Caroline Voaden

Starmer: Brexit ‘significantly’ hurt British economy U.K. needs to “keep moving” towards a closer relationship, says British PM.

UK tax revenue is down £90bn thanks to Brexit.

I imagine the Chancellor could have done with that last week!

It has never clearer what a mistake Brexit was, and that the Government urgently need to accept the Lib Dem proposal to seek a bespoke customs union with the EU.

While it’s great Labour has finally taken its head out of the sand over Brexit, the fact they are now publicly talking about the damage leaving the EU has done while still doing little to fix our relationship is annoying to say the least.

Disappointed to hear little from Chancellor on schools in the Chamber. Just shows what a low priority education is.

But statement says SEND funding to transfer to central govt from 2028.

I hope it’s properly funded & local authorities can control where spending is allocated

Disappointing absence of any support for rural areas in Chancellor’s statement:

Dawlish Rail Link ❌
Bus transport ❌
Farm IHT ❌
Rural broadband ❌

Help for hospitality also disappointing

But Northern Rail ✅ - what a surprise

Political speeches, particularly in parliament, can sometimes run a difficult line between scathing and just a bit nasty, and it strikes me that Kemi Badenoch's budget response risks falling into the latter camp.

But it is appalling for the female leader of the opposition to be so personally vindictive against the first female Chancellor.

It is simply childish. Using personal insults to cover up for the lack of policy response from the hollowed out con party

Nasty, pathetic response from the leader of the opposition.

You can disagree with the policy all you like.

This means lifting this cap won’t just lift children out of poverty now; it will also support future economic growth, building a better skilled workforce.

Scrapping the two-child benefit isn’t just the right thing to do for children in poverty – it’s also what’s right for our economy and public services.

Children growing up in poverty face worse educational outcomes, poorer physical and mental health, and fewer opportunities in adulthood.

Deeply disappointing to see the Chancellor resist reality and refuse to scrap the inheritance tax for farmers in the Budget.

The Government has its head in the sand about this.

I surveyed farmers in South Devon: the average bill they face is £300k!

How can farmers be asked to shoulder this?

The OBR document also revealed that the cost of asylum accommodation will cost more than 3x what was previously thought over the next 10 years!

The Government must urgently listen to the Lib Dems and set up nightingale-style processing centres to get our asylum backlog down.

In *that* OBR document it was also revealed the digital ID will cost £1.8bn and that the scheme is currently unfunded.

That is a colossal amount of money for a scheme that promises so little in return.

Imagine where else that could be better spent.

The Government must think again.

The Chancellor is giving secondary schools £5 million in the #Budget for new libraries - shame it works out at just £1,200 for each school!

Thank you to @CarolineVoadenMP.bsky.social, Liberal Democrat Schools Spokesperson, for meeting with members of the LGA Liberal Democrat Group Children, Young People and Families Committee this afternoon.

Brexit has cost each and every one of us £3,700 a year.

But instead of solving the problem, Labour are using Brexit as an excuse to raise your taxes.

My message ahead of the Budget: Stop blaming Brexit and start fixing it!

Brexit costing UK up to £90bn in lost tax revenue , new analysis shows Exclusive: Britons also up to £3,700 worse off, leading to calls for the Labour government to improve relations with the EU

Remember when they said Brexit would save us £350m a week?

Well, it has actually cost us £250m a day this year.

And that goes a long way to explaining why our taxes are high why productivity low.

It’s never been clearer that the key to growth is fixing our relationship with Europe.

The Government must get a handle on this. Recently, I called for the Government to make soliciting prostitution illegal online; it is such a simple, obvious step that it is concerning it hasn’t already been taken.

This year’s theme focuses on digital abuse, something that is particularly pertinent in our fast-evolving, digital-first world. It is a form of abuse that is sadly on the rise, fuelled by the impunity perpetrators enjoy on digital platforms, and new and fast avenues for abuse being opened by AI.

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, part of an international campaign to stamp out male violence against women.

Keir Starmer visits Peterborough to mark free school meal expansion Tens of thousands of children in the region are set to be eligible for the scheme, the government says.

The Government should put its money where its mouth is and fully fund this expansion.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

As it stands, schools would be forced to subsidise the expansion by £310 million a year, the equivalent of 7,700 specialist teachers, putting huge pressure on already stretched budgets.

That simply is not good enough.

For months, I’ve been calling on the Education Secretary to expand free school meals so while I’m pleased she has finally listened, I’m concerned about how this policy will be paid for.

Absolutely devastating report from Stanford on Brexit’s impact.

📉Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%.
📉The Treasury would have £40bn more each year if Britain had remained in the EU.

Imagine the Chancellor could do with that extra money this week more than most!

Today, as part of their #AskHerToStand campaign, 50:50 Parliament are asking us all to take one simple action: ask one, two, or three women you know to consider standing for elected office.

Despite making up half the population, women remain underrepresented at the entry level of the government.

The UK has never had a Parliament that is truly 50:50. We’re currently at 40%, so we’ve still got some way to go.

Instagram and Facebook-owner Meta notifies Australian teens of accounts shutdown Under-sixteens will be banned from major social media plaforms from 10 December.

Placing responsibility on social media companies to manage their content and features is a start. We must also look at putting a two-hour cap for how long children can be on social media, and a health warning, like we have with cigarettes, so children know the adverse effects of excessive usage.

Let’s hope the Government is watching Australia very closely at the moment.

While the Liberal Democrats aren’t calling for a social media ban, it’s clear much more is needed to protect children from the wild west of the online world.

‘Too little, too late’: damning report condemns UK’s Covid response Report on handling of pandemic contains stinging criticism of ‘toxic and chaotic’ culture inside Boris Johnson’s No 10

This is a tragedy, and what is worse is that since the pandemic the spread of medical disinformation has skyrocketed.

Every party must confirm that they will abide by this inquiry’s recommendations and guarantee the funding and support that will be needed when the next pandemic comes.

My thoughts and prayers are with all those who lost loved ones during the pandemic, and everyone who suffered.

As the report makes clear, thousands of lives could have been saved and a national lockdown avoided if the Government had acted sooner.

Today, I asked the Prime Minister if he would back a smartphone ban in schools.

Given the Government’s desire to improve educational outcomes and the wellbeing of our children, you’d think it’d be a no brainer.

But, to my deep disappointment, he refused.