Paul Gray: Your Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Havant

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Paul Gray, I’m the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Havant and I’m asking you to ask yourself if you want to stop the madness. If you do, you agree with me.

vote paul gray text

But why the Liberal Democrats?

I am sure many of you have been torn between voting for the Liberal Democrats or Labour. Many of you will have been torn between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. I get that. Over the years I have known many good, sensible supporters of both parties. And now I am privileged to find many of those people joining or supporting the Liberal Democrats as they see the two old parties lurk further to the extremes.

Jeremy Corbyn has long wanted to leave the EU. His position in 2019 is almost identical to the Labour Party position of the 1970’s. Many voters who put their faith in Corbyn in 2017 now feel he has been a disappointment.

Meanwhile, Johnson, Rees-Mogg, Redwood and the like continue to drag the Conservatives into Brexit destruction. Johnson talks of “getting Brexit done” but Brexit, if it goes ahead, will be consuming British politics for years to come, preventing us from dealing with the day to day business of good government.

The Conservatives are traditionally strong here. It’s not a place where Labour can ever really have a surge. Here in Havant, liberals have history though. WE’VE HAD had LIBERAL MP’S IN HAVANT BEFORE.

And with the Conservatives now faltering, we really do have a chance of victory. It is, admittedly, just a small window of opportunity open to us. But we can do this. To do this though I need your support.

I need each and every one of you to get out and vote for me, your Liberal Democrat candidate. Please don’t leave it to someone else. In the end, we get the government we deserve. Get out, vote, fight for the government you deserve.

It’s time we took back control.

It’s our future.

It’s your future.

So please, vote for me, your Liberal Democrat candidate, on December the 12th. Together, we can bring an end to the chaos.

Lib Dems to invest £500 million in youth services to help tackle knife crime

The Liberal Democrats have set out ambitious plans to tackle soaring levels of knife crime, by investing £500 million in youth services and adopting a public health approach to youth violence.

knife in hand
Source: Pixabay

A Liberal Democrat government would
create a £500 million ring-fenced fund for Local Authorities in England to spend on youth services.

This would provide young people with positive, safe and healthy opportunities to prevent them being drawn into youth violence and gang-related crime. The party would also make local youth services a statutory service, protecting them from future cuts.

The Liberal Democrats would take a public health approach to tackling youth violence, modelled on the successful approach taken by Scotland’s Violence Reduction Unit. This would involve identifying risk factors and treating them early on, with youth workers, police, teachers, health professionals and social services all working closely together to prevent young people falling into gangs and violence.

Liberal Democrat Leader Jo Swinson said:

“We are in a knife crime epidemic, but successive Governments have taken the wrong approach to dealing with it.

“For 25 years, Conservative and Labour Governments have been competing to seem tough on crime, without doing enough to actually prevent crime.

“Liberal Democrats will build a brighter future for young people by investing £500 million a year in youth services and taking a public health approach to youth violence.

“With a Liberal Democrat government, young people will have the support and opportunities they deserve, our communities will be stronger and people will feel safer.”

BREXIT PARTY STANDING DOWN IN HAVANT SHOWS FARAGE WORRIED ABOUT LIB DEMS STOPPING BREXIT

Responding to the news that Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party will not be standing a candidate in Havant, Liberal Democrat candidate, Paul Gray said:

“Nigel Farage’s comments show he is running scared of the Liberal Democrats as the strongest Remain party in areas like Havant. He knows that we are the only party at this election that can take seats like Havant from the Conservatives and stop Brexit.

Nigel Farage looking startled
Source: Libdemvoice.org

“Boris Johnson’s Conservatives and the Brexit party are now one and the same. Both want to see an extreme Brexit that will damage our local economy, public services and limit opportunities for our children and grandchildren.

“Voters in Havant have a historic opportunity at this election to elect a Liberal Democrat MP, stop Brexit and build a brighter future for our country.”

NHS in Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust area could lose 256 EU staff because of Brexit

The NHS in the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust area could lose 256 staff from the EU as a result of Theresa May’s extreme version of Brexit, the Liberal Democrats have warned.

42% of nurses and over half of all doctors from the EU are considering leaving because of Brexit, according to recent research. This means in the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust area, an estimated 256 NHS staff are at risk of leaving including 48 doctors and 151 nurses.

This would create a £1.99m bill to re-hire doctors and nurses from the EU after 2019, due to Theresa May’s plans for a £2000 immigration skills charge for each doctor, nurse and health worker brought in from abroad.

The Liberal Democrats have called for an immediate guarantee that all EU nationals in the UK, including those working in the NHS and social care, can stay after Brexit.

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Havant Paul Gray said:

“Hospitals in the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust area depend on doctors, nurses and other support staff from the EU. But many are now planning to leave because of the uncertainty caused by Brexit.

“We must guarantee their rights to stay here immediately to prevent a damaging exodus of these skilled and hard-working people. Our NHS, and the care we all rely on, would suffer without them.

“The NHS is far too precious to be damaged by Theresa May’s decision to pursue a UKIP-style Brexit.

“The Liberal Democrats stand up to Theresa May’s extreme Brexit and give the people the final say, with the choice to remain in the European Union if they don’t like the deal on offer.”

Lib Dems to launch mock estate agents attacking May’s Dementia Tax for taking 58.4% of average house in Havant

Theresa May & Co
A mock estate agency called “Theresa May and Co” has been launched by the Liberal Democrats today attacking Theresa May’s Dementia Tax.

The Conservative policy would force the sale of family homes to fund care for elderly and vulnerable relatives.

The party has estimated that the Dementia Tax would cost £140,206, for someone receiving ten years of care living in an average-priced home in Havant.

Across Havant, 58.4% of the value of the average home would be wiped out to pay for the Dementia Tax.

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Havant Paul Gray, said:
 
“Theresa May wants to force you to sell your house if you need long-term care.

“The effects of this cruel and unfair policy will be massive, and will have a huge people on people across our community.

“Elderly and vulnerable people across Havant face losing over half of their home to fund this ill-conceived policy, with nine out of ten homes potentially at risk.

“This is like a new type of inheritance tax – but one that’s targeted at people of modest means, not the wealthy. The Conservatives want to tax ordinary hardworking families out of their savings and homes if their relative is unfortunate enough to need years of care: it is grotesquely unfair.

“There is a week left in this campaign: if Theresa May fails to come clean to the British public, how can she be trusted?

Clegg: NHS will be left with Theresa May’s £265m Brexit bill

Brexit will inflict serious staff shortages on the NHS creating a £265m bill to re-hire doctors and nurses from the EU after 2019, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

Survey data suggests up to 26,500 members of NHS staff from the EU could leave the UK as a direct result of Brexit, while the number of EU nationals registering as nurses in the UK has already fallen by 90% since the referendum.

Liberal Democrat research shows the NHS will need to spend more than £265m to replace staff from the EU over the next five years, a Brexit bill of £1m per week, as a result of the Conservatives’ immigration skills charge on employers. This is on top of the £59bn blow to the public finances from Brexit over the next five years.

Commenting on the figures, Liberal Democrat European Union spokesperson Nick Clegg said:

“The Leave campaign promised that exiting the EU would free up £350m a week for the NHS. It’s long been clear this was a lie, and now we know that Theresa May’s choice of an extreme Brexit will in fact place yet more financial demands on a health service already under considerable strain.

“The NHS is heavily dependent on doctors, nurses and other support staff from the EU, many of whom are now planning to leave the country because their rights have not been guaranteed.

“These are skilled and hard-working people, who all work tirelessly to look after all of us. Our NHS, and the care we all rely on, will suffer without them.

“It will cost the NHS around £265m to bring in EU staff to fill these jobs over the next 5 years, a wholly unnecessary burden at a time when the NHS is being asked to make dramatic efficiency savings.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. We already know the government is borrowing an additional £15bn a year as a direct result of the EU referendum – money which could otherwise be spent directly on the NHS.

“The NHS is far too precious to be damaged by Theresa May’s decision to pursue a UKIP-style Brexit.

“The Liberal Democrats will stand up to Theresa May’s extreme Brexit and give the people the final say, with the choice to remain in the European Union if they don’t like the deal on offer.”

Ryanair Brexit warning shows risk of “no deal” for UK travellers


Ryanair has warned the UK is heading for an “ugly divorce” from Europe, and that leaving the EU without a bilateral deal could mean very restricted or no flying between the UK and Europe.

They also warned that Theresa May’s plans to leave the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice would mean Britain will leave the Open Skies agreement which governs flights between the UK and Europe.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said:

“This is the reality of Theresa May’s extreme version of Brexit and insistence we could just crash out of the EU without a deal.

“Jobs could be lost, flights disrupted and British travellers’ lives thrown into chaos, but Theresa May doesn’t care.

“We will fight for a better deal on Europe and to give people a chance to reject a disastrous Brexit.

“The British people should be able to decide whether Theresa May’s Brexit deal is right for them, with the choice to remain in the EU if they don’t like what’s on offer.”

Hunt admits “bad Brexit” will hurt NHS: Lamb responds


The Liberal Democrats have seized on remarks by Jeremy Hunt in which he admits a ”bad Brexit” will damage the NHS.

Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat Health Secretary, said:

“The Conservative Brexiteers promised a £350m a week saving for the NHS. Instead the public finances are facing a £59bn Brexit black-hole because of Theresa May’s decision to go for an extreme Brexit, which would take us out of the single market.

“Jeremy Hunt warns that the NHS will not have enough doctors or nurses with a so-called ‘bad Brexit’. But Theresa May’s refusal to guarantee a right to remain for NHS staff has already resulted in staff leaving the NHS. Thanks to Theresa May, this is already a bad Brexit.

“Sadly, the people who will suffer are patients, who will pay with cancelled operations. But Theresa May just doesn’t seem to care.”

Clegg: May’s approach to Brexit is a threat to national security

Nick Clegg has accused Theresa May of putting national security at risk by pursuing an extreme Brexit that will see Britain locked out of an EU police database used by UK police and security services 16 times a second.

The Schengen Information System (SIS II) is an EU-wide database on organised criminal and terrorist suspects across 28 countries, including 35,000 people wanted under a European Arrest Warrant. It includes alerts on suspected ‘foreign fighters’ – people who have travelled to Syria and elsewhere to fight for ISIS.

  • UK police and security services queried the database over half a billion times in 2016 – equivalent to 16 checks a second.
  • 53 people are detained and questioned under anti-terrorism laws at ports and airports every day, where they can be checked against the database by UK Border Force officers.
  • In April 2016, the UK received 25 hits on alerts issued by other participating countries in relation to individuals who could pose a risk to national security.
  • The UK would lose access to the database under Theresa May’s plans to leave the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Unless this position changes, UK authorities will see their access to the database cut off on 29th March 2019.

Nick Clegg has challenged Theresa May to answer three vital questions:

  1. How will we maintain access to SIS II without accepting the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice?
  2. What contingency plans has she put in place to mitigate the loss of this information on the movement of terrorist suspects across the continent?
  3. How will we issue instructions to other EU countries to stop and question terror suspects if we are no longer part of this system?

Nick Clegg commented:

“Theresa May’s extreme approach to Brexit will have the direct consequence of severing our ties to a fantastically useful weapon in our armoury against terrorism. By refusing to accept a role for the European Court of Justice in policing this European-wide database, she has ruled out our future participation it. “
 
“It is hard to overstate the importance of this database. We check it 16 times a second, looking for security threats that have been flagged to us by other European countries. And we use it to tell other countries to stop and question people who we think are potential terrorists. This is euroscepticism gone mad. If she fails to back down, Theresa May’s approach to Brexit poses a direct threat to our national security.”