"Under the Tories, building of both social and affordable housing has plummeted.
"Since 2015, this Conservative government has overseen the sell-off of over 25,000 council homes and replaced fewer than one in three.
"Theresa May can announce all the new council homes she wants. But if this government doesn't reform the Right to Buy by allowing local authorities to suspend it if they wish, and ensure all homes sold are replaced, this announcement isn't worth the paper it's written on.
"If the Tories are serious about tackling the housing crisis, May must also announce that she will ensure local authorities and housing associations can borrow the money needed to build more social housing."
Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council are calling on the Conservative administration at County Hall to stop further investment in commercial property outside of Surrey and to instead prioritise County Council owned vacant buildings to either be used to provide services or to be sold or let.
Cllr Hazel Watson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council, said today:
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have expressed their disappointment following a decision today by the Conservative Cabinet to slash the opening hours of Community Recycling Centres across the county and increase charges for residents.
The decision will see Community Recycling Centres close for an extra 20 days a week, as well as an end to the free daily allowance. The Cabinet decision follows a petition handed in by Liberal Democrat campaigners of 3,245 signatures, plus an enormous response to the county council's own consultation of 13,637 people.
"Michel Barnier's statement that we are 'months' away from even starting substantive Brexit negotiations shows that Theresa May's Florence speech was a flop, that David Davis is dangerously delusional about the level of progress that is being made, and that the government is still scandalously lacking a Brexit plan.
"The greater the uncertainty, the more the economy will flounder and the more vital workers will quit the UK.
"Brexit is a mess made in Westminster by the Conservatives. The time is ticking, on the deadline before we leave and on the last remaining shreds of this government's credibility. We need to stay in the single market and the customs union, and we need to give the people a vote on the final deal."
9,832 EU nationals left the NHS between 30 June 2016 and 30 June 2017, figures published by NHS Digital today have revealed. This is an increase of 22% on the previous year, and up 42% on two years earlier.
In total 3,885 nurses, 1,794 doctors and 1,518 support staff from the EU left the NHS between June 2016 and June 2017.
Official statistics released by the NHS show that EU doctors and nurses are leaving the Health Service in record numbers and that the rate of departures is increasing. Research by the British Medical Association indicates that 4 in 10 EU doctors are considering leaving the UK and a further 25% are unsure on their future after the referendum.
The IFS has demolished Boris Johnson's repeated claim that Brexit will lead to an £350m for the NHS.
In a letter to The Times, the IFS's deputy director Carl Emmerson points out that overall Brexit is actually set to damage the public finances and lead to "net fiscal loss."
This is a point made by the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast and adopted by the government.
On 18 July in Washington DC leading experts gathered at AEI (American Enterprise Institute) to discuss the challenges and opportunities of Brexit after the United Kingdom elections. Former Bank of England policy maker, economist and PIIE (Peterson Institute for International Economics) president Adam Posen - while stating he didn't at present foresee that a reversal on Brexit would happen - said that the United Kingdom's choice to introduce barriers with the European single market will damage Britain's economy.
