Caroline Voaden

I hope this debate will consider the responsibility banks have to their customers and the current eligibility for granting banking hubs.

My campaign to secure a banking hub in Totnes continues!

I’ve just returned from appearing before the backbench business committee where I successfully applied for a debate on banking services in rural areas.

Families need concrete assurances – the government might point to its recently launched consultation, but will the results of this result in any change?

Yesterday’s behaviour from the government suggests not.

How can they be comfortable with the status quo where our children’s data and attention are being mined by addictive-by-design apps?

The icing on the cake, though, was the government’s failure to commit to a social media ban for under-16s.
Parents, children, and campaigners are crying out for more support, but the government appears suspiciously timid to act against the social media giants.

👍Required the government to review the per-child funding in the adopting and special guardianship support fund. You might remember that this vital fund, which offers therapy for adopted children, was cut to the bone by the government last year.

📵Introduced a ban on smartphones in schools.

To make matters worse the government whipped its MPs to vote down Lib Dem proposals and other suggested measures which would have…

🏫Capped the price of branded school uniforms. We are deeply concerned the government’s proposal could see prices rise.

Yesterday the government gave us a miniscule amount of time to debate a piece of legislation with far-reaching implications for social media safety, school uniform prices, and support for adopted children.

Today South West Water submitted a guilty plea to supplying water unfit for human consumption during the cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham - here's my statement. 👇

These settlements are illegal under international law.

So why won’t our government introduce a full ban on all trade with illegal settlements in the West Bank to show they are truly committed to a two-state solution?

Israel’s Prime Minister has said ‘there will be no Palestinian state’ - and his government has taken the action to ensure this.

In the last year, the Israeli government issued nearly 10,000 units of settlement housing tenders – more than the past six years combined.

Foreign Office travel advice updates Latest travel information for British nationals affected by the situation in the Middle East.

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If you're in Bahrain, Kuwait, Israel, Palestine, Qatar or UAE, please register your presence with the FCDO to ensure you can receive updates from them.

You can do so here, and find further guidance and travel advice: www.gov.uk/government/n...

Keir Starmer redefining offensive as defensive. This is a slippery slope and risks letting Trump drag Britain into another prolonged war in the Middle East
Starmer must come to Parliament tomorrow, set out legal case in full and give MPs a vote
The UK must not be complicit in illegal military action

I asked the Education Secretary about the latter on Monday.

Watch her response.

❓Why isn’t the government pursuing universal screening to ensure the early intervention study after study has shown is vital?

❓How will inclusion into mainstream schools be delivered without a programme to hire far more teaching assistants?

A year on, I’m not convinced that principle is being met. And even with a 118-page white paper, massive questions about future SEND provision remain.

Last summer, the Liberal Democrats published five principles to help guide the government’s reforms to SEND.

Number one was putting children and families first.

The fights, underfunding, private profiteering, persistent absences, and overall failings that have plagued our SEND system for too long cannot continue.

I presented my petition on coastal erosion at Start Bay at 11 last night – you can watch it here.

In just over two weeks, over 39,000 of you have signed the petition, both online and offline through the businesses and residents who have gone above and beyond to get the message far and wide.

Screenshot of a New Statesman article suggesting that the government will introduce a price cap on independent specialist provision.

👇👇

It took a while but it’s a relief that the government might have finally listened to Lib Dem calls for a profit cap on SEND providers.

For too long the SEND private market has been a rigged racket. Hopefully this change will mark the end of our vulnerable children being treated like cash cows.

Up and down the country, GP surgeries are closing, leaving patients helpless and without the care they need - it’s a disgrace.

The government must deliver our plans for a GP rescue package to ensure everyone can see their GP when they need.

4️⃣Establish a sustainable financial footing for hospices through a new commission

5️⃣Support families and the bereaved by expanding access to bereavement counselling and therapy, available from the point of diagnosis.

You can read Marie Curie’s full report here: www.mariecurie.org.uk/document/unm...

1️⃣End the postcode lottery by allocating NHS funding for hospice and palliative care according to demand

2️⃣Exempt hospices from the increase in Employer’s National Insurance Contributions.

3️⃣Tackle staffing shortages through a dedicated hospice workforce plan

It’s absolutely heartbreaking that one in three people are dying in pain or distress in England.

The government must step up to support our hospices which are on a knife edge after years of underfunding and neglect.

Here’s how to do it...

Reform UK admits Kent council’s Musk-inspired cost-cutting drive found little waste County councillors say former Conservative administration ‘weren’t crazy, they were business people’

You don't say - so shocked by this....

Almost like councils that have been hacked away at for years had little left to cut. 🤔

www.ft.com/content/fc3c...

We have age ratings for films to protect children from violence and other harmful content. Why not do the same with social media websites?



Our policy would keep the internet open and keep children safe from Elon’s Chainsaw Massacre.

On Twitter, in response to Kemi Badenoch firing Robert Jenrick, the Trades Union Congress writes: "Robert Jenrick, do you need a union rep x"

Top trolling from the TUC! 👏

Government drops plans for mandatory digital ID to work in UK There will still be digital checks on those starting a new job, but people will not need to hold a digital ID.

The government now needs to confirm where the billions of pounds earmarked for mandatory digital ID will go. The Liberal Democrats want to see it spent on something that will actually deliver value to people’s lives, like the NHS or frontline policing.

Today’s U-turn on digital ID was on the cards from the day it was haphazardly announced without any narrative or strategy to bring those who opposed it on side. Its faults were clear: a colossal amount of time, money and effort for a product whose benefits were dubious at best.