an investment. This week you are calling a target an entitlement. Can you tell us exactly what’s the difference?” The Liberal Democrat Leader concluded that the Prime Minister’s statement was nothing more than a “hotchpotch of unrelated Whitehall schemes, a ministerial cut-and-paste job”. |
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Clegg: Response to Iraq inquiry announcement
| Nick Clegg response to the announcement of an secret Iraq inquiry.
I passionately believe we were wrong to invade Iraq but I am second to none in my admiration for the bravery and dedication of our service men and women. Everyone knows that the invasion of Iraq was the biggest foreign policy mistake this country has made in generations; the single most controversial decision taken by government since Suez. So Mr Speaker, I am staggered that the Prime Minister is today seeking to compound that error, fatal for so many of Britain’s sons and daughters, by covering up the path that led to it. |
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| Liberal Democrats have called for an inquiry into the build-up and conduct of the Iraq war for many years, and we can be grateful that finally, the Prime Minister has acceded to that demand. But, as so often, he has taken a step in the right direction but missed the fundamental point. | |
Government defeated on Liberal Democrat motion on Gurkha rights
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Victory for cross-party alliance forces Government rethink over right to live in UK for Gurkhas who have fought for Britain
The Government have suffered a rare defeat, on a Liberal Democrat opposition day motion calling for them to revise their proposals and ensure that an equal right of residence is extended to all Gurkhas. 27 Labour MPs joined Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and others to inflict the Government’s first defeat on an opposition day motion since the 1970s, a sign of the strength of feeling on the issue. Opening the debate, Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, criticised the Government for its decision back in 2004 to distinguish between those who were discharged from the Gurkhas before 1997 and those who were discharged after. He argued this move led to “some ridiculous and shameful anomalies”, whereby soldiers, including a holder of the Victoria Cross, have been refused residency in Britain because of “inadequate ties to the United Kingdom”. |
Chris Huhne |
| Chris highlighted many of the shameful rules the Government is proposing. The most discriminatory being the necessity of twenty years service in the Gurkha regiments. Chris explained, “so many of the Gurkhas – and especially private soldiers and riflemen – serve just fifteen years.” He said, “only officers would have achieved twenty years or more.” Whilst the Government has argued its proposals would allow 10,000 people to claim residency in the UK, Chris argued this figure is more likely to be only 100 given the discriminatory eligibility criteria.
In an impassioned conclusion to his speech Chris asked: “are we to say that people who are prepared to fight and die for our country are not good enough to live in it? This debate is not just about the Gurkhas. It is about the sort of people we are. The House must today find the generosity of spirit to repay in the small way that we can, the enormous debt of gratitude that we owe to the Gurkhas.” Former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell also spoke in the debate. Sir Ming attacked the Government’s self-proclaimed achievements on helping the Gurkhas. He accused them of reacting to public pressure rather than having a sincere determination to help the Gurkhas, claiming the Government had merely felt “compelled” by the judicial decision to bring the proposals forward. Sir Ming also criticised the Government’s decoration criteria. He argued that this qualification “is based not on being brave, but on being recognised as having been brave.” He said, “anyone who has been engaged in conflict will say that some of the bravest and most selfless acts of heroism are committed by people who never receive any recognition of any kind whatever.” The party’s Shadow Defence Secretary Nick Harvey wound up the debate. He said it was bizarre for the Government to suggest that there needed to be an impact assessment on the effect in Nepal of any decision as the decision to allow those, generally younger, Gurkhas who have served since 1997 the right of settlement in the UK would have had far more impact on Nepal than allowing in a relatively smaller number whose service took place long ago. Nick said that, “sooner or later the Government will end up losing this argument, having to give more ground and be seen to have done so with appalling bad grace, having been dragged kicking and screaming every inch of the way”. When the votes were counted, the Liberal Democrat motion was passed by 267 to 246 votes and the Government was defeated. In a statement after the debate the Government announced a rethink and said new proposals would be published before the summer recess. Click here to read Nick Clegg’s response to the historic vote Gurkhas motion - That this House regrets the Government’s recent statement outlining the eligibility criteria for Gurkhas to reside in the United Kingdom; recognises the contribution the Gurkhas have made to the safety and freedom of the United Kingdom for the past 200 years; notes that more Gurkhas have laid down their lives for the United Kingdom than are estimated to want to live here; believes that Gurkhas who retired before 1997 should be treated fairly and in the same way as those who have retired since; is concerned that the Government’s new guidelines will permit only a small minority of Gurkhas and their families to settle whilst preventing the vast majority; further believes that people who are prepared to fight and die for the United Kingdom should be entitled to live in the country; and calls upon the Government to withdraw its new guidelines immediately and bring forward revised proposals that extend an equal right of residence to all Gurkhas. |
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Huhne: Police decision on Peers case is disappointing
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The Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary said: “I can understand the difficulties facing the police given the unreformed and unclear state of the law on bribery, which is subject to recent reform proposals from the Law Commission. “However, this is a disappointing decision because it is simply false to say that internal procedures will be able to deal with these cases, given that there is not even a mechanism for expelling miscreants. “Cash for amendments is even more serious than the cash for questions scandal, which caused the Commons to clean up its act in the Nineties. “There is a clear legal precedent, established by Mr Justice Buckley in 1992, for the prosecution of a Member of Parliament for the common law offence of bribery in the case against Harry Greenway MP. Members of Parliament, including members of the Lords, should not be above the law. It should apply equally to all of us.” |
BNP’s UK Membership List Published On Internet
Nick Clegg elected Liberal Democrat leader
Nick Clegg was elected leader of the Liberal Democrats on 18 December 2007:
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Nick Clegg 20,988 On his election Nick said, “I want to thank the Liberal Democrats for giving me the chance to lead our great party. It is a privilege to follow in the footsteps of Paddy Ashdown, Charles Kennedy and Ming Campbell, who have all contributed so much to our party. I look forward to working with them all during my leadership. |
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“I would also like to pay tribute to both Vince Cable and Chris Huhne. Vince has
been an inspiration as stand-in leader with both his forensic questioning and his memorable put downs. Chris and I saw a lot of each other during the leadership contest. Now we will be working together as close colleagues to ensure that our party goes on to further electoral success. I am delighted that both Vince and Chris are going to be part of my top team over the coming years.
“We have a golden opportunity for our party. Gordon Brown presides over an increasingly stale, incompetent, and desperate government. David Cameron and the Tories don’t know what they stand for anymore.
“We know what we stand for: a more Liberal Britain. I am confident that with hard work and dedication we can turn our beliefs into reality and change our country for the better.
“Under my leadership our party will be a self-confident, radical, and energetic party. Together we can break the stifling two-party system and change Britain for good. That is my aim. I hope you will join me in making it a reality.”
Chris Huhne said,
“We’ve elected a leader who is going to take us from strength to strength. Good luck Nick, congratulations and God’s speed. It was a hugely close contest, and working together as a Party, we have every right to be optimist for the future – Britain’s liberal future.”
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Photo credit: Alex Folkes / Fishnik.com
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The Future of Trident
It has just been announced that the Prime Minister will introduce the Government’s proposals on Tridant to the House of Commons on Monday 4 December.
Today I’m unveiling the recommendations on the future of Trident drawn up by our Liberal Democrat policy working group. These proposals will be presented to the Federal Policy Committee and the conference in Harrogate will have the final say in spring.
The proposals call for Britain’s nuclear weapons to be cut by half. This significant cut would give us the opportunity to kick-start multilateral disarmament talks, whilst also demonstrating to all countries that the UK takes seriously its commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Advanced Preview TV Broadcast
| Tomorrow evening BBC and ITV will be showing the next Liberal Democrat TV broadcast (BBC1 18.55; BBC2 17.55; ITV 18.55), which is about how we offer a real, substantive alternative to the spin of David Cameron and the failings of Gordon Brown.
However you can watch it now in advance at: You can also help spread the word and let other people know about the film by linking to from your website or blog, if you have one, or by going to the YouTube version of the film and sharing it with your friends: Now is a good time to be promoting our views. In yesterday’s Queen’s Speech debate, Ming Campbell gave a very strong performance, pointing out how Labour is addicted to legislation, as if the answer to any and every problem is to pass another law. You may have seen some of the very positive coverage we got, such as http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6152072.stm You can of course help support our campaigning, and the production of our TV broadcasts, by making a donation at https://www.libdems.org.uk/support/join.html?ref=crem |
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