Cheshire West and Chester Liberal Democrats have criticised three motions due to be debated at the Council meeting on 9 February, accusing their proposers of misrepresenting the facts, stoking fear, and distracting from the real crises facing the borough.

Storyhouse targeted with misleading claims

One of the motions centres on a children’s event at Storyhouse which has been wrongly portrayed as inappropriate or sexualised. In reality, the event simply helps children understand that families come in different forms - a basic fact of modern life and something explicitly covered by the National Curriculum.

Children encounter classmates from a wide range of family backgrounds every day. Helping them understand that difference exists is about inclusion and safeguarding, not sex education.

Schools are already required to teach about different family structures, and Storyhouse is supporting that work at a time when schools are under severe financial pressure. Rather than attacking a valued cultural institution, councillors should be thanking it for stepping in where resources are stretched.

Had the Reform UK and Independent councillors proposing the motion spoken to the organisers, they would have known this. Instead, they have chosen to rely on dog-whistle politics to create the false impression that children are being taught about sexual relationships.

Scaremongering over changing rooms

The two further motions should not be debated at all. They are based on speculation rather than evidence, exploiting the absence of clear national guidance to whip up fear.

There is no evidence of offences occurring in public changing rooms in Cheshire West and Chester, nor are Liberal Democrats aware of any mixed-sex changing facilities on council-run premises. Raising alarmist claims without facts does nothing to improve safety - it simply targets a minority group for political gain.

Publicly elected representatives have a responsibility not to use their platform to vilify people or manufacture threats where none exist.

Call for a named vote

Given the seriousness of the claims being made and the potential harm they cause, the Liberal Democrats are calling for a named vote on all three motions.

Residents deserve to know which councillors are engaging in culture-war politics — and which are focused on holding the Labour administration to account for the real issues affecting people’s daily lives: deteriorating roads, unacceptable delays in EHCPs, and a deepening crisis in SEND provision.

Comment from the Liberal Democrats

Rob Herd, Chair of Cheshire West & Chester Liberal Democrats, said:

“This council should be focused on fixing potholes, supporting schools, and making sure children with SEND get the help they are legally entitled to - not attacking a children’s event at Storyhouse or spreading fear about problems that don’t exist.

Storyhouse is doing exactly what the National Curriculum expects, and doing it well. What we’re seeing instead is political theatre - using dog-whistle language to divide communities rather than solve problems.

We’re calling for a named vote so residents can see clearly who is serious about improving Cheshire West and Chester, and who would rather play culture-war games.”

The Liberal Democrats in Mid Cheshire have urged the Labour Government to dismiss rumored plans to cut disability benefits ahead of an announcement by the Work & Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall MP, on Tuesday.

Media speculation suggests that Personal Independence Payments (PIP), a non-means tested benefit designed to assist disabled people with the cost of living, could be cut to help balance the books ahead of the Chancellor’s Spring Statement. These cuts could include freezing the benefit, rather than increasing it in line with inflation, a real terms cut, and/or toughening up eligibility criteria for certain disabilities.

Jack Price-Harbach, the Lib Dems Parliamentary Spokesperson for Mid Cheshire, argues that “reducing benefits for disabled people will not incentivise more people to get back into the workplace. Applying for PIP is a notoriously difficult process, designed to put applicants off from doing it in the first place. In this digital age, paper application forms as thick as a school textbook have to be requested by phone call, filled out, then posted back to the DWP. Disabled people are made to feel like scroungers wanting to cheat the system from the start, for a paltry amount of money compared to similar European countries.”

“Forcing more people who can’t work into the workplace, or forcing those with limited capabilities to work beyond what they can reasonably manage will worsen their health outcomes. Employers will be less willing to employ or retain disabled people, leaving them more impoverished.”

The success rate for PIP applications in Mid Cheshire is 52.6%. Of the 14,100 total applications made within the constituency, 6,700 were unsuccessful. Two-thirds of those failed applications were due to applicants failing either the in-person or over-the-phone assessment.

Price-Harbach added: “For those people in Mid Cheshire who do receive PIP, 16% are pretty much left alone due to their needs being so severe. However, three-quarters of successful applicants are subjected to eligibility reviews between every year or every 5 years. If someone has a permanent disability, it can be managed but not cured. If applicants demonstrate that they are managing well thanks to this extra income, they are at risk of losing that benefit, along with the independence that it brings. I am calling on this Labour Government to ensure that any reductions to PIP are confined to the dustbin before they see the light of day. Disabled people must be treated with compassion, not suspicion.”

In their General Election Manifesto, “For A Fair Deal,” the Liberal Democrats pledged to Make the benefits system work better for disabled people by:

• Giving disabled people and organisations representing them a stronger voice in the design of benefits policies and processes.
• Bringing Work Capability Assessments in-house.
• Reforming Personal Independence Payment assessments to make the process more transparent and stop unnecessary reassessments, and end the use of informal assessments.

If you are unhappy with Labour's possible plans to cut disability benefits, and want to follow your local Lib Dems opposition to any such changes, then fill out the form below: