Liberal Democrats are proud internationalists.
We believe that our country and our people thrive when we are open and outward-looking.
The UK can be an incredible force for good when it stands tall on the world stage, and both the Covid pandemic and Vladimir Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine show that events beyond Britain’s borders inevitably become our concern.
and move to conclude a new comprehensive agreement that removes as many barriers to trade as possible.
and international development.
and tackle common threats such as human trafficking, cybercrime and terrorism.
Every person matters.
Liberal Democrats believe that basic rights and dignity are the birthright of every individual, to be respected, cherished and enhanced.
Everyone should have equal power in our democracy, and be able to hold all Members of Parliament properly to account.
and cap donations to political parties.
Our goal is to transform the nature of British politics itself – to make it relevant, engaging and responsive to people’s needs and dreams.
Liberal Democrats will build a strong, fair economy that benefits everyone in the UK, by helping people back to work,
supporting small businesses,
improving long-term productivity,
and delivering much greater stability for long-term investment, especially for the industries of the future.
Core to our economic policy for improving stability and growth will be responsible management of the public finances,
fixing the broken trading relationship with Europe,
and an industrial strategy focused on the skills the future UK economy will need, from the renewables industry to the digital and bioscience sectors.
The Conservatives have badly mismanaged the economy and recklessly damaged the public finances,
grinding economic growth to a halt
and adding billions to the cost of servicing our debt.
Their botched Brexit deal has badly damaged the economy, leaving everyone worse off.
By abandoning climate commitments, they have undermined industry’s confidence in investment in the green products and technologies vital to both economic recovery and tackling the climate emergency.
And they have taken people for granted, failing to deliver the investment needed to bring prosperity to all nations and regions of the UK.
They left families and businesses to suffer the effects of their cost-of-living crisis without enough support,
hit people with years of unfair tax rises, such as the freeze on income tax thresholds,
and their promises to ‘level up’ have proved hollow.
We will empower people
and support businesses to thrive by encouraging investment and boosting productivity.
tackling rising food prices through a National Food Strategy,
and getting mortgage rates under control through careful economic management.
and create good jobs and prosperity in every nation and region of the UK,
while tackling the climate crisis.
and ensure that day-to-day spending does not exceed the amount raised in taxes,
while making the investments our country needs.
giving HMRC the resources it needs to properly tackle tax avoidance and evasion.
and imposing a proper, one-off windfall tax on the super-profits of oil and gas producers and traders.
In addition, we will: Create good jobs
and prosperity in every nation and region of the UK by:
Foster the stability, certainty and confidence that are vital for economic growth and investment by:
and give a clearer zero-carbon remit to the UK Infrastructure Bank.
Work with partners in international forums, including the OECD and the UN,
to tackle international corporate tax avoidance for the benefit of all countries
and make the case for increasing the global minimum rate of corporation tax to 21%.
and taking more low-paid workers out of paying income tax altogether.
Make the tax system fairer and raise the money needed for our investment plans by:
End retrospective tax changes such as the loan charge brought in by the Conservatives,
in particular in zero-carbon products and technologies.
delivering Sharia-compliant student finance
and supporting vulnerable consumers.