Liberal Democrats launch Young People’s Manifesto
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Green Party pledges free prescriptions for all
5 June 2017
* Caroline Lucas: “This Government is fining people for falling sick”
* Molly Scott Cato: “Prescription charges undermine the principle of universal free healthcare”
* Event details: 2pm, Easton Day & Night Pharmacist, 192 Stapleton Road, Easton, Bristol, BS5 0NY [1]
Caroline Lucas will announce the Green Party’s plans to scrap prescription charges as part of its commitment to a national health service that’s genuinely free at the point of use.
Lucas will accuse the Government of fining people for being sick and creating barriers which stop people accessing the medication they need.
GPs have warned that the £8.60 prescription charge in England [2] is forcing some people to make a choice between food and medication [3].
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have already scrapped prescription charges, and the Green Party wants to adopt the same scheme in England.
Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, is expected to say:
“Let me start by saying my thoughts remains with all those affected by the horrific acts in London yesterday. It is with a heavy heart that I speak to you today, but one which knows how important it is not to let those who seek to divide us succeed, or our democracy be cowed by fear.
“So I am here today to talk to you about the NHS. Every day this Government is fining people for falling sick by charging for prescriptions. GPs have warned that prescription charges force some patients to choose between spending their earnings on food – or essential medical treatment. This is not acceptable. It’s also a false economy because not taking prescribed mediation can cause people to miss work and lead to additional GP or hospital appointments.”
Lucas will announce the Green Party plans while visiting a community pharmacy in Bristol with Molly Scott Cato MEP.
Molly Scott Cato, Green South West MEP and Bristol West candidate, is expected to say:
“The NHS was founded on the principle of universal access to free, publicly funded and provided health care at the point of use. Prescription charges in England undermine that principle and the Green Party would not make people pay for access to vital medication.”
Scrapping prescription fees would cost an estimated £550 million annually [4]. The Green Party argue these costs could be more than met by getting rid of the NHS internal market – a move which would save an estimated £4.5bn according to the Centre for Health and the Public Interest [5].
ENDS.
For more information contact: press@greenparty.org.uk / 0203 691 9401
Notes:
1. Event details: 2pm, Easton Day & Night Pharmacist, 192 Stapleton Road, Easton, Bristol, BS5 0NY.
The Green Party has suspended national campaigning until Sunday night after the London terror attack. We are in discussion with the other parties and if campaigning does not resume tomorrow another email will be sent.
2. http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcosts/Pages/Prescriptioncosts.aspx
EASO publishes a Country of Origin Information (COI) report on Nigeria
Today, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) published a Country of Origin Information (COI) Report entitled ‘Nigeria – Country Focus’. The report provides an overview of selected topics in Nigeria, relevant for the international protection status determination of Nigerian applicants.
This is the second COI report on Nigeria published by EASO. In October 2014, EASO published a COI report on Sex Trafficking of women1.
In 2016, Nigeria ranked 5th in the top countries of origin in the EU+ countries 2 , with a total of 48,705 applicants. This is a 46 % increase compared to 2015. In April 2017, Nigeria was the third-ranked country of origin in Europe.
In this report EASO provides information focusing on ‘selected topics’ of particular relevance for international protection status determination (Refugee Status and Subsidiary Protection) for Nigerian applicants. It is not meant to be a general description of the human rights situation in the country, nor a comprehensive overview of all topics at stake in international protection status determination.
Input from EU+ countries suggests that a majority of Nigerian applicants for international protection originate from the southern part of the country, and a large part of them from Edo state, a relatively small state representing a similarly small fraction of the Nigerian population. Therefore, information related to the south of Nigeria and in particular Edo State, is given particular attention in this country focus report.
Key topics.
The first chapter of the report provides background information about the legal and administrative system, ethnic groups and political situation in Nigeria. This chapter also discusses the general human rights situation, covering issues related to Boko Haram, vigilantism, ethnic-religious violence, corruption, and abuse of power by security forces. The second chapter presents the security situation in the country’s six regions and thematic security issues such as conflicts between ‘indigenes’ and ‘settlers’ and between nomads and farmers. The third chapter covers the judiciary, sources of Nigerian legislation and the functioning of law enforcement. Chapter 4 is devoted to gender-related issues, such as the widespread domestic violence of which mainly women are victims, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) the prevalence of which is steadily decreasing, and child and forced marriages largely occurring in northern Nigeria. Trafficking of Human Beings (THB) is discussed only briefly as this topic is covered comprehensively in the abovementioned Sex Trafficking of Women report. Chapter 5 is dedicated to the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) persons, and their treatment by society and authorities, and discusses the impact of the recent legislation prohibiting same sex marriages. The sixth chapter gives an overview of the main religions in Nigeria, and highlights several types of violence and conflicts linked to religion. Finally, Chapter 7 focuses on human rights issues related to secret societies (such as the Ogboni), university cults (violence, recruitment and the possible consequences of refusing such a cult), the occurrence of ritual killings, and chieftaincy succession issues.
Background
This report was written in the framework of the EASO Operating Plan to Italy, Measure ITA 5: “Professional development activities and study visits” 3 . Two COI specialists from Norway and The Netherlands were deployed to an EASO Asylum Support Team, to support the Italian COI unit in drafting a report on selected topics in Nigeria. The report was written in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology. It was reviewed by COI experts from Denmark, Portugal, the Republic of Slovenia and Switzerland in order to ensure the highest quality. The drafting of this report was finalised on 8 May 2017.
EASO will continue to produce such reports on important countries of origin and update them regularly in order to raise and harmonise COI standards in the EU and to further support the practical implementation of the Common European Asylum System.
Download Press Release [EN]
Download Report [EN]
Further information may be obtained from the European Asylum Support Office by contacting Mr Jean-Pierre Schembri at: jean-pierre.schembri@easo.europa.eu
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1 All reports are available via EASO’s website: https://www.easo.europa.eu/information-analysis/country-origin-information/country-reports
2 EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland.
3 EASO, EASO Operating Plan to Italy, 22 December 2016.
Theresa May’s failed record on policing and tackling foreign funding of extremism
Theresa May says “enough is enough” – but she forced through the cuts that lost us thousands of armed police and community officers.
As Home Secretary, she even accused the police of crying wolf over the impact of her cuts – and their fears that the public were being put in danger.
The truth is the Conservatives have failed to properly fund our police. Between 2010 and 2016 19% of Authorised Firearms Officers were cut – that’s more than 1300 officers.
The Liberal Democrats would provide our police with £300m extra funding a year. We’re choosing to fund the police properly, while the Conservatives prioritise a corporation tax cut.
Since the London attacks, Theresa May has accused technology companies of providing a safe space for terrorist ideology online – but by posturing instead of working with companies like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, she’s failing to keep us safe.
Tim Farron says we must protect our freedoms – instead of restricting the internet like China or North Korea:
“If we turn the internet into a tool for censorship and surveillance, the terrorists will have won. We won’t make ourselves safer by making ourselves less free. Instead of mass surveillance, the Liberal Democrats will invest in police and local intelligence-gathering that helps keep communities safe.”
Astonishingly, instead of levelling with the British public about foreign funding for extremists, the Conservatives are still choosing to protect their allies in Saudi Arabia.
The Liberal Democrats demanded a report into foreign funding of extremism in Britain in 2015 – a demand David Cameron agreed to when he was Prime Minister.
We have repeated our call for the report to be made public, but today Conservative Minister Karen Bradley refused to say whether it would be published, saying it was more important to “work with our friends and allies” in the Middle East.
We believe the British people deserve to know the truth behind the funding of extremism in our country, so we can confront this issue head on.
Tim Farron says the Conservatives are making the wrong choices in the fight to protect our lives and freedoms against those who threaten us:
“In the choices we make, we should provide the resources necessary for those who keep us safe to do their jobs with the powers they have been given. We need to guard the hard-won liberties that define us as a country. If we make the wrong choices, those who seek to change our way of life have won.”
Vote Lib Dem on 8th June.
Sturgeon ramps up prospect of Labour/SNP deal
5 Jun 2017
Nicola Sturgeon has ramped up the threat of the SNP propping up Jeremy Corbyn in return for a second independence referendum in an interview on Radio 4’s Women’s Hour this morning.
Asked whether she would do a deal, she commented: “If the parliamentary arithmetic post the election supported this, I would want the SNP to be part of a progressive alternative to a Tory government.”
She added “I’m talking something that would be…on an issue by issue basis.”
With regards to the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister propped up by the SNP, she said “It’s no longer inevitable” that the arithmetic would not support it.
Paving the way for the deal, she positioned the SNP as trailblazing for Labour: “Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto…many of the key commitments in that, are policies that the SNP is already implementing in Scotland.”
She also dismissed the idea that there should be no second referendum – even if unionist parties got over 50 per cent of the vote.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw MSP said:
“It could not be clearer. The SNP are actively lining up to do a deal with Labour to get a second independence referendum – because they know that Jeremy Corbyn as PM is ‘absolutely fine’ with a second referendum.
“Across Scotland, only the Conservatives can stand up against the SNP now.
“So if you’ve had enough of Nicola Sturgeon, use your vote on Thursday to send Nicola Sturgeon a message she can’t ignore: we’ve had enough – take a second independence referendum off the table and get back to the day job”
The BBC interview can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08sks0y