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.