The care home industry has seen heart-breaking levels of fatalities. The Liberal Party
believes the first principle of care should be to help the elderly stay and function
independently in their own home.
 
Although private care homes have a part to play in the care of the retired, all such
institutions should be integrated between the NHS and local authorities to promote regional
planning and funding and critical governance. In such an environment the Care Quality
Commission has a pivotal part to play in ensuring the resilience and financial security of the
sector.
 
The care industry does not have the same levels of prestige as the wider health care
industry and this has resulted in difficulties in attracting and retaining staff. Efforts need to
be made to recruit the 120,000 shortfalls in staff needed to maintain the service to over
400,000 care home residents and half a million home-based patients, with an increased
number suffering from Dementia.
 
There is a great need to foster partnerships between care homes and GP practices, to
provide dedicated and professional care in the community.
 
The wider issues of an aging population and its demand on care services has been known for
many years but it has taken the tragic circumstances of the pandemic for it to be fully
acknowledged.

In light of the Republic of China passing security laws which disregard the 1997 enacted Sino British joint agreement relating to the administration of Hong Kong and it’s one country two system princples, the Liberal Party believes the Republic of China to be an unreliable partner in regards to international agreements and calls for the UK government to:
 
-              withdraw the offer of a 5G deal to Huawei as this may compromise our national security
 
-              take steps to regenerate a world class British telecoms industry
 
We also reiterate our call for Hong Kong’s British Nationals Overseas passport holders to be offered full and unconditional UK citizenship.

The Liberal Party notes with concern the precarious state of Local Authority finances in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic and the threat of the issuing of section 114 notice’s, implying the bankruptcy of affected councils.

Reports suggest that despite an injection of 3.2 billion pounds in support from central government, local Councils still face an accumulated shortfall of a near identical sum as their incomes have collapsed.

Many councils have exhausted their reserves as they have tried to maintain public services after 10 years of austerity which has seen a reduction in central Government funding.

While the Liberal Party acknowledges that many authorities have acted competently and with due diligence in their financial management, some Local Authorities have failed to ensure best value in expenditure and income generation for their residents.

Faced with this situation the Liberal Party calls for the following measures:

• A recovery fund, to be issued to authorities in risk of issuing section 114 notices, which can demonstrate financial difficulties not related to poor financial performance prior to the Covid-19 outbreak;
  
  
• For poor performing authorities to be allowed to pursue the section 114 notice process. This will lead to extensive reviews of those authority's financial circumstances and central Government assistance, where there is proven need;
  
  
• Publication this year of the Green Paper on Adult Social Care, which has been promised in 2017 and 2019, and a commitment from government to directly supplement funding to adult social services. Increases in spending in social care by local authorities is taking essential funding away from other Local Authority non-statutory services;
  
  
• For the government to permit more a progressive Council Tax banding regime, and for all properties to be reevaluated from 1991 to 2020 values to ensure fairer relative distribution of the Council tax burden;
  
  
• More freedoms for LAs to levy fees and charges without government interference; and provide guidance and incentives for LAs to introduce charges such as Tourist Taxes which the party see’s merit in. The UK remains one of the few remaining countries where Tourist Taxes are not collected by local authorities as a standard;
  
  
• For government to launch arts and culture kick-start funds and commercial incentives to facilitate the transfer of arts and culture operational costs away from local authorities into independent charitable organisations.
  

There has never been a situation that has changed the political discourse of a country and
the economic journey as the Covid-19 pandemic has.

Economically the right-wing agenda of cutting public expenditure and services and a pure
focus on individual profit has been replaced by debate over public investment assisting
businesses, workers, and services. The unthinkable has become the norm.

We have a Conservative government forced to see that Government investment is needed
to ensure the economy and society does not plunge into recession. Who would ever have
thought of Boris Johnson as being a resurrected Lord Keynes?

The task for us as Liberals is not to sit back but to seize the change in the political
agenda. We must ensure that those in casual work and the low paid are not forced to suffer
excessive tax rises to fund the public deficit when the Covid-19 crisis is over.

We must ensure that ‘clapping for health workers’ is a platform to ensure that investment in
public health is restored and maintained.

Whilst private businesses have been given meaningful funding, local councils hit by
increasing costs and reduced income are still left in limbo. As we go to print, there is every
possibility several major cities in the country are on track to be declared bankrupt.

We Liberals have long argued we need more public health investment for preventive health
care. It should not shock anyone, that heavy smokers and those overweight have
disproportionately been subject to fatalities during this crisis. We need community health
education more than ever, yet in some cities like Liverpool our long-established community
health workers are being made redundant.

This manifesto is a development on some of our policies as a response to the Covid-19
Pandemic. A true Liberal agenda is needed now in Britain more than ever. We hope our
vision resonates with yours and that you will join us in the fight for more progressive and
pragmatic approaches to the way we run government, enable individuals and support
communities in the UK.

Cllr STEVE RADFORD
President of the Liberal Party

The Liberal Party is proud to announce the imminent publication of

A Manifesto for Interim & Post Pandemic Recovery & Renewal

With a forward by our party President Cllr Steve Radford it articulates the Liberal response to the immediate and future challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The document covers 11 key areas, with a list of key points and actions and is the product of an intense period of thought from the parties Policy Development Committee and NEC.

It covers our thoughts and insight into the challenges and future direction for the NHS, care industry, the economy, SMEs, and the opportunities to build a recovery embracing green initiatives and technology.

The document can be downlaoded from the liberal Party website with immediate effect - liberal.org.uk

The Liberal Party is proud to announce the imminent publication of

A Manifesto for Interim & Post Pandemic Recovery & Renewal

With a forward by our party President Cllr Steve Radford it articulates the Liberal response to the immediate and future challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The document covers 11 key areas, with a list of key points and actions and is the product of an intense period of thought from the parties Policy Development Committee and NEC.

It covers our thoughts and insight into the challenges and future direction for the NHS, care industry, the economy, SMEs, and the opportunities to build a recovery embracing green initiatives and technology.

The document can be downlaoded from the libeal aprty website with immediate effect - liberal.org.uk

The Liberal Party notes with grave concern increased media reports that the Israeli Government intends to annex sections of the West Bank as early as July of this year.

Such a move would effectively end any prospect of a viable Palestinian state by reportedly taking control of 30% of the disputed area and thus deny Palestinians the right to self-determination and statehood.

Any such annexation must be roundly condemned by the international community and pressure brought to bear on the Israeli Government to accept a workable two state solution which guarantees Palestinians the right to self-government.

The party again reiterates its call for the British Government to actively and urgently promote Palestine's entry into the United Nations as a full member and for an invitation to join the Commonwealth, to be extended to Palestine immediately, with an offer of tacit and practical support to ensure they meet the criteria for membership if they wish to apply.

The Liberal Party notes the ongoing civil protests and unrest in Hong Kong.

Whilst acknowledging the sovereignty of the Chinese Government over the region after its return to their jurisdiction in 1997 the UK and Chinese governments still have joint responsibilities under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

The UK government should seek to remind the Chinese authorities of their commitments and use itsinfluence to ensure continuedfree debate and politicalrepresentation for the residents of Hong Kong.

The retention of a healthydemocratic system within Hong Kong acts as a visible sign of the Chinese government’s willingness to honour its commitment to a system of “one countrytwo systems”.

The British Government should immediately declare that those entitled to a British Passport prior to 1997 and their families should be offered the right to residence in the UK.

Motion passed at the 134th Liberal Party Assembly - 5th october 2019

Very good document on the link below from the Mental Health Foundation. If a kinder and fairer society is to be built, we have to take mental health seriously and work towards building a society which removes much of the stress related causes of mental health, as well as ensuring support is there for the individual and their partners and families. 

The Liberal Party exists to build a Liberal Society in which every citizen shall possess liberty, property and security, and none shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. Its chief care is for the rights and opportunities of the individual and in all spheres it sets freedom first.
 
The Preamble of the Liberal Party which many members may very well be familiar with. However, are we also confident the type of society we wish to build, as described in the Preamble, can be created through any programme of unrestrained capitalism? Should Liberals as part of a long term vision look and think outside the box, be bold and radical and embrace distributism, an economic ideology championed by former Liberal MP Hillaire Belloc?
 
 
So why would distributism provide the solution to delivering the Preamble where other economic doctrines have clearly failed?
Perhaps the easiest way of explaining this is to quote the old saying, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime”.
In my opinion, this saying sums up the whole concept of distributism and the foundation for delivering a society where no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.
Distributism is the science of providing ordinary people with the means to support themselves, their families and their communities (teaching them to fish), and slowly replacing much of society’s current dependency on big business.
 
 
This potential, of spreading the means of production as widely as possible, has seen distributism squeezed from both left and right wing thinking economists. Capitalists are critical and fearful of distributism because the money they presently control will eventually be spread more evenly throughout the population, therefore the reliance on big business will be reduced. Socialists are also critical of distributism, as the state capitalist economic model they champion, so often seen as being liberating by sections of the working class, is seriously challenged by an economic doctrine which widens ownership. Whilst distributists do not directly advocate the redistribution of wealth, this will nevertheless be the outcome through the redistribution of the means of production to as many people as possible.
 
 
For distributism to thrive and provide opportunity for all, it means giving small businesses an equal chance and levelling the extremely uneven playing field which currently that favours larger players. Ask yourself the question, how many shops have closed in towns when a large supermarket opens nearby? At present what political party is standing up for the local baker trying to compete with a large supermarket chain prepared to sell bread at a loss to capture the small operator’s slice of the market?  Admittedly the consumer may now choose to shop at large, often out of town superstores, to purchase their weekly shop in one hit, but why does this have to rule out creating a fairer economic playing field for the smaller operator?

 
To expand out of the box thinking and further develop the distributist concept in enabling real opportunity for all, a large supermarket chain, as an alternative to employing a baker, could offer the chance for someone to set up a small bakery business within their store. In the present economic age this might seem a far-fetched and an almost impossible concept, but if it was introduced the reality would be everyone would be a winner. The large store would still have customers, the small operator would have an income and consumers would have what they need. An economic direction from national government, maybe through forms of incentives and local authorities through planning, could make this possible. It would be an example of redistributing the means of production.  There are already thousands of small businesses, very often sole traders or partnerships, or in larger instances co-operatives. A liberal distributist economic policy would provide the means to expand the numbers of such businesses offering increased opportunities for all.
 
 
Distributism can also work in a larger economic sense, allowing companies to thrive in the global marketplace. If we look across to Europe and the Basque Region of Spain, the Mondragon Corporation is a federation of worker co-operatives. Whilst in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, co-operatives provide around 35% of regional GDP.  The well respected American Professor of economics, Richard D. Wolff, praised the Mondragon co-operatives, the decent wages they provide and the empowerment of ordinary workers in the decision making process, and cited it as a working model that’s an alternative to the capitalist system.  For those that are looking for an alternative to state or privatised run railways or mail delivery, the Mondragon Corporation provides an ideal example. Likewise it’s an ideal model for larger industry and the new, largely untapped green economy.
 
 
A question often asked is where ordinary people will get the capital to fund new business ventures and take advantage of the openings a distributist economic programme would deliver. Just as in present day business, a number of people will provide their own capital or source their own financial means. But economies also require investment, and another angle could be the creation of county or regional investment banks. Such institutions would not be owned by shareholders, but by the county or region itself. Far from being some untouchable, remote entity that could take risks and make money for the so called ‘fat cats’ of this world, these banks would be established as accountable local institutions, to lend money to local businesses, with all profits reinvested within that county or region.
 
 
It can be argued that both capitalism and socialism stifle the prospect of the Preamble ever being delivered, by offering a less than favourable climate for thriving small businesses and economies as well as a lack of opportunity. Personally, I feel see the need for an economic programme which discourages mergers, takeovers and monopolies, and one instead which allows the break-up of monopolies and larger companies into smaller businesses and producers co-operatives. Such a programme would offer an alternative to state ownership/state capitalism, yet offers fairness and opportunity. In addition to this a liberal distributist programme would support local, regional and national economies. Where capitalism and socialism fail, I believe distributism can as a long-term economic strategy deliver.  I am under no illusions that such a strategy is radical and would require fundamental economic changes. Nevertheless, the present economic path Britain has followed for generations,  where often the strings of economic planning are at the whim of large multi-national organisations, only stifles opportunity and in such are counterproductive in offering real opportunity.