Liberal Democrat Policies
Pensions
Liberal Democrats believe that older people should have security,
dignity and choice
Security is a decent pension without means-testing. We would
put £5 extra on the basic pension and more for older pensioners.
Dignity means not having to sell everything you own to pay for
the care you need in old age. Liberal Democrats will make sure
that care is free.
Choice means you can stop work if you want to or you can carry
on if you want to - because we believe that age shouldn't matter.
Families
Our two main concerns are health and education. Nothing is more
worrying for a parent than a sick child, knowing they'd have
to wait in a queue for treatment.
Liberal Democrats will pay for more nurses, more doctors, more
hospital beds. Parents want the best education for their children.
You can't get that with large class sizes. The Labour Government
has let families down by penny-pinching public services. The
Liberal Democrats will make a real change to health and education.
We'll aim to make affordable childcare far more available so
that every member of every family can fulfil their potential.
Health
Liberal Democrats will treat people faster by providing more
hospital beds, more doctors and more nurses, and by paying doctors
and nurses better.
We'll have a Health Service not an 'Illness Service' with scanning,
screening, and testing for everyone. We'll also give all elderly
people free personal care.
Why should they have to sell their house just to be fed, washed
and dressed?
What people want is a Health Service that is the envy of the
world.
Education
Liberal Democrats are committed to a service that delivers a
quality education from cradle to the grave.
We will reduce average class sizes to 25 for all primary school
children. We will recruit teachers, retain them, and more importantly
- value them.
We will cut red tape to give teachers more time in the classroom.
We will scrap university tuition fees and restore grants. For
the Liberal Democrats every child, every school, and every student
matters.
Home Affairs
Liberal Democrats are committed to reducing crime and violence,
to making our courts and prisons work, and to defending people's
freedom.
To prevent more crime and to catch more criminals we need enough
police in every community to do the job. That means funding
6,000 more police - not just making up for the cuts under Labour
and the Tories. To prevent prisoners re-offending, our prison
system must prepare them properly for life and work in the outside
world.
Our courts must ensure that victims are not just heard but listened
to.
Transport
Liberal Democrats will create a safe reliable and affordable
public transport system.
We'll make it safe by making Railtrack more accountable to the
public. We'll make it reliable by integrating the different
forms of public transport and cutting congestion on our roads.
And we'll make it affordable by allowing local people to raise
money to develop their own transport solutions. After the months
of crisis, Liberal Democrats will get our country on the move
again.