What do Lib Dems believe in?
"We are sometimes asked what the Liberal Democrats stand for," says Paul Ray, District and City Councillor for Chadsmead. "As a third political force, with our funding coming not from big business or organisations, our focus is on making life better for everyone. We want to see a fairer, greener, and more caring country."
On specific policy issues, the Liberal Democrats have the following to say
- Taxation
- Health & Social Care
- Housing
- Climate & Environment
- Small businesses
- Brexit - the B-word
- Political reform
Taxation
The stealth tax hikes brought in by the Sunak government by freezing the levels of the allowances are not fair on lower earners. The government could raise money by introducing a proper windfall tax on the energy companies, who have reported massive profits while increasing the burden on those who really cannot afford to pay. Another source of revenue could be for the government to retrieve the billions of pounds lost to fraud and inefficiency during the pandemic. Surely the cost of funding the retrieval would be more than covered by the amount retrieved.
Health and Social Care
As we all know, the NHS needs more frontline staff (doctors and nurses) so that we all receive a better service, and has been starved of money for the past thirteen years. We are calling for 8,000 more GPs over the next four years and a legal right to see a GP within seven days.
The availability of treatment for mental health issues is grossly inadequate, especially for children and young people who have suffered disproportionately from the effects of years of austerity and the Covid pandemic.
More investment in primary and preventative care is needed. By bringing care closer to the community, we can all enjoy a better level of care at a lower cost. As a local example, Lichfield's Samuel Johnson Community Hospital could and should have more use made of it to bring more care closer to our residents.
Simply throwing more money or even more people, at these problems is not the answer, though. The Liberal Democrats are the voice of all the 9,000,000 carers in this country (including our leader Ed Davey), working to support our families and communities. We would increase the carer's allowance by £1000 per year.
In addition, there needs to be closer cooperation between health care and social care services to relieve the pressure on the NHS.
We need ambitious policies to improve the health of the nation in relation to alcohol and unhealthy food. While avoiding the "nanny state", we need to increase awareness of the importance of healthy eating and responsible consumption of alcohol. The decrease in tobacco use has improved the quality of life for many. The same could be done with food and drink.
Housing
More housing estates of identically-styled boxes with no infrastructure to support the residents may be profitable for the builders, but they are bad for the communities. Liberal Democrats believe we need a huge investment in social housing and close cooperation between housing associations and local government to tackle the crisis in the availability of affordable housing. Key workers especially are in need of housing of this kind.
Renters are at risk of suffering from sudden rent increases and Liberal Democrats would press for stronger rights for renters to prevent exploitation.
Climate and environment
Recognising that this is a matter of urgency, we would push for every home to be insulated by 2030. We would want to see greater introduction of sustainable and renewable energy sources along with energy-reduction technology to reduce our carbon footprint.
And on the environmental front, it's time to clean up the water business in order to clean up our waterways and beaches. The whole system of privatised water companies who shirk their responsibilities needs to be radically revised, along with the toothless "watchdog", OFWAT.
Small businesses
SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy and at the same time the litmus test for the success or otherwise of economic policies - not a few dozen billionaires. The business rates system needs revising, and in addition Liberal Democrats would introduce a proper investment plan to support industries in areas of future growth, and to provide the necessary skills training.
Brexit - the B-word
A recent poll shows that over 60% of those polled support re-joining the EU. Every day we can see evidence of the failure of the half-baked unplanned disaster that was Brexit. In the nearly seven years since the referendum, none of the promises made have come true.
Liberal Democrats see the need to push hard for a move to re-join the single market and customs union and concentrate our energies on Europe, rather than the miniscule markets on the other side of the world.
Political reform
Thirteen years of egotistical and incompetent leadership, together with unprecedented levels of sleaze and bad behaviour by MPs have led to a distrust of politics. Liberal Democrats are fighting for a fairer way of electing our representatives, where every vote counts, and where central government has less control over local representatives. Local decisions are better decisions.