Caroline Voaden

It is a huge relief to see Gazans celebrating in hope of a ceasefire.

The task of rebuilding Gaza, restoring health to a starved population and building peace will be immense. Hard to imagine. But we must help make this happen.

I hope all hostages will finally be returned home now.

I look forward to working with, and listening to, school leaders, teachers and pupils here in South Devon and across the country so we can make education the gift that truly lasts a lifetime.

There is so much more to school than passing exams, and I want to use this platform to highlight the role education plays in showing all children how much they are worth and the potential they have.

And that means all children, including those with additional needs and disabilities who have been so badly let down by a broken system.

Education is the best investment we can make in our children, and that means ensuring every child leaves school with the life skills, confidence and resilience they need to be happy, healthy and successful, whatever path they choose to go down.

I’m thrilled to have been asked by Ed to take up a new spokesperson role for the Liberal Democrats – focusing on Schools.

Westminster Voting Intention:

RFM: 33% (-1)
LAB: 17% (+1)
LDM: 16% (+3)
CON: 14% (-2)
GRN: 12% (=)

Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 24 Sep.
Changes w/ 17 Sep.

Pleased to show my support for the #CANBill at the Lib Dem conference's first dedicated climate and nature day.

@zero-hour.bsky.social

Great to see @carolinevoadenmp.bsky.social today at #LDConf. Thanks for signing our open letter asking #Government to lower #ElectricityPrices and for talking to us about the need to drive #renewable uptake in #rural areas currently reliant on #oil systems.

Second event of the day at #LDConf, looking at the role of colleges in regional skills growth in partnership with @aoc-info.bsky.social.

Delighted to have @carolinevoadenmp.bsky.social, @hughesdavid.bsky.social, David Crew, Phil Sayles and @richherrett.bsky.social on the panel.

Jess's Rule: GPs to re-check some patients for deadly 'misses' Jessica Brady's parents campaigned for Jess's Rule, after she made repeated calls to doctors before her death from cancer.

By the time, it was picked up by an astute young medic in A&E, palliative care was the only option left. He died a year later.

It’s imperative that GPs take the concerns of normally healthy patients seriously when they believe something is wrong.

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

So pleased to see this new guidance introduced from the Health Secretary. This is exactly what happened to my family years ago – my late husband was told by his GP that he didn’t expect cancer in a healthy 42-year-old.

Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, UN commission of inquiry says The panel finds that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law have been carried out against Palestinians during the war.

We must follow their lead and hold Israel’s war-mongering leaders to account for the heinous crimes they have and continue to commit.

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

Yet our government continues to insist otherwise. And it is this reticence to accept reality that is stopping us from saving the Palestinians.

Norway and Spain have taken the kind of action the entire world should be adopting to isolate Israel.

A UN commission has today concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

They are not alone in this conclusion.

Amnesty International shares this view. As do Israel’s two largest human rights organisations, the world’s leading genocide scholars, and nearly half of the British public.

Revealed: sewage overflow in English and Welsh national parks twice outside rate Exclusive: Campaigners attack ‘outrageous’ situation, saying waters in protected areas should be cleanest

Our internationally renowned national parks are home to our most iconic landscapes, and symbols for the value of protecting nature. This report is outrageous and reflects the scale of a sewage crisis that this government has been slow to fix

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Devon and Cornwall crime up by 11.7%, despite national decrease The figures are inconsistent with the national trend - a 1.7% decrease over the same period.

This is a big concern. No one would think of the South West as a crime hotspot, yet the crime rate is growing here, while shrinking elsewhere. We need much higher investment in community policing and in programmes, like LandWorks in South Devon, that deliver low rates of reoffending.

Painstaking international diplomacy is not working fast enough. Last week I called for the government to take the action it should have taken long ago: sweeping trade sanctions, sanctions on Netanyahu and his entire Cabinet, and a commitment to recognise Palestine without conditions.

Donate to Help get South Hams Residents to the World Championships, organized by Crispin Jones South Hams residents, Rachel Booton and Crispin Jones have been… Crispin Jones needs your support for Help get South Hams Residents to the World Championships

Proud to have met Crispin and Rachel recently in Kingsbridge. Best of luck to both of them at the Stand-Up Paddling World Championship this year! SUP Paddling is completely self-funded, so if you want to contribute to Crispin and Rachel and get them to Abu Dhabi this October you can do so here:

South West Water taken to court over cryptosporidium outbreak in Devon Inspectorate issues summons after water supply infected 140 people with diarrhoea-type disease in Brixham last year

It’s taken a long time to get to this point, but finally, we are seeing South West Water brought to account.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Many of my constituents still don’t trust the drinking water and are paying for bottled water more than a year on from the outbreak. This incident affected the whole community, damaged businesses, hurt the local economy, and most importantly, made many people severely ill.

I am pleased to hear that the Drinking Water Inspectorate has decided to take South West Water to court over the cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham last year. It’s important we find out exactly what South West Water knew, and when, and why they told people the water was safe to drink when it wasn’t

Conservative MPs jeered when I urged the Prime Minister to help end the starvation and suffering in Gaza. Sickening, but they won’t stop me raising this.

‘Wasted time, effort and money’: Britain’s £800M Brexit border debacle “White elephant” border inspection facilities face bleak future after U.K.-EU trade deal.

This money could have been used to support local businesses or invest in our education system. Instead, it’s money that has been poured down the drain and these empty warehouses are a stark reminder of the failure of Farage’s ideological vanity project.

www.politico.eu/article/brex...

Here we have yet another example of the economic vandalism caused by Brexit. Years of wasted money, time, and effort trying to address the damage of the Conservatives’ disastrous deal with the EU.

UK still ploughing millions into Putin's war chest through loophole, PM warned Ministers have been urged by the Lib Dems to close loopholes which analysts say create hundreds of millions of pounds of tax revenue for the Kremlin

The cut in the Russian oil price cap to $47.60 is just a drop in the ocean.

We need tougher action:
🚫 Ban UK imports of fuels made from Russian oil
🚫 Block UK firms from shipping/insuring Russian LNG
💰 Slash the cap to $30

Hit Putin’s war chest. Stand with Ukraine.

Mother of Brianna Ghey joins Kate Winslet in call for smartphone ban in schools Esther Ghey urges government to introduce legal ban and says current guidance creates ‘postcode lottery’

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

It may be unpopular with some, but I will continue to make the case for a robust change in all schools so that kids can be kids, interacting with peers during the school day and not being distracted or sucked into an online world that poses so many threats to mental health and safety.

I’m pleased to see high profile figures such as Esther Ghey put pressure on the government to introduce a full ban on smartphones in schools with funding to help schools manage it. We know this a public health emergency for our children and teenagers. The existing guidance isn’t strong enough.

Fantastic!