Our public services are in crisis. Lib Dems tell it straight. It means more tax… but more fairly distributed

There is no magic money tree. This is a fact that has become painfully obvious as we witness the collapse of vital public services:

• The NHS shortage of staff as wages fail to keep pace with inflation and skilled trained hospital staff simply cannot afford to continue working
• Ambulance waiting times at literally lethal highs as patients with strokes and cardiac conditions are left waiting outside A&E departments
• School buildings on the point of collapse, and teachers unable to cope with the demands placed on them
• Roads and other infrastructure literally crumbling
• Privatised water companies failing to keep our water systems up to date, and spewing sewage into our rivers and beaches

Now that the illusory bubble is bursting, the cry is that "we have no money". This despite the fact that during the pandemic, billions of taxpayers' money was handed to Conservative cronies (sometimes illegally) for goods and services which turned out to be either unfit for purpose or even non-existent, and the helping hands extended for furlough and business loans were exploited by fraudsters to the tune of additional billions. None of these massive losses currently seem to be in the government's anti-fraud sights.

And now… We have two candidates vying for the post of Prime Minister. The candidate currently leading seems to think that introducing tax breaks will stimulate growth and eventually the wealth will trickle down to those below. It sounds like a wonderful idea - except that from Reagan and Thatcher onwards, it has never been seen to work.

Blaming the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor on high taxation is not the answer. The chart below shows that most other European nations - which enjoy greater financial equality - collect more tax as a share of GDP than the UK. The idea that higher taxes stifle financial growth (other than in the ranks of the rich) seems to lack proof in the real world.

The Lib Dems have always been straight and honest that the answer to the NHS and social care crises is to increase tax revenues. We say that an extra 1p on the basic income tax rate, paid by us all, ringfenced just for the NHS and care services, will go a long way to solving the current problems. We would also increase income tax rates in the higher bands, a fairer system than increases on VAT or in National Insurance, which hurt those at the lower end of the economic scale most.

For Britain to survive, let alone thrive, it is clear that the current crop of Conservatives just will not do the job. It is impossible to find any sector of British society (other than billionaires) which has improved in the past few years.

Liberal Democrats offer a workable solution, which has been shown to have the approval of a majority of those polled. An increase on income tax - a tax that will be borne chiefly by those who can afford to pay it - with the resulting revenue ringfenced and dedicated to health and social care for the benefit of us all.

Liberal Democrats - the change that you have been looking for.