Today I relinquish my role as leader of @LibDems in the House of Lords. Challenging but rewarding work esp at times when we had limited numbers of MP's . Delighted that Jeremy Purvis will now pick up the baton.

Inflation climbing in recent months, hitting 4.4% on RPI measure. Treasury paid £16.4bn in interest on gilts in June, almost twice the £8.4bn of the same month in 2024, & £2.4bn more than #OBR expected. Govt will use quiet summer to roll pitch for tax rises. @LibDems.org.uk #tax #inflation

SEND provision is woefully underfunded & needs reform - @EdDavey.libdems.org.uk is right to highlight deficiencies experiencing the problems first hand. The #Labour Govt seems to be in denial over funding challenges. @LibDems.org.uk #SEND

Latest Govt sanctions to stop people smugglers rely on cross border co-operation. If it was that easy, police & Interpol would already be doing it. #BrexitDisaster made working with #EU much harder, something for which #NigelFararge bears much of the blame. #Brexit #LibDems @LibDems.org.uk

The Govt borrowed £6.6bn more than in June 2024 - 2nd-highest June borrowing since monthly records began in 1993. It’s also £3.5bn more than the £17.1bn forecast by #OBR. #Labour driven by events rather than controlling budget. Worrying. @LibDems.org.uk

#Netanyahu has turned #Israel into a rogue state, limiting aid in #Gaza, shooting women & children queuing for food. IPC says famine a genuine risk. Flour is now £50 a kilo there, 90p for same here according to #BBCNews. @LibDems.org.uk

#Cunliffe report working within limited brief suggests many of things @LibDems.org.uk have proposed over past 6 years. But replacing failing #OFWAT will not clean up water alone. #Labour needs to scrap private water firms & stop delaying inevitable

Enviro Agency figs show total number of serious water pollution incidents in 2024 was 75, up from 47 in 2023 81% were caused by 3 companies @ThamesWater ,@SouthernWater & @YorkshireWater. @ThamesWater’s serious incidents increased by 100%. @ThamesWater still wants to pay its exec bonuses.

Another rise in #unemployment figs shows @UKLabour Govt that penalising employers through tax hikes on jobs works against their growth agenda. Chancellor & PM look increasingly short of a growth plan @LibDems.org.uk

Hikes in energy costs caused by tyrants like #Putin mean the need for UK to invest in #renewables is common sense & essential. #Reform denial of climate change and threats to green energy producers irresponsible, unpatriotic and plain bonkers @LibDems.org.uk

Nigel Farage MP claiming, without evidence, that many Afghans who helped defend our armed forces are closet rapists is disgusting. How long til we hear the deranged “they are eating the cats, eating the dogs” echoing his mentor @realDonaldTrump

Thames Water testimony from their Chair is shaming. 30% more pollution events, bigger than ever losses & 10 year turnaround with16m customers under hosepipe ban . @UKLabour Govt need to grasp nettle & take into state ownership. @LibDems have suggested major reform for yrs. Where is it?

Easy to see why polls say major EU nations still want to see UK re-join. Better to defend against #DonaldTrump & #Putin as a cohesive power block of 500m ppl than stand alone. It's why no-one else has in EU copied #BrexitDisaster. #Farage #Reform @LibDems.org.uk

Comments from #BankofEngland re business contraction following tax hikes can be seen as a polite but severe rebuke for Chancellor & her plans. Lowering interest rates to compensate for her mistakes are not a glowing endorsement @LibDems.org.uk #LibDemLords

Macron is right when he blames #Brexitdisaster as contributing to migrant issue. @Nigel_Farage hypocrisy is sickening when he seeks to criticise numbers entering illegally. His lies have consequences.

How many more red flags do @UKLabour Govt need to see that @ThamesWater is not fit for purpose as it refuses to return 21 bonus payments worth £2.5m, funded by its ill-served customers. If ever there was a time to make an example it is now. @LibDems.org.uk #water

The migrant boat issue would have been easier to manage had we remained in the EU. It is therefore pure hypocrisy for @Nigel_Farage and @Conservatives to moan about numbers crossing the channel when it was their #BrexitDisaster which precipitated this crisis. @LibDems.org.uk

By product of @Nigel_Farage #Brexitdisaster is that we no longer have access to EU fingerprint system. So unable to check ID of illegal Refugees entering UK. Also unable to return them to country of 1st access by sourcing EU held data. Another own goal. @LibDems @Reform_UK

I agree with @EdwardJDavey when he laments 1 year of @UKLabour. There’s no ambition on #EU to get growth.10-year #NHS plan failed to mention social care & ignored family carers. Water still needs reform. unsurprising @LibDems.org.uk support grows #LibDems

Hiring confidence among UK employers at its lowest for 13 years. Spooked by new employment rights bill, tax rises & uncertainty, they're not prepared to take risk with expansion. Unforced missteps mean Govts objective of growth is impossible without new approach to restore confidence @LibDems.org.uk

It’s easy to gloat over @UKLabour welfare travails, but everyone agrees that system must change. Now huge responsibility on Stephen Timms to produce politically feasible reforms. @LibDems @LibDemsLords

Yesterday's welfare reversal has shot a hole in the Govt's budget. It is now inevitable that tax rises will follow. This will further undermine confidence that @Keir_Starmer is in control of events. His political tin-ear will be his undoing. @LibDems.org.uk #welfare #tax

Closely watched Institute of Directors’ Economic Confidence Index shows UK business confidence has declined to -53 in June, down from -35 in May. @RachelReevesMP tax hikes have reversed rather than enhance growth in business. She will need a re-think. @LibDems.org.uk

#LibDemLords voting later today on our amendment to the #HereditaryPeersBill to introduce direct elections to the Lords. Getting rid of remaining hereditaries is long overdue, but it should be just start of fundamental reform @LibDems.org.uk #Lords

Rail speed restrictions impacting mains lines on GWR & Southern due to heatwave shows the fragility of our aging rail networks. Flooding, leaves, cold and now heat all seem to reduce our major transport networks to hopeless standards of unreliability. @LibDems.org.uk #rail #heatwave

Completely agree with government giving priority to British doctors. Current situation of 5 applicants for every specialist training place is wasteful and demoralising for many bright doctors. No wonder so many emigrate. @LibDems.org.uk #doctors

Another totally unnecessary own goal by #BBC over #Glastonbury. It does not need to give its critics so much ammunition. It is such a valuable asset maybe needs shrewder & more agile management to keep it safe. #BBC #Glasto #Glastonbury @LibDems.org.uk

The #KeirStarmer mea culpa interview at the w/end is all well & good as long as he learns from the unforced errors. But once you get a reputation for u-turning under backbench pressure, your authority's shot @LibDems.org.uk #Labour #Starmer

Refurbishment of Parliament has been scandalously and dangerously delayed. Delays cost hundreds of millions per year and risks a repeat of Notre Dame. Time to make progress without further delay... @LibDems.org.uk

We welcome enhanced payments for #NHS but #welfare & social care remain woefully underfunded & undermanaged. The money risks going to waste without addressing the social care crisis. Instead of squeezing budgets, we need a proper plan for growth @LibDems.org.uk

The #Labour U-turn on welfare shows major schism inside Govt. 3 reversals in 4 weeks have eroded faith in #KeirStarmer as PM & more importantly makes UK look erratically governed, impacting investment & confidence. These are unforced errors... @LibDems.org.uk

Another U-turn by #KeirStarmer over welfare rebellion will signal a huge loss of authority for the PM. #Labour will struggle to govern effectively when they appear wobbly & disunited so often. Not what the country needs... @LibDems.org.uk #welfare

Watching #NATO leaders genuflecting to #DonaldTrump was truly depressing. Whilst understandable, it vividly demonstrates Europe's current weakness and need for greater unity @LibDems.org.uk #Trump #US #EU

It is quite remarkable that #Labour had 14 years in opposition to plan the future if they achieved govt. Yet their proposed welfare cuts were always ging to be deeply divisive and damaging. Why didn't they foresee this? @LibDems.org.uk

National Security Strategy highlights new threats including to undersea cables, cyber and sabotage. Difficult to see how nuclear armed planes could possibly help with these... @LibDems.org.uk

Tax increases & burdensome employment leg is strangling bus growth in UK. Now we see reports that @UKLabour has shelved plans to tax #America tech companies out of deference to #US. #SocialCare at breaking point & needed revenue from these firms could fill that fiscal hole. @LibDems @EdwardJDavey

With #USA playing peacemaker & warmonger between #Israel & #Iran predictions of a worrying future under a @realDonaldTrump POTUS proved understated. Good defensive posture for @UKLabour is to get closer to the #EU as #Canada is doing joining those who share our values. @LibDems

The #assisteddying bill now moves to the House of Lords & will receive forensic & thorough examination. Given that it has passed the Commons and has massive public support, it would however be wrong for its opponents to try and derail it in the Lords @LibDems.org.uk

Once again global order upended by #Trump action over #Iran. He appears erratic and thereby dangerous. He lashes at out anyone who won't do a quick deal on his terms. In the long term, we'll all pay the price. @LibDems.org.uk

Agree with @EdwardJDavey we need sight of any legal advice Govt received on entering conflict with Iran. We dont want another dodgy dossier scenario from another @UKLabour Govt trying to curry favour with @realDonaldTrump.

As a small example of the failure of #Labour Govt & #Ofwat to reform the #water companies - #ThamesWater was fined £18.2m for breaking the rules relative to dividend payments at same time it was allowed to pay £153.3m in dividends in March last year. Where is the oversight? @LibDems.org.uk

HS2 faces more delays and a gargantuan £100bn price tag. @Conservatives mismanagement of this project specifically & the UK more generally defies belief. No wonder their poll rating continues to fall. The more voters learn of their record, the less they’re willing to back them. #HS2 @LibDems.org.uk

The Liberal PM Mark Carney has played a shrewd game using @realDonaldTrumps expansionist rhetoric against Canada to get elected & now using G7 trade negotiations to get better deal with US as POTUS on back foot. No wonder Trump left early.

#G7 meeting not likely to get consensus over #Middle East. sad reflection on state of world, dissension, & disagreement. Meanwhile #Putin continues his war in #Europe whilst world distracted & @realDonaldTrump loses interest.@LibDems

Worrying developments in #MiddleEast with #Israel's attacks on #Iran. Both unpredictable states & latest action illustrates lack of interest by US in acting as a moderator for either. Another terrible by product of @realDonaldTrump as #POTUS. @LibDems @LibDemLords

The @RachelReeves_MP sounded confident on todays’ @BBCR4Today but not sure she can keep up pretense of zero tax rises b4 next election (or even next year). If global events & @realDonaldTrump worsen economy, it will hardly be a crime to adjust taxes. Just inevitable. @LibDems

Spending review tries to reverse disappointing 1st year from this Government. They inherited a terrible economic legacy from profligate, inept #conservatives. But they have not stimulated necessary productivity improvements by penalising business. @libdems.org.uk

#Fuelrepayment U turn by @RachelReeves_MP sensible but her original decision to scrap it shows lack of political antennae. Now she looks weak and vulnerable. @UKLabour @LibDems

Spending review offers chance for yet another re-set for #Labour. Social care must be protected, carers & family care are vital services which protect #NHS. Many councils spend 80% of their tax receipts on care. They now urgently need more support. #spendingreview @LibDems.org.uk

Inevitable that #Trump would manipulate news using #immigration to distract from his corrupt & failing tax & spend policy which will bring recession. Polls show number of voters regretting their choice of #POTUS grows. @LibDems.org.uk