Changing Britain for good  Introduction.  This manifesto does not promise good times just around the corner.  It does not avoid difficult questions out of fear of unpopularity.  It simply tells the truth; the truth about what Liberal Democrats believe has to be done in order for Britain to succeed.  If you want Britain to stay the same then you probably won't like this manifesto.  But if you want real change, if you long for a better future for yourself, your family, your community and your country, then read on.  Britain has a clear choice at this election.  We can stay much as we are, in the same old muddle, with difficult decisions postponed.  Our failure to adjust to the modern world will then become ever more serious.  We will lag further behind in creating and sharing wealth. More and more people will lose their  jobs and homes. Our environment will go on deteriorating. Our public services, already second  rate, will become even worse. We shall fail to get the best out of the European Community,  because our leaders will continue to be afraid to tell us that shared success in the Community  means sharing sovereignty too. Our system of politics will continue to foster confrontation and  short-term thinking, and exclude ordinary citizens from the business of government. This  manifesto offers a different choice for Britain. Liberal Democrats do not believe that our  country's under-performance has to be accepted. Another forty years of failed government is  not inevitable. Britain has many advantages: a wealth of natural resources; a long history of  engagement with the rest of the world; a mature and inventive people who value tolerance and  freedom. But Britain will only succeed when its political leaders start treating voters as  informed citizens with shared concerns, not as ignorant consumers to be manipulated. Now is  the time for change. That is why in this manifesto we set out a clear analysis of Britain's  problems and our proposals for putting them right. Above all, Liberal Democrats will trust our  fellow citizens with the truth. So this manifesto is different from others you may read. We do  not shrink from the real choices for our country. We are not afraid to say what needs to be  said. We are not afraid to do what needs to be done. And we are clear that if we want to make  a modern Britain, we must first change Britain. Contents. What Liberal Democrats stand for.  Britain's balance sheet. The economic balance sheet. The environmental balance sheet. The  educational balance sheet. The social balance sheet. Policies for the new century: the first  steps. Britain prosperity: public investment; private enterprise. Turning Britain around.  Making Britain competitive. Promoting enterprise. Creating long-term prosperity. Changing  the economy for good. Britain's environment: environmental protection and conservation.  Protecting our heritage. Controlling pollution. Conserving energy. Making transport clean and  efficient. Building a sustainable economy. Reviving rural communities. Britain's skills:  excellence for all. Aiming high; raising standards. Putting education at the heart of the  community. Educating the individual. Opening the doors to higher education. Britain's people:  healthier, safer and better housed. Guaranteeing high-quality health care. Providing good  housing. Protecting the community. Ensuring a decent income for all. Widening horizons:  investing in the arts. Encouraging a fit, active and healthy society. Britain's partners: European  partnership for the new century. Making Britain's European Presidency work. Building a  citizens' Europe. Creating a new democracy in Europe. Sharing security; working for peace.  Developing global prosperity. Britain's democracy. Fair voting for an effective Parliament.  Bringing power to the people. Strengthening local government. Ensuring citizens' rights and  opportunities. Working for peace: Northern Ireland. Our pledge. What Liberal Democrats  stand for. Liberal Democrats put people first. We aim to create a society in which all men and  women can realise their full potential and shape their own successes. We believe that if we  could liberate this wealth of talent we would transform our economy and create a shared  society of which we should all be proud. Liberal Democrats know that this cannot be achieved  without fundamental reform. We must change our political system to give the citizen more  power and the government less; our economic system to confer power on consumers and to  provide employees with a share in the wealth they create; our public services to guarantee  choice and dignity to each of us; and our education system to equip us better for the modern  world. Liberal Democrats recognise the importance of the things we own in private but we  also know the value of what we hold in common. We believe that people are at their best as  members of communities, where they care about each other and for those less fortunate than  themselves. So our policies are designed to strengthen communities, tackle crime and poverty,  build up the common wealth and improve the shared quality of life. In the economic sphere we  know that the free market is the best guarantee of responsiveness to choice and change. But  we believe the market should be our servant not our master. So we see the role of government  as crucial in making the market work properly, by creating the conditions for success,  promoting competition, breaking up monopolies and spreading information. And government  has to be ready to make the investments which private enterprise will not, whether in  transport, education or public works. Liberal Democrats know that we have a duty, not only  to each other but to the generations which follow us, to protect the environment. We believe  that this is best achieved not by making people poorer or less free but by building true  environmental costs into the market so as to reward those who conserve and penalise those  who pollute. Liberal Democrats are uncompromisingly internationalist. We know that there is  a limit to what Britain can achieve alone and we are committed to building in the wider world  the sort of society we strive for at home, founded on mutual cooperation, political liberty and  shared prosperity. We have long been committed Europeans, believing that Britain can only be  secure, successful and environmentally safe if we play our full part in building a more united  and democratic Europe. Globally, Liberal Democrats will work to strengthen international  cooperation. We reject outdated notions of national sovereignty, believing they now stand in  the way of common action to deal with the scourges of disease and hunger, the deterioration  of the Earth's environment and the continuing dangers of the post-Cold War world. We  believe that all government, whether local, national, or increasingly European, should be  bound by the rights of the individual and should be fully accountable. Because Liberal  Democrats alone understand that we shall not change Britain's future unless and until we  change Britain's electoral system, we are committed to electoral and constitutional reform. We  shall not rest until the government of Britain fully belongs to the citizens it is there to serve.  Britain's balance sheet. In drawing up this manifesto, we have begun from where Britain is  today. Like any good auditor, we have been realistic about national achievements and failures,  about opportunities and problems. The result is a balance sheet which shows our country's  strengths and weaknesses. Despite some points of promise and potential, Britain's balance  sheet shows how much still needs to be done. The following pages reveal the extent to which,  in the economy, in the environment, in education, and in local services, successive British  governments have failed to realise the opportunities of the past decades. Although there are  bright spots, the general picture is one of relative decline in relation to other advanced  democracies. Forty years of failure are the result not only of misjudged policies from both  Conservative and Labour Governments. Even more crucially, they are the product of an  outdated political system which has consistently sacrificed the long term to the short term and  abandoned principles for expediency. The Economic Balance Sheet. UK exports. UK exports  in 1991: œ103,804m. But imports have grown even more, to œ113,770 million. The balance of  trade has been negative since 1982, and in 1979 hit a record œ24 billion. Industrial relations.  Although industrial relations, as measured by strikes, have improved, there has still been  relatively little progress towards involving employees in the success of their enterprises -  through profit-sharing, share ownership and structures of participation. Positives. 1 In some  ways, British industry is thriving. In 1991, UK exports climbed to a record level of œ103,804  million. 2 Industrial relations have improved markedly since the 1970s. Trade unions have  become more responsible and democratic. Days lost though strikes fell from more than 29  million in 1979 to under a million in the year to October 1991. 3 The excessively high  income-tax rates inherited from the last Labour Government have been brought down - from a  top rate of 83% in 1979 to 40% in 1992. Negatives. 1 Unemployment has been the most  obvious cost of the current recession. The latest figures show 2,604,100 out of work. The  number unemployed for more than six months has doubled in the last year. 2 The recession is  biting deeply into industry. Business bankruptcies have jumped from 28,935 in 1990 to 47,777  in 1991. 3 High interest rates are throttling the chances of economic recovery. British  three-month rates stood at 10_7% in February, compared with 9_5% in Germany 5_3% in  Japan and 4_3% in the US. 4 Britain is failing to invest for the long term. Investment in  manufacturing industry fell from œ3_1 billion in the first quarter of 1990 to œ2_5 billion in the  last quarter of 1991. 5 This failure to invest for the long term can be seen also in innovation,  the development of new ideas and products. In 1984-88 only 3_4% of patents granted in the  US to other nationals went to Britons (3_7% in 1979-83). By comparison, France had grown  from 3_9% to 3_4%, and Japan managed 18_8% (against 12_9% in the earlier period). 6  Britain's record of economic growth is very poor. the UK economy contracted by 2_2% in  1991 - the biggest annual fall since the 1930s - while Italy's grew by 1_3% and Germany's by  1_9%. 7 Conservative management of the economy has stoked the biggest credit boom in  Britain's history. Average personal debt as a proportion of disposable household income  mushroomed from 57% in 1980 to 114% in 1990. 8 Conservative taxation policies may have  reduced high marginal income-tax rates, but it was the rich who benefited, not the country as a  whole. From the beginning to the end of the 1980s, take-home pay rose by 41_4% for those  on 11/2% times the national average, by 37% for those on the national average and by only  32% for those on half the average. [Short-term management of the economy has meant that  governments manipulate interest rates to ensure re-election, rather than with the long term  interests of the economy in mind. Interest rates fell before each of the last two general  elections, only to rise again afterwards.] [This decline is not just a feature of the current  recession. From 1979 to 1983 the annual level of manufacturing investment fell by 33%. It  recovered to its 1979 level only in 1988.] The Environmental Balance Sheet. Renewable  energy generation. 45% of electricity demand could be met from wind power. UN fact: the  amount of electricity produced by renewable energy sources in the UK has steadily declined  over the last five years. While France produces almost 20% of its energy from renewable  sources the UK manages only 1_3%. Unleaded petrol. As in so many environmental matters,  Britain was late in introducing tax differentials for unleaded fuel. In 1989, sales of unleaded  fuel in Germany were more than double those in the UK. Positives. 1 Britain has a massive  advantage in natural resources that give it the potential to be at the forefront of renewable  energy generation. Government estimates show that up to 45% of electricity demand could be  met from wind power. 2 Government action can significantly affect standards of environmental  protection. The market share of unleaded petrol rose from 1_1% to 43_0% between August  1988 and November 1991, due to widening tax differentials. 3 Britain has a positive record on  protecting its countryside. More of our land is protected in National Parks than any other EC  member, and one more has recently been announced, in the New Forest. Negatives. 1 In too  many ways Britain unfortunately deserves its nickname of The Dirty Man of Europe. Carbon  dioxide emissions - the main source of global warming - increased in the UK from 525 million  tonnes in 1986 to 530 million in 1989. 2 The UK produces more sulphur dioxide, the main  cause of acid rain, than any other EC member, but is only now beginning to install  pollution-control devices to power stations. Germany started in 1984. 3 Prosecutions for  water pollution more than doubled between 1981 and 1988, while an additional 40 beaches  were found not to be complying with EC standards in 1990 - making a total of 20% of all  British beaches. 4 The Government has failed to invest in the development of renewable  energy sources - despite the fact that they avoid the pollution problems associated with coal,  oil and gas. Currently, just over œ20 million is spent annually on renewable energy research  and development, compared to more than œ200 million a year on nuclear power. 5 Even  worse, the Government has cut the budget of the Energy Efficiency Office, while investment in  energy conservation would save money and reduce pollution. The 1990-91 level of funding, a  meagre œ23 million, is lower than it was four years before. 6 Pollution from road transport has  risen from 884 million tonnes of nitrogen oxides in 1980 to 1,298 million tonnes in 1989. 7 At  the same time, the proportion of freight carried on the railways between 1980 and 1990  dropped from 9% to 7%, while the proportion using road transport rose to 83%. 8 Rail  transport is placed at a disadvantage in Britain. Levels of government support for the railways  fell throughout the 1980s, from œ1262 million in 1980-81 to œ462 million in 1990-91. The UN  estimates that a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 20% by 2005 will be necessary to  avoid potentially disastrous effects of global warming. Yet the Government has committed  Britain merely to stabilise emissions by 2005 - well behind the majority of EC countries.  Congestion on the roads costs an estimated œ15 billion a year, yet the Government continues  to do nothing to curb the rate of growth of car use - estimated at 142% between 1990 and  2005. The Educational Balance Sheet. The retention rate, however, is very bad. More than  half the country's qualified teachers left the profession. In recent years, the pupil-teacher ratio  has turned up once again - from 16_9 in 1990 to 17_2 in 1991. Positives. 1 In some ways  educational standards are improving. The number of teachers in nursery and primary education  grew from 176,228 in 1986 to 193,516 in 1991. 2 Similarly, pupil-teacher ratios fell from  18_2 in 1980-81 to 16_9 in `1990- 91. 3 Some of the Government's changes have been for the  better. The idea of Local Management of Schools has, in some places, produced school  management of imagination and quality. Negatives. 1 Overall, government funding of  education is inadequate. The proportion of Britain's gross domestic product devoted to  education fell from 5_6% in 1981- 82 to 5_0% in 1990-91. 2 The number of secondary school  teachers fell from 224,618 in 1986 to 198,030 in 1991. 3 There has been a serious decline in  the number of people qualifies as teachers., down from 25,000 in 1980 to 18,500 in 1988. The  Government is planning further cuts in teacher-training facilities. 4 British children lose out in  critical areas of education. The proportion of children in pre-compulsory education in 1987-88  was a mere 3_6% compared to 13_5% in Germany, 17_0% in Belgium and 18_4% in France.  5 Compared to our competitors, not enough of our young people stay on in post-compulsory  education. The proportion of 16-18 year olds in full-time education or training was 35% in  Britain in 1988, compared with 47% in Germany, 66% in France and 79% in the USA. 6  Investment in scientific research and development has fallen from 0_35% to 0_28% (while in  Germany it stands at 0_40%), not only affecting our higher education system but creating a  knock-on effect throughout the British economy. Funding. 1981-1982 5_6% 1990-1991 5%  In the same year, France invested 5_7% of GDP, the US 6_7% and Ireland 7_1%. Fall in  teachers qualifying. 1980 25,000 1988 18,500. The Government has been quite happy to  invest when it suit its own ideological ends. Pupils in opted-out schools are funded at an  average of four time the level of LEA pupils. The Social Balance Sheet. Home ownership  1981 55_8% 1991 67_3%. Government help has been directed to home owners at the expense  of others. Investment in local authority housing has collapsed and no help is available to the  private rented sector. Police Expenditure on the police has risen by 55% since 1978-79.  Insufficient effort, though, has been devoted to making sure policemen are on the beat. A  more visible police presence in communities is essential to combat both crime and the fear of  crime. Positives. 1 Overall, British standards of health are improving. Life expectancy for men  rose from 70_8 years in 1981 to 73_2 years in 1991, and for women from 76_8 to 78_8 years.  2 Home ownership in Britain rose from 55_8% of households in 1981 to 67_3% in 1991. 3  The size of the police establishment has increased by 15% since 1978-79. Expenditure on the  police rose by 55% in real terms over the same period, and police pay showed a 29% real rise.  Negatives. 1 While the NHS hospital sector's real purchasing power grew by 15_6% between  1980-81 and 1990-91, expenditure requirements (due to demographic change and the rising  costs of medical technology) in fact increased by 21_3%. 2 The total number of people  waiting for NHS treatment in the UK rose to more than one million in March 1990. 25% of  inpatients wait for longer than a year for treatment. 3 The number of sight tests has fallen by  21% since the introduction of charges in 1988. 4 The Government has withdrawn funding for  new house building, and refused to allow councils to spend the receipts they have gained from  new home owners. As a result, the amount of local authority housing built has fallen from  more than 65,300 homes in 1979 to a mere 8,600 in 1990. 5 The number of people accepted  by local authorities as homeless rose from 70,000 in 1979 to almost 170,000 in 1990 - and this  does not include the single homeless. 6 With the massive expansion of mortgage lending and  the subsequent use of interest rates to bring down inflation, the number of mortgages over 12  months in arrears rose from 59,600 in June 1991 to 91,740 by the end of the year. The number  of properties repossessed rose by 74% over the 1990 figure to 75,540 in 1991. 7 Outcomes  have failed disastrously to match the input of additional resources to law and order. Recorded  rated of notifies crime have increased year on year by 5_5% on average, and by a massive 16%  in 1990-91. 8 At the same time, crime clear-up rates have declined by 32%. 9 Britain has  proportionally the largest prison population of any Community country - and we also have  more prisoners serving life sentences than the rest of the EC combined. The cumulative  shortfall in the hospital and community health services sector in England alone now stands at  œ4_44 billion. Not only is imprisonment of doubtful value for many offenders, it is also  extremely expensive. Better value for money would result from less use of custody for many  classes of offender. Policies for the new century. It is clear from our analysis of Britain's  balance sheet that Britain needs change. Here are our first steps, the key measures which we  believe must be taken straight away if we are to break the cycle of Britain's decline, unlock the  full scope of Britain's potential and pave the way to future success. The First Steps. Britain's  political institutions need thorough-going reform: stable and representative government,  elected Parliaments in Scotland and Wales, decentralisation of power to the English regions  and to local government, freedom of information and a Bill of Rights. As the essential measure  to secure and entrench lasting reform we will introduce fair votes by proportional  representation for Parliamentary elections. In the middle of the recession, the economy needs  new impetus not a tax cut. We will immediately introduce an emergency programme of  investment in the infrastructure and in public works in order to get companies and people back  to work, thus reducing unemployment by 600,000 over the next two years. Lower inflation  and a stable climate for industry to plan and prosper will lead to long-term prosperity. We will  give the Bank of England independent responsibility for monetary policy, with a requirement  to promote price stability. We will put the pound into the narrow band of the Exchange Rate  Mechanism. Environmental priorities must be built into all economic decision-making,  ensuring that economic success goes hand in hand with environmental responsibility. We will  introduce new environmental incentives. The skills and capabilities of the British people must  be adequate to meet the challenges of the new century. We will increase investment in  education by œ2 billion, funding this by an increase of 1p on income tax. Older people deserve  greater security. We will protect private pensions, and increase the basic state pension, making  it payable as of right without means testing. Britain's future must be safeguarded by active  membership of a European Community which is united and democratic and in which decisions  are taken as close to the people as possible. We will take decisive steps towards the economic,  monetary and political union of a democratic Europe. Only when these key steps have been  taken will government and individuals alike be able to plan for the long term, instead of  focusing on the short term and the next election. The balance of this manifesto sets out the  Liberal Democrat vision of the future: our long-term programme for government. The detailed  costing and revenue-raising effects of our proposals are contained in a separate supplement. 1  Britain's prosperity: public investment; private enterprise. Liberal Democrats aim to encourage  a competitive and enterprising economy which is environmentally sustainable, founded on  partnership and advanced skills and closely integrated with Europe. What the economy needs  is a new impetus. The Government's proposed tax cut will not achieve this. Only new  investment will provide the kick-start needed to escape from recession and reduce the waste of  talent and energy which results from unemployment. But Liberal Democrats also recognise  Britain's long-term needs. We are committed to the free market, to free trade and to the  creation of a competitive and enterprising economy. We do not believe it is government's job  to run business - people do that much better. We see government's role as enabling firms and  entrepreneurs to have the best possible chance. That means encouraging competition,  investing in skills, involving employees in the success of their companies, nurturing small  businesses, playing a positive part in the construction of the new European economy and,  above all, bringing greater stability to national economic management. Our long-term aim is to  shift the burden of taxation away from the things the country needs more of - income, savings  and value added - and on to the things we want less of, such as pollution and resource  depletion. Turning Britain round. The current recession is undermining Britain's  competitiveness and future success. Unemployment and business closures lead to a wastage of  talent and a loss of resources. At the same time, essential investment in our country's future, in  infrastructure, in education and training and in innovation, is being neglected. Liberal  Democrats will introduce an emergency programme of investment to end the slump. We will  immediately put in hand a major programme of public capital investment, funded by reversing  the Tory tax cut together with a prudent increase in borrowing. This, combined with a freeze  in business rates and new investment in education to increase the nation's skills, will kick-start  recovery and create jobs. We will: Attack unemployment by creating new employment  opportunities. Our emergency programme should reduce unemployment by at least 600,000  over two years. We will increase spending on public transport, housing, hospitals and schools,  on energy efficiency and conservation projects and on education and training - all sensible  investments for the country's future. We will aim to guarantee everyone out of work for six  months or more a place on either a high quality training programme or on a work programme  with a strong element of training. Invest in infrastructure. We will provide support for  transport infrastructure, including a dedicated high-speed rail link from the Channel Tunnel to  connect with the major routes to the North and West of Britain, and the extension of  electrification throughout the country. We will encourage the expansion of airports outside the  South East. Freeze business rates this year, thus effectively reducing them in real terms, a  larger reduction than that promised by the Government. Create a training incentive for firms  through the introduction of a levy equal to 2% of payroll, from which they would deduct their  expenditure on training. We will require employers to release their employees aged under 19  for a minimum of two days a week further education and/or training for nationally recognised  qualifications. We will establish a fully integrated system of skills training, leading to  recognised qualifications for a broad range of skills. We will increase 'access' courses for  mature students and retraining for women returners and those in mid-career. We will fund  crash courses in the main areas of skill shortage, aimed in particular at the long-term  unemployed. Invest in local economies. We will set up and fund new regional development  and local enterprise agencies. We will encourage TECs to become strong, locally based,  employer-led organisations providing business services, acting as an effective voice for  business at local level, and overseeing training of those in employment. We will encourage  decentralisation of banks and other financial institutions. We will end the present  Government/s policy of clawing back from local authorities amounts equivalent to those they  receive from the European Community's regional development fund. Invest in research,  innovation and design. We will increase immediately the government science budget to 0_35%  of GDP and raise it steadily thereafter. We will establish regional technology transfer centres  to bring together the resources of industry, colleges, and government labs. We will encourage  industry to invest in innovation and to improve the provision of seedcorn capital. We will  reverse cuts in design consultancy schemes and provide additional funding for the Design  Council. Making Britain competitive. A climate of enterprise and competition is vital if British  industry and products are to compete effectively in overseas markets. Yet the current  Government has concentrated instead on converting public into private monopolies. We will:  Stimulate competition. We will take tough action against monopolies, mergers and financial  raids. The Monopolies and Mergers Commission will be combined with the Office of Fair  Trading and made independent of government, increasing its effectiveness. We will introduce a  Restrictive Practices Act to penalise anti-competitive behaviour and end price-fixing by  cartels. We will encourage greater competition in the banking sector. Break up monopolies.  We will break up the monopoly providers of services such as British Telecom and British Gas.  We will permit access by private operators to the British Rail track network. We will liberalise  the coal industry by transferring ownership of coal reserves to the Crown (in line with other  minerals), and issuing licences to operate pits to other groups, as well as British Coal. Promote  consumer rights. We will take the lead within the EC to ensure that all products come with  accurate, full and simple product and service information. We will give consumer watchdogs,  including the regulators and trading standards departments, greater powers, and improve  redress for inadequate goods and services. Encourage decentralised wage bargaining. Our  plans to spread employee ownership and participation will encourage wages to be set  according to the profitability of individual firms rather than to some national 'going rate'. In  addition, we will encourage moves towards greater decentralisation of wage bargaining at  company level and, in the longer term as national and regional government develops, in the  public sector. Promoting enterprise. Government needs to provide an immediate impetus to  get the economy moving. But long-term private investment in the production of high-quality  tradable goods and services is essential for long-term success. This will only be possible if we  encourage a climate of investment, enterprise and partnership. We will: Reform taxation to  increase investment. We will increase investment substantially in schemes such as SMART to  encourage innovation in industry, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises, especially  those involved in manufacturing. We will reform corporation tax and the taxation of savings to  achieve even treatment for different forms of savings. This will reduce the current tax penalties  on investment in industry. Encourage a long-term approach to private investment. We will  reverse the burden of proof for acquisitions away from the target company towards the  predator, and require companies to ballot their shareholders on bid plans. We will reform  company law to require greater disclosure of information such as expenditure on research and  development. We will define the responsibilities of non-executive directors and insist that all  publicly quoted companies have them on their boards. [Serving customers Many financial  institutions, and particularly some of the high-street banks, have a poor record of customer  service, for individuals and businesses. It is still far too common to see charges applied to  accounts, or interest rates changed, without customers being fully informed, and to see new  types of accounts opened without existing customers being told that they benefit from them.  Banks which are to their customers will be good for the economy. We will ensure that  commercial borrowers are entitled to a full contract specifying the terms, conditions and  duration of the services provided. We will introduce rights for customers of all financial  institutions, ensuring they are fully informed when changes are made which do or might affect  them.] Encourage small businesses and the self-employed, and ensure a 'level playing field' for  them in competing with their larger counterparts. This will include relieving the administrative  burden on small businesses, legislating to make interest payable on overdue debt, and  encouraging TECs, chambers of commerce and local enterprise agencies to reorganise to form  a network of business-led 'one-stop shops'. We will encourage, and if necessary legislate for,  banks to treat small businesses fairly by agreeing contracts for services. Encourage flexibility  in working patterns, including part-time and flexi-time work, job-sharing and home working,  adequate backup for carers of the young or old, and access to appropriate training. We will  encourage a new system of tax-free child-care vouchers for parents of children under five,  given by employers and usable in workplace, local authority and private nurseries and for  individual qualified carers. Share success in industry. We will legislate to establish the right of  every private sector employee in a substantial company to have access to a share in ownership  and/or in the profits they help to create. We will encourage profit-related pay, employee  share-ownership schemes and employee buy-outs. We will relaunch the Co-operative  Development Agency. Build partnership in industry. We will ensure that every employee has a  right to participate in decision-making in their enterprise. We will set up a new Industrial  Partnership Agency to help companies and their employees find the precise forms of  partnership which best suit them. Creating long term prosperity. We will change the ways in  which economic policy is made and implemented, to bring greater stability and a sensible  framework to economic management - ending the present 'boom, bust' approach. This requires  fuller integration with the European Community. Our key changes are: Establishing an  operationally independent Bank of England to become the Central Bank of the UK, to ensure  disciplined economic management, to end political manipulation of the economy and to form  the rock upon which a long-term anti-inflationary strategy can be built. This will also help  progress towards an independent European Central Bank. Moving sterling to the narrow band  of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism as soon as possible, helping stable progress  towards lower interest rates. Taxes and public spending to be set to reach a 'saving target' for  the nation over a period of years. We will set a target as a total of private- and public-sector  savings, and adjust fiscal policy to achieve the target over the medium term. If the country  does not save enough to achieve the target, we will alter taxes and public spending  accordingly, to ensure adequate long-term investment and keep the economy developing in a  non-inflationary way. We will encourage individual savings by giving tax relief on all income  paid into new Registered Savings Accounts. Reform of the annual Budget. We will publish a  draft Budget four months before the final version, to promote open discussion of economic  and taxation policy. This will facilitate the integration of spending and revenue-raising, a  measure we have long advocated. This will also make it easier to measure the impact of  economic policy on the environment. We will establish an independent National Statistical  Commission to collect and publish statistics and improve their quality. Working towards  European economic and monetary union, including the establishment of an independent  European Central Bank and a single European currency. We will renounce the Conservatives'  Maastricht 'opt-out' clause, accept the time tabled approach to EMU, and renegotiate the  Social Chapter with a positive British input. Changing the economy for good. Liberal  Democrats recognise that if we are to improve Britain's disappointing economic performance  we have to change the governmental system which produces it. Our proposals for electoral  and constitutional reform are a prerequisite for better economic performance. Proportional  representation will produce greater stability in government, ending the economic disruption  caused by sudden sharp swings in government policies before and after elections. Home rule  and decentralisation will ensure that economic power and prosperity is spread throughout  Britain. Integration within Europe will create the framework for long-term economic strength.  Freedom of information legislation and open government will improve competition and  encourage informed debate. A written constitution will ensure that politicians can no longer  ignore long-term priorities for short-term expediency and political advantage. [Child care  vouchers Britain seriously lags behind its continental neighbours in provision for child care for  working parents. This not only unfairly impedes opportunity for the people concerned, It holds  back the contribution to the economy of many highly skilled workers. We will encourage the  introduction of a system of child care vouchers, provided by employers to parents with  children under school age. They will be usable to pay for child care in a range of places -  workplace, local authority or private nurseries, play groups or by individual qualified carers.  The parent will choose, topping up the value if they wish. Child care vouchers will be  deductible expenses for the employers and tax free for the parents. Self-employed people will  be able to purchase vouchers and receive similar tax advantages. In due course the principle  could be extended to cover child care for older children.] 2 Britain's environment:  environmental protection and conservation. Liberal Democrats are determined to ensure that  Britain changes its ways so that it become a leader, not a laggard, in facing the environmental  challenge. Polluters will pay and conservers will be rewarded. Taxation will be gradually  shifted from the things we want more of income, savings and value added to the things we  want less of: pollution and resource depletion. The accelerating destruction of the environment  is one of the most serious challenges we face today. Its symptoms are becoming clearer with  every year, from global warming and holes in the ozone layer to poisoned rivers and polluted  air at home. They threaten not just our ability to enjoy our towns and countryside but our  health and our children's future. Liberal Democrats aim to cut pollution and clean up the local  environment. We aim to build a society that does not create wealth at the expense of the  environment. Our economy currently functions unsustainably, producing unacceptable levels  of pollution and rates of resource depletion. We will create new incentives to follow  environmentally sensitive strategies and behaviour. Protecting our heritage. Conserving and  enhancing the physical environment, countryside and townscape alike, is of crucial importance  to everyone's quality of life. Liberal Democrats will: Improve countryside protection policies  for National Parks, heritage coasts, areas of outstanding natural beauty, and sites of special  scientific interest. We will tighten controls against exploitation, we will create more National  Parks and we will improve access to the countryside. Introduce Countryside Management  Agreements for farmers and landowners who wish to take them up. These will be drawn up in  conjunction with local planning authorities with the aim of managing the countryside to  develop sustainable agriculture, safeguard plant and animal wildlife, and preserve traditional  landscape features, such as woods, hedgerows and dry-stone walls. Reform land use planning  so that the protection of the natural environment becomes a major feature of the planning  system. We will decentralise planning decisions as much as possible, giving a key role to the  local plan drawn up by the local authority. Clean up the cities. We will improve public  transport, reduce traffic congestion, and encourage pedestrianisation and cycling schemes. We  will encourage more parks, gardens and green spaces. We will provide more resources for  councils to deal with noise complaints and make compensation for excessive commercial noise  more widely available. Promote better waste management. We will provide grants for  recycling schemes, introduce regulations on the use of packaging materials, and encourage  local authorities to clean up litter. We will clean up beaches and coastlines by ensuring full  treatment of sewage. Improve standards of animal protection. We will set up an Animal  Protection Commission to enforce and recommend changes to legislation. We will phase out  battery cages and unacceptable systems of factory farming, tighten controls on the export of  live animals for slaughter, and establish a dog registration scheme. We will prohibit  experiments involving pain or distress for non- medical and non-veterinary purposes, promote  alternatives to the use of animals in research and education, and ensure that laws against  badger-baiting and dog-fighting are enforced. On hunting with hounds, Liberal Democrats as a  party have declared their opposition, but recognise, like the Conservative and Labour parties,  that legislation is a matter of conscience for each individual MP. Controlling Pollution. We  will use market mechanisms, where feasible, to reduce pollution by ensuring that  environmental costs and benefits are fed into the economy. Direct controls will still be needed  in some cases. We will: Set targets for cutting pollution. These include a 30% reduction in  carbon dioxide emissions from the UK by the year 2005; our energy policy is geared to this  target. We will ban the use of CFCs and halons by 1994. Introduce a system of tradable  emission licences. We will issue factories and power stations with licences setting a ceiling on  permitted emissions of pollutants such as sulphur dioxide. These will be tradable: those who  are most efficient at reducing pollution would have surplus licences which they could then sell  either to those less efficient, or back to government. The targets for emissions - and therefore  number of licences available - will be reduced year by year, leading to a steady fall in pollution.  Create a new Department of Natural Resources with sole responsibility for environmental  protection, leaving the Department of the Environment to cover local government and  housing. We will set up an independent and powerful Environmental Protection Agency to  work with the new European Environment Agency. Put forward plans for a powerful United  Nations Environment Programme to lead global efforts to protect the environment, operating  within the framework of an 'Earth Charter'. We wish to see a world market in tradable  emission licences for carbon dioxide and other pollutants. This would not only provide  incentives to cut pollution but also act as a channel for transferring resources to developing  countries. Conserving energy. Without an effective energy policy, government cannot have an  effective environment policy. Britain's national energy strategy must be set within an overall  European framework, with the aim of reducing pollution, improving energy efficiency and  boosting the use of renewables. We will: Support a Community-wide Energy Tax on all  energy sources. This will be related to levels of carbon dioxide emitted and will provide a  strong incentive for saving energy and investing in cleaner sources. Extra revenue raised  through the tax will be fed back into the economy by reducing other taxes such as VAT and by  protecting those least able to adapt to the higher price of energy. Invest in energy conservation  and efficiency. We will set new energy efficiency standards for homes, offices and factories,  and for products such as light bulbs, fridges and cookers. We will give grants for home  insulation and the installation of solar panels, and introduce energy audits of buildings. We will  encourage combined heat and power and district heating schemes. Double government  spending on renewable energy research. We will establish a Renewable Energy Office to  promote research, development and application, in particular of wave power, hot rocks  geothermal energy, passive solar design of buildings, small-scale hydropower schemes and  wind energy. We will complete the study on the construction of a Severn Barrage. Start to  phase out nuclear fission power stations, which are prohibitively expensive and potentially  hazardous. We aim to complete the phase-out at the latest by the year 2020 (and earlier if  feasible), and we will not proceed further with the construction of the Sizewell B PWR. We  will continue nuclear research, but at a lower cost. Reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods  increases the volume of waste and should be undertaken only when necessary for safety  reasons. [We aim to build a society that does not create wealth at the expense of the  environment. We will create new incentives to follow environmentally sensitive strategies and  behaviour] [emissions] We will issue factories and power stations will licences setting a ceiling  on permitted emissions of pollutants. Air pollution index. Air pollution threatens the health of  millions of people - particularly children, elderly people and anyone with a respiratory  problem such asthma. Government monitoring stations measure levels of pollutants such as  nitrogen oxides or low level ozone but fail to publicise them widely. When levels exceed  World Health Organisation guidelines, the result is described as 'good' - in other countries it  would be called 'poor'. We will increase the number of monitoring stations, ensuring that all  major urban areas are covered. We will publish a regular air pollution index and encourage  newspapers and TV and radio weather forecasts to use it. This will increase public  consciousness of the pollution issue and prove of real benefit to the health of people. Making  transport clean and efficient. By expanding the provision and quality of public transport and  reducing society's dependence on the private car, we will improve travel efficiency and protect  the environment. We will achieve this by: Investment in public transport, increasing its  frequency of service, speed and safety, and reducing its cost to the individual - especially in  isolated rural areas where the need is greatest. We will encourage new schemes, using light  railways and trams in cities. We will require local authorities to define minimum standards of  accessibility in their areas and draw up transport plans which meet them. Immediate  improvements in the rail network, allowing more movement of goods and passengers by rail  and less environmental damage. We will construct a high-speed link from the Channel Tunnel  to connect with the major rail routes to the North and West, and extend electrification  throughout the country. We oppose the privatisation of British Rail, but will allow private  operators access to the rail network, while giving BR the freedom to raise investment capital  on the open market. A reduction in fuel consumption. All political parties accept that  long-term increases in petrol prices are not only environmentally necessary but unavoidable.  We will phase these in gradually by applying our Energy Tax to petrol, while at the same time  graduating Vehicle Excise Duty and Car Tax according to fuel efficiency - so that the most  efficient vehicles pay least. These price increases will not be brought in unless and until  compensation schemes for individuals and rural communities which have no alternative to the  use of cars are ready to be introduced. We will scrap the remaining tax breaks for company  cars and apply tougher limits to permitted emissions. Assisting people in rural areas by making  concessionary fares on local public transport. widely available. We will encourage the use of  village minibuses, 'post and passenger' buses and taxi services. People who have no  alternatives to private cars will be helped by our plans to graduate Vehicle Excise Duty and by  specific target measures to help isolated communities. Action against traffic congestion in  urban areas. We will encourage local authorities to introduce peak-hour bans on cars, traffic  calming measures, car-sharing schemes and further pedestrianisation. We will introduce a  variety of road-pricing schemes, in which motorists pay a premium to use highly congested  roads at busy times of the day. New priorities for road building. We will approve major  motorway or trunk road investments only where it can be demonstrated that alternative  transport provision cannot meet the need at lower economic and environmental cost. Essential  new roads and improvements will still proceed, but the creation of a 'level playing field' in  decision-making between rail and road will ensure some switch of passenger and freight  transport to the railways. The expansion of airports outside the South East, while at the same  time freezing further development at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. Reversing the decline  in the Merchant Fleet. For economic and defence reasons, we will boost British shipping and  promote recruitment and training for the Merchant Navy. Environmental planning policies. We  will introduce planning policies which will encourage the building of homes near workplaces,  leisure facilities, shops and other services. Where this is not possible, public transport routes  must be easily accessible. We will encourage the use of information technology to decentralise  work. [Water District Discount According to the Government, water bills will rise by 50%  within the next few years. For many households (in, for example, Wales), water bills are now  higher than bills for all local government services put together. Since 1989 nearly a million  summonses have been issued to people who could not pay their water bills. At present water  companies have a Bulk Supply Discount for commercial customers - a 'wholesale price' for  their water. Liberal Democrats will alter the licensing conditions for water companies to  extend this to groups of domestic consumers who live on large estates and in sheltered  housing complexes. This District Discount will keep down bills for elderly people and many  low income inner city residents living on large estates.] Building a sustainable economy.  Liberal Democrats aim to build an economy which is not only competitive and enterprising but  also environmentally sustainable, leaving future generations a wealth inheritance - of  knowledge, technology, capital and environmental assets - at least as great as that inherited by  the current generation. Our proposals are: A better method of measuring economic progress.  The conventional target of growth in GDP is a poor indicator of progress. We will modify  GDP by incorporating measurements of pollution and resource depletion to create a figure for  sustainable national income. We will also use indicators of social and personal quality of life  such as changes in life expectancy, literacy rates and educational attainments to give a better  measure of progress. The Prime Minister will present an annual report on changes in these  indicators to Parliament. A system of environmental incentives and penalties. We will make  available grants and subsidies for environmentally friendly activities, such as home insulation,  and to help individuals and industry adjust to our new stricter standards for pollution control.  We will penalise activities which harm the environment or deplete stocks of raw materials  through taxation, so that prices reflect the damage they do. Our new Energy Tax is this  manifesto's key proposal in this area. The revenue raised will be used to reduce other taxes  such as VAT. Enable consumers to identify and choose sustainable products. We will  introduce new product labels, showing information such as energy consumption during use  and the environmental impact of the production process. We will introduce strict standards of  life expectancy for consumer durables and encourage deposit-refund schemes. We will  improve recycling and waste-disposal systems. We will encourage environmental audits for  companies, showing the environmental impact of their activities. Reviving rural communities.  Our policy for the countryside aims both to protect Britain's natural environment and to  recreate success in one of Britain's greatest industries/ agriculture. The farming industry is  passing through a period of profound change; most farmers recognise that the industry must  achieve a better balance with the market and the environment. We will help this transition by:  Working for fundamental reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. We want to ease the  adjustment from the present price support mechanism towards market prices and direct  support aimed at assisting the farming industry in transition and at environmental and social  goals. These will be funded by savings made out of the present intervention mechanisms of the  CAP. New incentive payments for environmental objectives, in particular for extensifying food  production (using land less intensively), and reduced-input and organic farming. Countryside  Management Agreements, described above, will be a key feature in this shift of CAP resources  from price support to environmental goals. Reformed systems of direct support, aimed in  particular at helping family farms and crofts. Introducing renewable limited-term tenancies for  agricultural land, encouraging new entrants to farming. We will encourage local councils to  continue to provide smallholdings and to introduce part-time holdings for new entrants.  Expanding forestry. We support the long-term aim of doubling the area of the UK under  forestry, but this must include a higher proportion of broad-leafed hardwoods. We oppose the  privatisation of the Forestry Commission. We will create more community forests near large  towns. Encouraging fishing and fish farming. We will improve the Government's  decommissioning proposals and appraise, with the industry, effective technical conservation  measures. We should move towards fisheries licensing and management on a more regional  basis to help traditional fishing communities and protect those who fish sustainably, such as  mackerel handliners. We will transfer full planning responsibility for fish farming to local  authorities, and we will increase research into the environmental aspects of fish farming and  diversification. We will work with the EC to counter the dumping of stocks into the  Community. The extension of Rural Development Agencies. These will be responsible for  co-ordinating development and diversification, in partnership with local authorities, the private  and voluntary sectors and local communities. Tougher action on food safety. We will transfer  responsibility for food standards from the Ministry of Agriculture to a new Food and Drugs  Commission. We will bring in much tighter labelling requirements for all foods, and make  funding available for food research and scientific establishments. We will improve consumer  representation on government advisory committees. [Our policy for the countryside aims both  to protect Britain's natural environment and to recreate success in one of Britain's greatest  industries, agriculture.] 3 Britain's skills: excellence for all. Britain's citizens are our greatest  asset. Liberal Democrats will invest in people to enable every individual to fulfil their potential,  and, in so doing, build the nation's economic and social strength. We aim to create a first-class  education system for all, not just by providing adequate public funding, but also through  reforms which increase choice and opportunity for each citizen. Liberal Democrats start from  the belief that every individual, whatever their age, sex, background or ability, possesses a  unique potential and a valuable contribution to offer society. Our target is excellence for all.  This requires more relevant courses, higher standards and improved provision. Excellence also  has a cost. We will guarantee that Liberal Democrats will increase investment in education by  œ2 billion in the first year, even though this will require an extra penny in the pound on income  tax. Our priorities for investment are pre-school education, education and training for 16-19  year olds, and adult education Aiming high; raising standards. Our aim is simple - to give  Britain a world-class education system, in which high quality is the key, by the year 2000. We  will: Create the framework for high standards by establishing a single Department of  Education and Training with oversight of all education and training. We will set up a National  Qualifications Council to co-ordinate a single system of academic and vocational courses for  14-19 year olds, and a new Higher Education Standards Council to monitor quality in higher  education. Improve inspections. We will ensure that a fully independent HM Inspectorate of  Education and Training, properly staffed and funded, reports on the entire range of public and  private provision from pre-school education to universities. Local inspectors of schools will be  answerable to the Inspectorate, which will also have a new role as Education Ombudsman. We  will carry out a School Buildings Audit alongside the regular four-yearly local school  inspection, to assess the physical state of schools and equipment. We will reinstate the  buildings standards suspended in 1989. Support teachers. We will set up a statutory General  Teaching Council to improve professional qualifications and set standards for teacher training  and retraining. We will improve provision for in-service training and career breaks for women  teachers with children. We supported the introduction of the Teachers' Pay Review Body and  believe it will ensure that teachers are properly rewarded. Putting education at the heart of the  community. Liberal Democrats pioneered Local Management of Schools. Now we aim to  increase further the day-to-day independence of schools and colleges within a democratically  accountable framework of local education authorities. This includes: A new independence for  schools and further education colleges. We will give schools increased administrative support  in return for the wider opening of their facilities to the local community. We will fully fund  individual teacher costs. We will encourage every school to enhance its character, ethos and  areas of special interest within a more flexible National Curriculum framework. Within this  context of greater freedom for all schools, we will end the two-tier system created by Grant  Maintained Schools and City Technology Colleges by returning them to the strategic planning  framework of the local elected education authority. Strategic responsibility for adult and  further education will remain with the LEA. LEA representatives on school governing bodies  will reflect fairly the political balance of the authority. [Opening schools to the community  Schools should be seen as a valuable resource, not just for their pupils but to the communities  around them. Access to their believe libraries, computers, meetings rooms, sports halls,  playing fields and swimming pools could make a big contribution to community life. We will  encourage all schools to open up these facilities to local people in the evenings, at weekends  and in school holidays. Some of our proposed expansion of adult education will be organised  in this way. Local authorities, particularly community councils where they exist - will help to  provide the administrative support needed to manage such open access.] A new role for local  democracy. We will require LEAs to guarantee a suitable place, with proper support, for every  child in education and training up to the age of 19. This will include responsibility for ensuring  that schools and colleges meet the highest standards of academic performance, discipline and  behaviour, and for providing special services for schools, such as peripatetic music, language  development, or behaviour support. Published information about schools and colleges will  recognise achievement on the basis of 'education value added' progress made by pupils - rather  than crude 'league tables' of results. Independent schools. We recognise the contribution to  excellence which the best of these schools make, and the right of those who wish to pay for  private education to do so, but this should not be subsidised from public resources. We will  phase out the Assisted Places Scheme without affecting those already in it, and restore the  money saved to state schools. We will review the charitable status of independent schools with  the intention of ensuring that the benefits of charitable status are only awarded to those  institutions that make a genuine contribution to the wider community. Educating the  individual. Liberal Democrats will ensure that every individual can receive high-quality  education and training throughout their life from before school to retirement. But the current  system places too little emphasis on vocational achievements. We will: Guarantee pre-school  education for every child. We will guarantee every child access to two years' pre-school  education with a choice of pre-school provision. Introduce a National Record of Achievement.  We will ensure that every pupil has a National Record of Achievement so that progress is  properly documented and shared between parents and schools. Supplemented by individual  diagnostic testing, this will replace the current Standard Assessment Tasks in order to raise  standards. Reduce class sizes. We aim to reduce maximum class sizes so that no registration  class in the country need have more than 30 pupils. Reward academic and vocational  achievements. Our new National Qualifications Council will develop a modular, credit-based  course and examination structure for the 14- 19 age group, covering both vocational and  academic courses. This will build on a simpler, more flexible National Curriculum and a  revised and extended system of National Curriculum levels. Pupils from the age of 14 will  study a balanced curriculum around a core of maths, English, science and a foreign language,  adding specialisms in academic, vocational or technical courses, some delivered by employers  in the workplace. We will ensure that all 1419 year olds have a personal tutor and careers  advice, helping them build the foundations for personal fulfilment and success. Broaden  post-16 education. We will give all 16-19 year olds in work the equivalent of at least two days  a week education or training. Courses will be selected by both the employer and the individual  and will be accredited as part of our new 14-19 system. Those studying full time will study up  to three major and two subsidiary subjects, adding work experience, parenting and citizenship  to build a baccalaureate-style programme. Improve Special Educational Needs provision. We  will give every LEA a separate Special Educational Needs service with its own budget for  which schools will bid for funding. We will require schools to prepare, for every child with  special needs who is not currently covered, an indicative statement to identify needs, set  targets and report progress. The service will be monitored by specialists in the local inspection  team and in HMI. Enable education for life. We will give every citizen an entitlement to a  period of retraining or education at a time of their choice during their adult lives, based on  distance learning costs. We will start by giving this guarantee to those groups most in need,  including the long-term unemployed and single parents. [We will guarantee that Liberal  Democrats will increase investment in education by œ2 billion in the first year. Our priorities  for investment are pre-school education, education and training for 1619 year olds and adult  education.] Opening the doors to higher education. Britain's higher education system still  provides excellent standards of education, but does so for too few people. Liberal Democrats  aim to increase both participation and flexibility in studying for degrees, because not all  students want to follow traditional three-year courses. We will: Increase the number of  students in higher education to two million by the year 2000. As well as more young people,  we will particularly encourage the participation of women, people from minority ethnic and  poorer backgrounds, and people with disabilities. Increase flexibility in courses. We will  introduce a credit based system, enabling students to achieve a diploma after the equivalent of  two years, with the option of a further one or two years' study leading to a degree. We will  make financial assistance available for part-time study. Open up new opportunities for study.  We will develop distance learning opportunities and extend the franchising of higher education  courses so that courses can start at local colleges - helping people who wish or need to study  from home. Fund students properly. We will abolish student loans and restore student  entitlement to housing benefit and income support. As our plans for the reform of tax and  benefits are implemented, we will establish a Student Income Entitlement and a Student  Allowance to which all students, both full- and part-time, will be eligible. Guarantee quality.  Our new Higher Education Standards Council will ensure that as numbers rise, quality does  not suffer. We will establish a proper career structure for research fellows and set up a Pay  Review Body for academic and non-academic staff to halt the brain drain. Invest in research.  We will immediately increase the science budget to 0_35% of GDP, and raise it steadily  thereafter. We will establish a new Humanities Research Council. 4 Britain's people: healthier,  safer, and better housed. Liberal Democrats will invest in local services to enable communities  to thrive. Our aim is to ensure that individuals of all backgrounds and means can live free of  the fear of sickness, poverty and crime. The steps we outline in this paper are necessary to  create a fair, democratic and prosperous society, in which individuals are able to make their  voice heard and develop their talents and skills to the full. But we believe that people can  realise their potential best not as isolated individuals, but as members of thriving and  responsible communities. We will invest in the network of community services health, housing,  crime prevention, social security, arts and sport - to improve quality, choice and opportunity  for everyone. Guaranteeing high-quality health care. Liberal Democrats remain steadfastly  committed to the original aims of the NHS: to enable everyone to live free of the fear of  illness, injury and disability; to provide health care free at the point of delivery and regardless  of ability to pay. The Government's 'reforms' mean that patients are made to follow the money;  under our proposals, money will follow the patients. We especially oppose the two-tier Health  Service which the Government is creating. Our priorities are: A decent level of health service  funding, including an annual real increase to match the costs of new technology and the  growing number of elderly people. We will start to replace the underfunding suffered by the  Health Service under the Conservatives, invest more in renovating and constructing new  health service buildings, and increase spending in the priority areas listed below. We will  abolish tax relief for private health insurance, whilst protecting the rights of existing  policy-holders. Health promotion - keeping people healthy, and treating the root causes of ill  health. We will provide resources for preventive medicine, health education and occupational  health, invest in screening programmes for the prevention of disease, tackle the problems of  drug abuse, ban tobacco promotion, remove charges for eye tests and dental check-ups, and  both freeze and extend exemptions from prescription charges. We will increase resources for  primary care. We will restore a comprehensive dental screening service in schools and improve  the dentists' NHS contract. We will require all government departments to take account of the  impact on health of their decisions - of crucial importance in areas such as industrial  investment, housing, social security and environmental protection. Real choice in health care.  We will introduce an effective Patient's Charter, including rights to hospital treatment within a  specified time, a choice of GP, guaranteed access to health records, and a comprehensive  no-fault compensation scheme. We will require health authorities to publish a Charter of  Services, defining basic entitlements, and provide redress where these are not satisfied. We  will establish a new National Inspectorate for Health to guarantee a quality service. Better  health care for women. We will ensure access to clinics providing health promotion,  counselling, family planning and screening services, particularly for cervical and breast cancer,  and advice on maternity and child care. We will increase the availability both of treatment by  women health professionals and of home birth. High-quality community care, available  through voluntary, private and local authority services to people unable to care for themselves.  We will give users control over the options for care and provide services in a way which  guarantees individuals maximum independence while retaining existing community links. We  will provide bridging finance for local authorities for the transition to the new legislative  arrangements on community care Investment in NHS staff, including in-service training,  especially in areas of significant shortage and changing roles. We will reform medical staffing  and training to replace the consultant-led hierarchy with teams of accredited specialists. A  health service for all. We will ensure that the assessment of health-care needs and the strategic  planning of all services are the responsibility of democratically accountable health authorities.  We will replace the so-called 'internal market' with service agreements between authorities and  hospitals and other health units. We will replace GP fundholding with a system which  guarantees GPs freedom to refer patients outside the service agreements negotiated by health  authorities. We will create a common structure of Local Management of Hospitals and  community units, ending the ability of NHS Trusts to dispose of their capital assets, to set  their own terms and conditions of service for staff, and to withdraw from local planning of  health services. Providing good housing. Decent, affordable and safe housing is vital to  personal happiness and family life. We will encourage home ownership, but we recognise that  the housing market has been distorted by mortgage tax relief, and we believe that choice in  housing means providing more rented accommodation in both public and private sectors. We  will: Introduce housing cost relief weighted towards those most in need and available to house  buyers and renters. This will replace mortgage tax relief for future home buyers, which often  helps most those who need it least, and causes enormous distortions in the savings and  housing markets. People holding mortgages will be protected: they will have the choice of  moving to housing cost relief or continuing to receive mortgage interest tax relief. Boost  house building and renovation. We will relax controls on local authority capital receipts,  especially for new council building, for houses built in cooperation with housing associations,  and for renovation and repair work. We recognise that the urgent need for homes can only be  met by mobilising both private investment and public spending. We will therefore create a new  Partnership Housing sector to ensure high-quality affordable rented housing. Improve tenants'  rights to better standards of repair and maintenance in the public and private sectors. We will  encourage councils to create more tenants' co-operatives. We will retain the right of council  tenants to opt for a change of landlord, but only after a fair ballot. Take urgent action on  homelessness. We will pay income support to claimants in advance and assist with initial  deposits, extend the duty of local authorities to provide accommodation for 16-18 year olds,  and encourage councils to assist each other with housing needs. We will fund the provision of  short-term rented housing to reduce the use of bed and breakfast accommodation. We will  legislate to bring into use dwellings left empty without reasonable cause for more than a year.  Adopt new environmental standards for all buildings, commercial and domestic. We will  introduce a requirement for energy audits on all new buildings as a precondition of grants for  home insulation, solar heating and other energy-- saving measures. Homes which meet the  new standards will be exempt from stamp duty on house purchase. We will encourage shared  combined heat and power schemes, and encourage those planning new houses to take into  account the scope for passive solar heating. Protecting the community. Over the past ten  years recorded crime has risen faster than at any time in our history. Meanwhile, prison  conditions have deteriorated and the public has lost confidence in the criminal justice system.  Liberal Democrats will reverse this trend by: Creating safe and secure communities. We will  give local authorities the powers to develop comprehensive community crime prevention  programmes, improve services to victims and encourage Neighbourhood Watch and Safer City  Programmes. We will pay special attention to the underlying social problems in high-crime  areas, particularly to prevent young people drifting into crime. [Home energy efficiency  discount Saving energy in the home makes good environmental sense, and will save money  on electricity and gas bills. We will make houses which meet high standards of energy  efficiency exempt from the first œ1000 of stamp duty when they are sold. Their energy  standard will be assessed by an energy audit carried out by the local authority's energy  efficiency unit. If a home does not meet the minimum standard, the owner will be able to claim  back all money spent within the first year after purchase on raising it to that level, through,  for example, home insulation, up to the amount of stamp duty they paid when they bought  the property (up to the maximum of œ1000). This will help to cut pollution and save energy  and give a valuable boost to the housing market.] Putting more police officers on the beat.  We will redeploy police resources in order to increase police presence in local communities  and establish local neighbourhood offices. We will decentralise budgetary control to police  subdivisions. We will encourage recruitment campaigns and training for promotion to increase  the number of women and ethnic minority officers in the police force and especially in the  higher ranks Multicultural and anti-racism training will also increase confidence in the police  among minority ethnic communities. We will support the creation by the police of new Racial  Attacks Squads to monitor and co-ordinate action against racially-motivated attacks.  Reforming the criminal justice system. We will establish a Ministry for Justice, merging the  relevant functions of the Home Office and the Lord Chancellor's Department. We will create  the post of Public Defender, equivalent in status to the DPP and responsible for investigating  alleged miscarriages of justice. We will extend legal aid, ensuring that justice is more widely  available. We will encourage 'restorative justice', in which mediation between victims and  offenders provides reparations for those who suffer from crime. Radically reforming  conditions inside prisons, reducing overcrowding, improving prison officers' morale and  punishing offenders where possible within the community. We will create women's units in  prisons where feasible. We will extend the rights and responsibilities of prisoners along the  lines recommended by the Woolf Report, and create the post of Prison Ombudsman. Amend  the provision of the Asylum Bill. We will introduce improved welfare and legal rights for  genuine asylum seekers and establish substantive rights of appeal. Ensuring a decent income  for all. The tax and social security systems are long overdue for reform. Our objectives are to  simplify and integrate the two systems, to mount a determined assault on poverty and  dependence, and to protect our citizens from want. We will work towards the eventual  creation of a new 'Citizen's Income', payable to all irrespective of sex or status. For pensioners,  the Citizen's Income will be well above the present pension, and for everyone else it will be  about œ12_80 a week (at present prices). Unpaid work will at last be recognised as valuable.  Women caring in the home, for example, will receive an independent income from the state for  the first time. The Citizen's Income will be buttressed by a single benefit for those in need,  unifying income support and family credit, with supplements for people with disabilities and  for child-care support. These reforms will ensure that every citizen is guaranteed a decent  minimum income, whether or not they are in employment. Our immediate priorities, which will  act as steps towards the Citizen's Income, include: Immediate improvements in benefits. We  will increase Child Benefit by œ1 per week for each child. Income support for under-25s will  be paid at the full rate, an increase of œ8_50 per week. We will give back to 16 and 17 year  olds the right to claim income support. We will end immediately the minimum poll tax level of  20%, prior to the abolition of the tax itself. We will reform the Social Fund, removing its cash  limit and converting most loans into grants. Increasing the basic state pension immediately by  œ5 a week for single pensioners, and by œ8 a week for married couples. This higher basic  pension will be paid to every pensioner, regardless of their contributory record, to end the  indignity of means testing. After the initial increase we will uprate the basic pension every year  in line with average earnings. This will be paid for by abolishing SERPS, which does not help  the poorest pensioners. People who have already built up SERPS entitlements " of course still  receive their SERPS pension. Protecting the rights of members of occupational pension  schemes. We will provide a statutory framework of protection, including employee  representation on occupational pension trusts. Creating a comprehensive disability income  scheme to give people with disabilities real financial freedom. We will increase Invalidity  Benefit by 15%, extend mobility allowance and base payments on medical records rather than  National Insurance contributions. In the longer term we aim to reimburse individuals in full for  the additional costs of their disability. [A citizen's pension At present many people do not  receive the full basic state pension. If they have not paid enough tax because they have not  earned enough during their working lives, people have to rely on means-tested benefits when  they retire. Women in particular are badly affected, because they tend to have the lowest paid  jobs and to spend several years looking after children. Liberal Democrats believe that a  pension should be a right for everyone. We will ensure that the basic state pension is paid as of  right and end means testing for our poorest senior citizens.] [housing]. [We will introduce  Housing Cost Relief, weighted towards those in need and available to house buyers and  renters. People holding mortgages will have the choice of moving to housing cost relief or  continuing to receive mortgage interest tax relief.] Creating a Carer's Benefit for the many  individuals who forgo normal earnings to look after elderly or disabled relatives. We will  convert Invalid Care Allowance into a Carer's Benefit, increasing its value by an immediate  15%, indexing its future level to earnings and altering the entitlement rules to enable carers to  combine caring with part-time or even full-time jobs and to ensure that people will still be  eligible even if the caring starts after the carer reaches pensionable age. Further improvements  in benefits. We will, over the lifetime of a Parliament, phase out the differential in child benefit  between the first child and subsequent children; reintroduce death and maternity grants;  increase the family premium for income support and family credit, and reform the system of  cold-weather payments. Unifying income tax and employees' National Insurance contributions  so that the two taxes are collected and administered together and paid on the same income,  whether from earnings, investments, capital gains or perks. Making the investment needed to  end the recession, using the money borrowed by the Conservatives to pay for their  pre-election tax cuts. We will also raise the basic rate of income tax by one penny in the pound  to pay for the improvements essential to education. Our new tax rates will be as follows: -  About 80% of tax payers will pay 26% income tax plus the 9% from National Insurance (a  combined rate of 35%). - On earnings above œ33,000, a combined rate of 42% will apply. - On  earnings above œ50,000 a combined rate of 50% will be paid. - Pensioners and ordinary savers  will not pay the 9% National Insurance element on their incomes. Special provisions will also  ensure that those on modest incomes most of which comes from investments, such as people  who have been made redundant, do not pay this 9% on their savings. Widening horizons:  investing in the arts. The arts benefit society in two ways. First, access to the arts is intrinsic to  a high quality of life. Second, the cultural sector - the arts, crafts, design, and audio-visual  industries - makes as great a net contribution to the economy as does the oil industry. We will:  Create a new Ministry of Arts and Communications headed by a minister in the Cabinet.  Liberal Democrats will raise investment in the arts to the EC average over five years. Reform  and decentralise arts funding and organisation. We will decentralise many of the  responsibilities of the Arts Council, increasing the roles of Regional Arts Boards and local  authorities. Strengthen links between the arts and education. We will enhance practical arts  teaching and library provision in schools and extend the provision of adult education for the  arts and crafts. We will restore funding for public libraries to 1980 levels. We will abolish  museum charges for school parties. Transfer responsibility for broadcasting to the new  Ministry. The BBC is a major patron of the arts, and broadcasting itself combines a variety of  arts and crafts. We will reform recent legislation affecting the independent channels to  entrench the interests of quality broadcasting and to guarantee political independence. These  interests will also be reflected in the impending review of the BBC's Charter, and our plans for  cable television. Encourage participation within Europe- including in particular cooperation in  the film industry, in protecting and enhancing our common heritage and in expanding  opportunities for young artists of all kinds. Encouraging a fit, active and healthy society.  Sport is important for the economic, social and health benefits which it can bring and for its  ability to enhance community identity. Liberal Democrats will: Create a UK Sports  Commission to provide a voice for participants, spectators and administrators. State Sports  Councils will continue to receive their core funds from government but the Commission will  raise and distribute additional resources for the promotion of participation and excellence.  Encourage sport across the community. We will encourage school to invest in sports facilities  and open them up to the local community. We will establish Community Sports Plans offering  tax relief to sports clubs that share facilities and coaching resources with local schools. We  will encourage local authorities to transform football grounds into multi-sport venues.  Encourage individual and corporate sponsorship, review the role of the Foundation for Arts  and Sport and reconsider the Conservatives hasty proposal for a national lottery. [We will  fight discrimination by incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law  and then extending it into a full UK Bill of Rights.] Maintain Britain's leading role in the fight  against drug abuse in sport, ensuring adequate funding for testing programmes and education  campaigns directed at participants. Enhance safety in the provision of sports grounds. We will  put the safety of spectators first in any legislation and make standards mandatory. We will take  into account the size of grounds when setting safety standards. We will raise revenue for  investment in safety by increasing levies on football pools and betting. We will require local  authorities to include sports spectators on ground safety committees. Guaranteeing equal  opportunities. A forward-looking society places an equal value on the contribution of all its  citizens - and benefits from the participation of all. Yet in today's Britain many groups of  individuals are systematically discriminated against by a society which fails to recognise their  right to equality of opportunity. Liberal Democrats will: Fight discrimination by incorporating  the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law and then extending it into a full UK  Bill of Rights. This will reinforce existing protection in British courts against discrimination on  the grounds of sex, race, age, disability, religion or sexual orientation. We will set up a  Commission of Human Rights to assist individuals to take legal action in cases of  discrimination or other breaches of the rights guaranteed in the Convention. Strengthen the  rights of women. We will guarantee equal pay for work of equal value; require public  authorities and private contractors holding public contracts to be equal opportunity employers  and improve child-care support and facilities. Proportional representation for elections and  modernising Parliamentary procedures will help to end the discrimination against women on  elected bodies and in government at European, national and local levels. Extend the  opportunities of young people. We will entrench young people's rights of representation on  organisations which affect their lives and well-being such as college governing bodies. We will  place a statutory obligation on local authorities to provide a comprehensive youth service in  partnership with the voluntary sector, and we will invest in leisure and recreation facilities.  Young people will have the right to confidential medical advice and treatment. Make old age a  time of opportunity. We will introduce a flexible 'decade of retirement' for men and women, in  which people may choose to retire and take a state pension at any time between ages 60 and  70 (the value of the pension increasing with the age of retirement). We will increase choice for  elderly and retired people by encouraging openings in voluntary and part-time work, and  widening the availability of education, the arts and recreational facilities. Protect the rights of  ethnic minorities. We will reinforce legislation to ensure equal opportunities for all, in housing,  employment, education and training, especially in inner-city areas. PR will greatly increase the  possibilities of participation in the political process. We will repeal the 1981 Nationality Act,  reform immigration legislation to make it free from racial discrimination and restore the right  of entry to British passport holders. We will push for the extension of EC race discrimination  legislation and ensure that the rights of black and Asian British citizens are respected  throughout the EC. We will encourage changes to the education system which place a positive  value on a pluralist, diverse and multicultural society. Guarantee equal rights for gay men and  lesbians through changes to criminal law, anti-discrimination legislation and police practices.  We will repeal Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act. We will create a common age  of consent regardless of gender or sexual orientation. Work with people with disabilities and  their organisations to draw up a charter of rights for people with disabilities. We will  implement the 1986 Disabled Persons Act in full, giving priority to the development of  advocacy schemes. 5 Britain's partners: European partnership for the new century. Liberal  Democrats will take decisive steps towards a fully integrated, federal and democratic  European Community. We believe that by sharing sovereignty and pooling power, Britain and  its partners will be better able to achieve common goals for the economy, the environment,  society and security than by acting alone. Our aim is to create a citizens' Europe in which  power lies as close to the citizen as possible. Making Britain's European Presidency work.  Very few of the proposals that we have set out in the preceding sections will be successful  unless Britain is prepared to work in partnership within the Community. Following Maastricht,  yet again Britain risks being left behind while the rest of Europe moves on. Liberal Democrats  want Britain to play a full role in creating a dynamic and democratic Europe. We will use  Britain's six-month tenure of the Presidency of the Community's Council of Ministers to make  a start on the real tasks that lie ahead: building a prosperous and integrated economy;  correcting the democratic deficit, making Europe work for its citizens, not its institutions;  widening the Community's membership; and helping to create a peaceful and stable new world  order. We cannot expect Britain to influence the direction the Community takes in the next  decade unless it is a full and enthusiastic member. Our vision of the new Europe is of a federal  community, where power is exercised at the lowest level consistent with good government.  For us, federalism means decentralisation: passing powers down more than passing them up.  The creation of Scottish, Welsh and English regional Parliaments therefore goes hand in hand  with the promotion of more European cooperation and partnership, ensuring access to power  for individuals and their communities right across Europe. Building a citizens' Europe.  January 1993 will bring the single market. Economic and monetary union will follow by the  end of the decade. Yet the Community is still too much an organisation for businessmen and  bureaucrats instead of citizens and communities. We want to mould Europe's future in the  interests of Europe's people. Our priorities are: Economic and monetary union including the  establishment of an independent European Central Bank and a single European currency. We  will renounce the Conservatives' 'opt-out' clause and accept the timetable for EMU.  Cooperation in research and innovation. We will encourage further collaboration within the  EC on major scientific projects and the development of new technologies such as  telecommunications, information technology and environmentally sustainable innovations.  Action on the environment. Our environmental goals cannot be successfully achieved unless  action is taken across the Community. The proposed European Environment Agency must be  established, a European energy policy drawn up and environmental subsidies and penalties  applied Community-wide. An active regional and social policy. The single market and  economic and monetary union will expose regions and firms to greater competition. This will  be beneficial in the long run, but the EC must assist in the transitional period. We will  renounce Britain's social chapter 'opt-out' and argue for a more flexible framework of social  policy across the Community. The EC should set down minimum standards of health and  safety and employee rights, leaving national governments and enterprises to decide how to  meet them, subject ultimately to the judgement of the courts. Fundamental reform of the  Common Agricultural Policy. We will ease the transition from the present wasteful and  inefficient price support mechanism to market prices and direct support for farmers' incomes  to achieve environmental and social goals, to be funded by savings made from the present  intervention payment system. Creating a new democracy in Europe. The Community's  structure gives far too much weight to the Council of Ministers at the expense of the European  Parliament, and, most importantly, of the individual citizen. Further moves to European union,  and enlargement, must depend on the institutions of the EC becoming truly democratic. We  will: Set out the rights of the European citizen. We will work for a clear definition of the  rights of the European citizen, and insist that these are common to all Community nationals.  This must include common voting rights at local, national and European levels. Increase the  democratic powers of the European Parliament. We will ensure that the Parliament becomes  an effective partner with the Council in law-making, exercising in full the power of  'co-decision'. Introduce fair votes for the 1994 British elections to the European Parliament.  The British citizen must no longer be denied the fair voting systems enjoyed by the citizens of  every other European country. Make the Commission more accountable. The Parliament must  have the power to confirm or deny the Council's nominee as President of the Commission, and  then to approve or not the President's choice of Commissioners - and subsequently to sack  them if necessary. We welcome the provisions of the Maastricht Treaty as a first step.  Increase democracy and accountability in the Council of Ministers. We will argue to extend  majority voting in the Council to cover all areas of Community policy other than constitutional  and crucial security matters. When passing laws, the Council should meet in public. Improve  national scrutiny of Ministers' actions in Europe. We will create a new Europe Committee of  the House of Commons, and give our reformed House of Lords (see page 48) a special role in  scrutinising developments in the Community. Prepare for Community enlargement,  welcoming EFTA members and, when they are ready, the new democracies of Central and  Eastern Europe. A Community with more members requires reformed and dynamic  institutions. Sharing security; working for peace. The Gulf War and its aftermath have shown  the crucial need for stronger and more effective world institutions capable of upholding  international law and enforcing respect for human rights. Britain must ensure that the  Community plays a pivotal role in the construction of a new security order in Europe,  following the democratisation of Eastern and Central Europe. New initiatives for disarmament  and for sharing security burdens will enable further reductions in levels of armaments to be  made without endangering security. On the global stage, a stronger United Nations will be  needed to underpin cooperation in tackling the world's problems. We will: Develop common  European Community foreign and security policies. This will include a common approach to  defence procurement and the gradual integration of Community members' armed forces under  a joint military command. The burden of collective security in Western Europe should be  shared more equally; we will press for contributions from all nations to the costs of joint forces  such as NATO's proposed Rapid Reaction Force - of which Britain will provide almost half.  Promote democracy and reform in Eastern and Central Europe by co-ordinating generous  economic assistance to countries introducing democracy, guaranteeing human rights and  reforming their economies. Assist the peaceful evolution of the Commonwealth of  Independent States, the former USSR. We will help not just with food and financial aid and  technical assistance, but also with the provision of military resources to shift food and  supplies, and with scientific assistance to dismantle nuclear weapons. [Further moves to  European Union, and enlargement, must depend on the institutions of the European  Community becoming truly democratic.] Develop a pan-European security framework. We  will encourage the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe to develop monitoring,  verification and mediation duties within the continent. We will press for NATO to guarantee  the borders of Poland. Czechoslovakia and Hungary and to enter into talks with other  governments in the region for similar guarantees. Instigate a comprehensive review of UK  defence policy which will be dictated by a rigorous analysis of defence needs rather than by  fixed monetary targets. The Review will cover the continuing need for contributions to  collective security, the value of Britain's remaining extra-European commitments, and the  potential for increasing our contribution to UN peacekeeping missions. Given the present  hopeful international situation, we believe that further reductions in levels of armaments will  be able to be made without in any way endangering security. Since the review will set out the  framework for defence policy for years to come, we will halt any defence cut, and any order  for a new weapons system, which might prejudice its outcome. Establish an Arms Conversion  Agency to help arms manufacturers to diversify and convert out of the defence field, funded by  savings made in the defence budget. Our proposed regional development agencies will also  provide help to areas particularly affected. We will reduce spending on military research and  development, and shift the resources saved into the civilian sector. Maintain a minimum  nuclear deterrent. We believe that the UK needs to retain its independent nuclear deterrent,  but that the escalation of firepower represented by the scale of the Trident replacement for  Polaris is unnecessary and unhelpful. We will ensure that the total number of warheads on the  four-boat Trident system is limited to no more than that currently deployed on the Polaris  system, and our Defence Review will consider whether we can reduce this further without  threatening security. Our Review will also examine the possibilities of future European  cooperation in the provision of a deterrent force. We reject the Government's proposed  replacement of British free-fall nuclear bombs with air-to-surface missiles. Propose new  disarmament initiatives covering all categories of conventional and nuclear weapons. These  will aim to eliminate non-strategic nuclear weapons from Europe, and to reduce the strategic  weapons possessed by the US, the former Soviet Union, Britain, France and China - a vital  step towards the day when individual nations possession of nuclear deterrents ceases to be  necessary. Act against the arms trade. Together with our Community partners, we will  establish a register of all international arms sales, eventually to become a UN register. We will  place a total embargo on arms sales to regimes which violate human rights, and work for  further global agreements among suppliers to control arms sales and technology transfer. We  will close the Defence Export Services Organisation and ensure that overseas aid is not linked  in any way to arms purchases. Make the United Nations more effective. The UN Security  Council should take a proactive role in peacekeeping before confrontation develops into  conflict. We will work with our Community partners to ensure that funds are available for  maintaining peace and security. The UN Military Staff Committee should be reinstated and a  permanent peacekeeping force established, with member states contributing contingents on an  annual basis. Because of the need to assign British forces to this and to European policing and  disaster roles (on top of their present commitments), more general purpose infantry battalions  will be required than the number currently planned by the Conservative Government.  Developing global prosperity. A secure, democratic and peaceful world can never be created  while so much of the globe remains so desperately poor. Britain must play its part in  developing prosperity, protecting the world environment, eradicating poverty, famine and  disease, and promoting human rights and international cooperation. This will include:  Increasing overseas aid to reach the UN target of 0_7% of GNP over five years. We will  increase aid especially to democratic countries carrying out policies which benefit the poorest,  are environmentally sustainable and respect human rights. We will raise the proportion of aid  given as grants instead of loans and place greater emphasis on supporting small-scale,  community-based, labour-intensive projects. We will promote closer European cooperation, to  make the best use of national and Community aid, and avoid wasteful duplication. We will  rejoin UNESCO. Ending the commercialisation of aid which the current Government has  practised and which substantially reduces its value to the world's poorest. We will reduce the  proportion of UK aid tied to the purchase of UK goods and services and ensure that help to  British exports is solely a function of the Department of Trade and Industry, rather than the  ODA. Encouraging environmentally sustainable development. This includes the transfer of  appropriate technology, the development of sustainable agriculture and forestry, sustainable  use policies for the tropical rain forests and projects to prevent desertification, and the  promotion of energy conservation and renewable energy schemes. We will provide technical  help to develop methods of resource accounting and environmental protection and ensure that  measures of sustainability are incorporated in decisions on development projects and  programmes. Urgent action to tackle the growth in the world's population. Having doubled in  the past fifty years to five billion, the world's population is expected to increase by a further  one billion in the 1990s alone. We will give priority to support for family-planning  programmes, education and employment opportunities for women, and basic provision for old  age. Reform of the world trading and financial systems. We see the successful conclusion of  the Uruguay round of the GATT world trade talks as an urgent priority. Global prosperity also  requires the reversal of the net flow of resources from the global South. We will press the EC  to co-ordinate international action to resolve the debt crisis, including reducing  government-to-government debt, introducing regulatory and tax regimes to encourage  commercial banks to reduce or write off debt, extending eligibility to IMF and World Bank  loans, and encouraging, where appropriate, debt for development and debt for environment  swaps. We will press for the progressive reduction of all tariff and non-tariff trade barriers,  and in particular the removal of unfair trading barriers against developing countries. 6  Britain's democracy: electoral and constitutional reform. Liberal Democrats, alone in British  politics, recognise that unless we change Britain's system of government, we cannot change  Britain's future. Without constitutional reform, we will not achieve our other objectives. We  believe in citizenship, not subjecthood - in the ability of all individuals to exercise power over  the institutions that govern their lives. The creation of a modernised democracy therefore lies  at the heart of all our proposals. We recognise too that Britain's success in the next century  will depend not just on changing what we do, but in changing the way in which we do it.  However worthy its intentions, and however able its personnel, no government will be able to  put Britain right unless and until it has modernised our constitution. Fair voting for an  effective Parliament. Our current 'winner takes all' system of voting has many faults. It is  unfair, unstable and divisive. Government by minority is usually bad government: in no truly  democratic country could a disaster like the poll tax have been pushed through in defiance of  public opinion, wasting billions of pounds and causing misery to millions of people. Our top  priority is therefore the introduction of fair votes for all elections at all levels of government.  Fair votes will make every elector's vote count  It will increase citizens' control over their elected representatives, by abolishing safe seats  It will eradicate the power of the extremist minority in political parties  It will lead to a better choice of candidates and ensure that more women and candidates from  minority ethnic communities are elected  Above all, it will reduce tit-for-tat politics and introduce much greater stability into  government, allowing individuals and businesses alike to plan for their future with confidence  We will: Bring in fair votes  We will introduce proportional representation for all elections at local, national and European  levels  We propose the single transferable vote, by which electors cast their votes in multi-member  constituencies based on natural communities  Introduce fixed-term Parliaments of four years, with a known date for the next election,  subject to an earlier election only if the government loses a special 'explicit' vote of no  confidence  Reform the House of Lords  We will maintain a second chamber as a Senate, primarily elected by the citizens of the  nations and regions of the United Kingdom  It will have power to delay all legislation other than money bills for up to two years  Improve the way Parliament works  We will give MPs greater influence over the executive by boosting the powers of Select  Committees, improving staff backup for backbenchers and increasing financial and civil service  support for opposition parties  We will improve the quality of legislation by establishing pre-legislative committees and better  scrutiny of delegated legislation  We will improve the quality of debates by allocating time for business more fairly, timetabling  Committee sessions of bills and ending Parliament's late-night sittings  Bringing power to the people  Our system of government is far too centralised, and fails to make effective use of the talents  and skills available across the country  We believe that political power is best exercised at the most local level possible, consistent  with good government  We will: Introduce Home Rule for Scotland, with the immediate creation of an elected  Scottish Parliament  Introduce Home Rule for Wales, with the immediate creation of an elected Welsh Senedd  Reform and strengthen local government, removing unnecessary tiers, restoring councils'  independence and ensuring they are accountable to the people through a fair voting system  Create the framework for regional government in England  We will enable the establishment of fully democratic regional governments throughout  England  We will set up a Strategic Authority for London as a priority  Preceding the new regional governments, we will establish regional development agencies  throughout England, helping to boost economic development and prosperity  Decentralise power to the new national and regional governments  Economic development, housing, health, social services, roads and public transport, education  and planning are functions which should be devolved from Whitehall and brought nearer the  people they most affect  Strengthening local government  The current Government's approach to local government finance - most notably through the  poll tax fiasco - has been to destroy the independence of local authorities by reducing their  powers to raise and spend revenue  The Liberal Democrat approach is exactly the opposite: we aim to take power away from  Westminster and Whitehall, giving new powers to stronger, more independent and more  democratic local councils - elected by fair votes  We will: Abolish the poll tax, cancel plans for the proposed Council Tax and introduce a  Local Income Tax, related to ability to pay and collected by the Inland Revenue  Local Income Tax is easy to understand, easy to administer, and fair  It works effectively in many other countries  Replace the Uniform Business Rate with Site Value Rating - locally administered and based  on the taxation of land values (with exemption for agricultural land and domestic properties)  This will create incentives to improve property, rather than leave it undeveloped  Administration will be easier and local accountability will be restored  Reform and strengthen local government  We will reform principal local councils into a unitary system based on natural communities  and the wishes of local people  We will give the new authorities greater responsibilities - for example, over education, health,  and planning - and freedom to ensure the delivery of services in ways they think best  Local authorities will be given a 'general power of competence', which will allow them to  carry out any beneficial local action which neither duplicates the work of other public bodies  nor breaks the law  Bring local government nearer to the people, by enabling the formation of a full network of  community, parish, town or neighbourhood councils  We will ensure that all tiers of regional and local government publish a 'Charter of Services',  giving citizens clear rights to standards of service, and remedies if these are not met  [Consulting local citizens Liberal Democrats want local councils to be as responsive and  accountable to their local citizens as possible  We will introduce across the country an initiative pioneered by Liberal Democrat-run councils  such as South Somerset and Richmond  We will require every council to conduct an annual survey of all its residents to gauge their  views on the quality of local services  A summary of the results of the survey, compared to the previous year's findings, will be  published with the annual demand for local income tax, so that every resident is able to tell  what their council is achieving with the money they pay  ] Ensuring citizens' rights and opportunities  No citizen is truly free unless all are  Individual citizens and minority communities themselves need protection against the power of  the state and against discrimination and unfair treatment  Citizens must have rights of access to information about decisions taken by public authorities  in their name  We will: Introduce a Freedom of Information Act, placing responsibility on government and  other authorities to justify secrecy  We will reverse the present Government's encroachments on freedom of speech and  association, such as the banning of trade unions at GCHQ  We will legislate to give individuals the right of access to their personal files, except in  matters relating to national security, whether held by public or private bodies  Security services and intelligence agencies should be accountable to a committee of senior  Privy Councillors  Enact a Bill of Rights by immediately incorporating the European Convention on Human  Rights and its protocols into UK law  We will create a Commission of Human Rights to help people bring proceedings under the  Bill and to recommend changes in existing law and practice  In due course we will add rights and freedoms not currently included in the Convention,  extending into a full UK Bill of Rights  Take tougher action against discrimination  Our Bill of Rights will guarantee effective protection against discrimination on the grounds of  sex, race, age, disability, religion or sexual orientation  Our Commission of Human Rights will help individuals take legal action in cases of  discrimination  End the bias against women's participation in the present political system  The introduction of fair votes and of sensible Parliamentary conditions will increase both the  number of women candidates and the number of women MPs  In addition, we will use government's powers of appointment to ensure fair representation of  women public bodies  Improve the administration of the legal system with the establishment of a Ministry of Justice,  separating responsibility for civil liberties and justice from that for order and security  We will establish a Judicial Services Commission to appoint judges  Adopt a written constitution, of which the Bill of Rights will form the centrepiece  We will create a Supreme Court to entrench and defend these fundamental reforms to the  relationship between the citizen and the state  Working for peace: Northern Ireland  Liberal Democrats reject simplistic solutions for Northern Ireland  We aim to confront the legitimate fears and aspirations of both communities  We accept that both the Unionist and Nationalist traditions are valid and legitimate; that  Northern Ireland should remain a part of the UK until the free consent of the majority of its  people is given to change; that the Republic of Ireland has a legitimate interest in the future of  Northern Ireland; and that a partnership in government which allows both communities to  participate is the only practical way in which to make progress  Together with the Alliance Party, our sister party and the only non-sectarian political party in  Northern Ireland, we believe that mutual respect, shared responsibilities and decentralised  government are the only basis for a lasting solution to the troubles of Northern Ireland  We will work together to: Maintain the Anglo-Irish Agreement, unless and until an improved  agreement emerges from cross-party talks to replace it  Strengthen the constitutional rights of individuals within Northern Ireland  The case for fair voting for all elections, to bring together communities and encourage  cooperation, and for a Bill of Rights to protect individuals, is even more pressing in Northern  Ireland than it is in the rest of the UK  We will reform the Diplock system, so that three judges preside over non-jury trials, and  encourage the use of juries wherever possible  We will introduce a 110-day limit on the length of time for which a prisoner may be held  before trial, repeal the broadcasting ban, and provide for the videotaping of police interviews  with terrorist suspects  Support community-based organisations striving for peace and reconciliation and working to  eliminate sectarianism and discrimination in religious life, education, housing and politics  Welcome the opportunities offered by the development of the European Community, in terms  of economic assistance to Northern Ireland and also because it creates a framework for  progress in the relationship between the UK and the Republic of Ireland  Our Pledge  What has been set out in these pages is a programme which could change Britain for good  We could become a country of citizens, not subjects, striving for excellence rather than  settling for second best  We could be economically prosperous, environmentally responsible and educated to our full  potential  But the obstacle to national success is the British system of government itself  Until that outdated charade is swept away, Britain's decline will continue, whatever  government may be in power  That is why Liberal Democrats are putting constitutional change at the heart of our election  campaign  The reform of our outdated and undemocratic voting system in particular is the change which  will make other reforms possible and is the key to a successful future  Because we believe in stable democratic government supported by a majority of the British  people, we shall not only campaign wholeheartedly for fair votes in the coming weeks, we also  make a pledge for the period after the election  Our aim will be the creation of stable government for a whole Parliament and a more  democratic basis for future elections  Liberal Democrats will neither support nor participate in a government which turns its back  on reform  Any minority government which tries to play games with the constitution in order to cling to  power, promoting instability and dodging the moral challenge of democracy, will have to  contend with us  That is our pledge