THE ECONOMY

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The Liberal Democrats want to see a fair economy that benefits everyone in the UK. We will achieve this through strategic investment, fair taxes and responsible management of the public finances. Strong public services are vital for the wellbeing of individuals and society as whole. Fair and progressive taxation is vital to sustain the services that support our economy and society. 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 trade deal with Europe has badly damaged the economy, leaving everyone worse off, 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.

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• We will build a strong, fair economy that benefits everyone in the UK, through wise investment, fair taxes and responsible management of the public finances.

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Cost of Living Crisis 

Under this Conservative Government, households experienced the biggest fall in living standards on record. Living standards will be worse at the end of this parliament than they were at the start. Not only has the Conservative party failed to properly support people with the cost of living; their mismanagement of our economy has made the cost-of-living crisis even worse. Their shambolic mini-budget sent interest-rates soaring, hitting millions of mortgage holders and renters. And their decision to implement an unfair stealth tax, by freezing income tax thresholds, hurt countless hard-working people and dragged millions into higher tax bands. 

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Liberal Democrats are calling for proper support with the cost of living:

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• Cut energy bills through an emergency home insulation programme, and provide incentives for installing heat pumps that cover the real costs.

 

• Help families struggling with high food prices by extending free school meals to all children in poverty.

 

• Bring down the cost of food for the long term, by increasing the farming budget by £1bn a year, to support nature-friendly farming and food production.

 

• Support renters by immediately banning no-fault evictions and making three-year tenancies the default, with rent increases capped at the rate of inflation during that three-year period.

 

• Support  workers in the social care sector: boosting the minimum wage for care workers by £2 an hour, as a starting point for improved pay across the sector.

 

• Support low-paid apprentices: guarantee they are paid at least the National Minimum Wage, by scrapping the lower apprentice rate.

 

• Support gig-economy workers: setting a 20% higher minimum wage for people on zero-hour contracts at times of normal demand to compensate them for the uncertainty of fluctuating hours of work.

 

• Support motorists in rural and areas who face higher fuel costs by expanding Rural Fuel Duty Relief.

 

• Support all workers when they’re off sick by fixing the broken Statutory Sick Pay system by:

  • Making it available to the more than one million workers earning less than £123 a week, most of whom are women.

  • Aligning the rate with the National Minimum Wage.

  • Making payments available from the first day of missing work rather than the fourth.

 

Taxes

Strong public services are essential for the wellbeing of individuals and society as a whole, and fair and progressive taxation is vital to sustain the services that support our economy and society. The Conservatives have imposed unfair taxes on hard-working households while leaving our public services stretched to breaking point. Liberal Democrats would fairly fund our public services through measures such as:​

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• Introducing a proper, one-off windfall tax on the super-profits of oil and gas producers and traders.

• Reversing the Conservatives’ tax cuts for big banks

 

• Putting an end to Conservative waste and giving taxpayers real value for money, by giving HMRC the resources it needs to properly tackle tax avoidance and evasion.

 

Green Economy

The Conservative Government has abandoned key climate commitments and undermined the certainty and stability that industry needs to invest in the green economy, create new jobs and tackle the climate emergency. Liberal Democrats would invest in green infrastructure, innovation and skills to boost economic growth and create good jobs and prosperity in every nation and region of the UK, while tackling the climate crisis.

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• We would launch an industrial strategy to make sure that the public and private sectors work in tandem to boost renewable energy production and make the investments we need to achieve zero-carbon transport, industry and housing.

 

Jobs and Prosperity

Liberal Democrats will empower people and businesses to thrive by encouraging investment, boosting productivity and taxing fairly.

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Liberal Democrats would: 

• Boost high street businesses and empower them to create new local jobs, including by reforming business rates.

• Develop an industrial strategy that will incentivise businesses to invest in new clean technologies in order to grow the economy, create good jobs and tackle the climate emergency. 

• Unlock British businesses’ global potential by bringing down trade barriers and building stronger future relationships with our closest trading partners.

• Give Parliament real power in setting UK trade policy, by ensuring it is consulted on and signs off on negotiating mandates and any completed international trade agreements.

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You can read more about out plan here:  https://www.libdems.org.uk/plan