Ed Davey says Liberal Democrats will be ‘responsible opposition’ to Labour – UK politics live | Politics

Hollie Ridley has been appointed as Labour’s new general secretary, the party said this afternoon. The announcement came after Ridley was interviewed by the national executive committee which “concluded that she was the outstanding candidate to succeed David Evans”, the outgoing general secretary, the party said.

Ridley was Labour’s general election field director at the election. She transformed how the party organised, Labour said. “Innovation was central to her approach, including introducing the first ever fully digital polling day as well as overseeing the party’s voter persuasion and targeting strategy,” it said.

Ridley, who joined the party’s staff in 2011, as a trainee organiser, said:

The Labour party is the greatest vehicle for social progress in British history. But we can only do that when we win.

Keir [Starmer] has shown that the Labour party is at its best when it is outward facing and focussed on the needs of the British people. I look forward to working with him to deliver that in the years ahead.

Starmer said:

Hollie is an outstanding leader who played a critical role in the general election campaign. She brings experience, expertise and a clear vision about what is needed for continued electoral success.

We won the general election as a changed Labour party and I look forward to working closely with Hollie to remain true to that promise as we change Britain.

Ridley first got involved in Labour politics in her home town of Dagenham, where she was involved in challenging the BNP, Labour said.

This is from Luke Akehurst, a Labour MP who sits on the NEC.

Davey said Lib Dem values were needed across the world too.

To resist the rise of the extremists – not just at home but around the world.

With Vladimir Putin waging his brutal war in Ukraine.

With the terrible humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Hamas’s terrorist atrocities on October 7th.

Hostages still held captive. The continuing illegal occupations and the threat of regional escalation.

With the looming spectre of a second Trump presidency. How I hope and pray to see Kamala Harris defeat him this November.

At a time of such instability and uncertainty, it is our values that must prevail.

Decency. Compassion. Community. Respect for the rule of law.

Values that have always been at the heart of our party.

Our party believes that basic rights and dignity are the birthright of every individual.

Our party celebrates Britain’s diversity as a great strength.

Our party knows that our country thrives when it is open and outward-looking …

When it stands tall as a force for good in the world, instead of shrinking from it and turning inwards.

And crucially, our party stays focused on tackling the real problems in people’s lives –

From health and care to crime and the cost of living –

Instead of looking for scapegoats or conspiracy theories as a shortcut to electoral success.

Our values are the antidote to the populism and extremism that threatens our communities, threatens the traditions we cherish, and threatens the British way of life.

You are the antidote to hate and division

And Davey ended by saying the Lib Dems could use those values to build a brighter future.

Let’s offer real hope.

Let’s build a brighter future.

And let’s keep on winning, so we can make it happen!

Davey turns to the Tories.

And the Conservatives are already showing that they are unfit for opposition too.

It’s hardly surprising I suppose.

Expecting that lot to hold the government to account on the NHS or the economy would be like putting a bull in charge of repairing the china shop.

I mean, who would leave the job of upholding ethical standards in government to the gang who put Boris Johnson in Number 10?

And when the country needs an Opposition to scrutinise next month’s Budget, it’s not a job for the Tory geniuses who cheered Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng to the rafters, is it?

Just look at the quartet heading to Birmingham in a fortnight to audition for the job of Conservative leader.

They really are scraping the bottom of the barrel with these new TV reality shows, aren’t they?

And he says it is now the job of his party to stop them ever returning to power.

The modern Conservative Party is so out of touch with so many of their former voters – so far removed from the real lives of ordinary people –

That it no longer merits a place at the top table of our politics.

We can’t let them back – after all the damage they’ve done to our great country.

We can’t let them off the hook – after the chaos and misery they’ve caused.

Friends, our job is to consign the Conservative Party to the history books.

The Lib Dems made a good start at the election, he says, winning 60 seats from the Tories.

Voters who believe in the fundamental British values of fairness, decency, freedom, and respect for the rule of law –

And who no longer see those values reflected in the party of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss –

But who found those values strong in the Liberal Democrats.

So friends, on the fourth of July we made a great start. But now let’s go further.

Let’s finish the job.

Davey is now talking about care, and the remarkable response he says he got after the Lib Dems released an election video in which Davey talked about his experiences caring for his disabled son.

Each time I speak about my story, I’m humbled by the number of people who get in touch to say “that’s my story too”.

But I confess I wasn’t prepared for so many incredible, heartfelt responses to that election broadcast.

People of all walks of life, of all political parties and none.

Like the couple whose adult son has similar care needs to John. Who kindly reached out to say that they know how it feels – especially the worry you have about what’s going to happen after you’re gone.

Just like Emily and I worry about John.

He says carers were not mentioned in Labour’s manifesto, or in the king’s speech. But there were mentioned at the first PMQs – because Davey asked about them, he says.

This is an example of the role the Lib Dems can play in opposition, he says.

This, friends, is the role all our 72 MPs will play in this parliament.

Using our strength – as not only once again the third party in the House of Commons but also the largest third party in a century –

To be the responsible opposition to this government.

And to speak up for people in our communities – taken for granted and ignored by the others.

Davey is turning to health and care, the two issues he says were at the heart of the party’s campaign.

Echoing the argument made by Daisy Cooper yesterday, he says it was a Liberal, William Beveridge, who invented the NHS. He goes on:

We need to transform the way we do health and care in this country.

And our MPs have already taken the lead on that in this new parliament.

There’s a reason Wes Streeting calls us his 72 new pen pals.

Because from the second each of our MPs entered parliament they were on the case.

Speaking up for all those people who’ve watched their loved ones waiting hours in pain and distress for an ambulance to arrive.

And patients waiting weeks just to see their GP, while their illness got worse and worse.

Parents searching in vain for an NHS dentist for their kids.

And cancer patients waiting months or even years to start treatment.

Davey says fixing the NHS won’t be easy. But it can be done, he says, and he calls for more investment in frontline services.

Starting with a whole new focus on community services – helping people to get care more quickly and more locally – with more GPs, more NHS dentists and more community pharmacists.

So fewer people end up in hospital in the first place.

Davey says investment in the NHS will save money in the long run.

The problem is, the Treasury simply isn’t wired to think this way.

Instead, we have the short-term negative thinking that leads governments to postpone hospital repairs and cancel new buildings.

Short-term thinking to save a bit of money now – even though you know it will only cost a lot more in the future.

Practically every year I can remember, governments have ended up announcing hundreds of millions of pounds of emergency funding to help the NHS through another winter crisis.

To paper over the cracks.

What if – instead of stumbling from crisis to crisis, instead of throwing more and more money at just plugging the gaps – what if we invested now to make the NHS winterproof?

The government could and should make this year the last winter crisis in our NHS.

So I urge Labour: do not make the same mistakes the Conservative party did.

Be more positive. Act now.