Our Manifesto:

Iranian Nuclear Proliferation:

        One of the main goals of the Liberal Democrats is working towards the global elimination of nuclear weapons.  We as the Liberal Democrats believe that the macho flex of Western muscle will not keep Iran nuclear-free.  We acknowledge that diplomacy with Iran will neither be simple or easy, but that it can be dealt with in a more effective manner.   The US and the UK have not ruled out the possibility of the use of force or nuclear weapon against Iran if Iran refuses to come to the negotiation table.   The Liberal Democrats think a military strike on Iran is simply out of the question.   For one, we wish to be legitimate with the UN and have their approval before striking against another country.  Second, it has been acknowledged that we don’t know precisely where the factories are.  We would be running a “hit or miss” campaign that would surely hurt and provoke Iran and not achieve our objectives of destroying the facilities and/or creating a safer world.  This might even create more hostility in the Middle East and provoke Iran into creating more facilities.  Therefore, we believe that we should reduce tensions with Iran and as a result, this would help facilitate further negotiations between the Security Council and Iran.  We believe that the US and the UK should offer “security guarantees” to Iran that would give Iran security that the US and the UK will not try any military force against Iran if they are willing to go to the negotiation tables.  This solution has also worked well for North Korea.  We believe that the UK should not isolate Iran with sanctions but openly negotiate with Iran.   Nevertheless, the Liberal Democrats believe that Iran should take measures to stop all uranium enrichment programs and allow full inspection of their facilities.  We do not believe any countries should have access to nuclear weapons.  Therefore, we believe IAEA inspectors should be allowed to inspect and have full access to Iran’s facilities in order to determine if further actions are needed to be taken against Iran.  The Liberal Democrats also believe that all countries in the Middle East should have a mandatory inspection of their facilities, because this would lessen the hostility between the Western world and Iran.  We would not just be targeting Iran’s programs.  This would also allow the Security Council to keep inventories of all nuclear weapons.  As a result, we can determine who has control over these weapons and how many of these weapons are in the world.   The Liberal Democrats also believe that the UK should be the first to start disarming if we wish to see other states do so as well.  This would not prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, but it would be a message that we are ready to lay down our weapons if other countries are ready as well.  We would do this by cutting our nuclear capacity by 50 %.  We want the UK to work with the USA and the EU in order to plan out policies against Iran’s programs of uranium enrichment.   There should not be one country making the decisions but everyone agreeing on possible alternatives and solutions.   We believe this is a global issue and can only be dealt with careful planning from all countries involved.  We believe that all countries should work together towards nuclear disarmament.

Immigration and Asylum:

When it comes to Immigration and Asylum, the Liberal Democrats believe that immigration is necessary in a country such as the UK where birth rates are declining.    We find it necessary to allow immigration because it boosters the economy.  Immigrants will lead the way in paying for our aging population and filling jobs that citizens will not take.   Although we believe immigration is one of the keys to success in the future, we believe there should be a preference system of sorting what immigrants we need to come in and a quota for how many can come in.  We are faced with the reality that our economy can not support a large flux of an incoming population.  It is simply not feasible for the current population to support that many people.  However, some immigrants should be allowed to come in according to their skills.  We would give the government the right to deny work permits as they see fit based on changing labor conditions.  We believe that determining the number of immigrants who come in the UK should be a matter of looking at the cold hard facts of the statistics of the economy on how many workers we need and can support.  We do not believe that laws on immigration should be a matter of politics and xenophobia.  The Liberal Democrats would allow foreigners to work almost immediately after the date of their application.  We believe this would help foreigners integrate better into society and prevent immigrates from being caught up in the street life because they are unable to have a job to support themselves.  They will also be exposed to British society and not restricted to tightly-knit communities of foreigners.  The Liberal Democrats see benefits to immigrants-asylum seekers by the government as reliance on the government and we wish to see this done away with.   When someone is on benefits such as these, they are not allowed to work.  Therefore, we would like to see the end of benefits to help facilitate the transition between dependence on the government to standing on one’s own feet.         
The Liberal Democrats believe that how we treat our asylum seekers and immigrants should be coordinated with the EU’s standards of treatment and international treaties such as the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.  We would like to see a uniform standard of treatment instead of each state having sovereignty over the treatment of their foreign nationals.  We believe if states were allowed the authority to make their own standards of treatment of foreign nationals, it could lead to breaches of human rights.  We as Liberal Democrats wish to preserve all human rights, regardless of origin.  By denying asylum seekers their right to non-persecution, we would compromise our democratic values.  In addition to this, the Liberal Democrats would handle matters dealing with immigrants and asylum seekers separate from the government.    This agency would handle matters to determine if immigrants and asylum seekers could legally stay either permanently or temporarily in the UK.     By creating this agency apart from the government, it would create a place where the laws regarding immigration and asylum seekers would be free of political interference and biasness. 

The Single Currency (EURO):

The Liberal Democrats should advocate perpetuating the use of the sterling until the Government, Parliament and the people by referendum agree to switch to the Euro. We therefore support the current UK policy regarding the Euro. Our party holds that the individual should make most of the decisions in his own life, including what currency he uses.  Regarding whether the use of the Euro, waiting to adopt the Euro as national currency until a national referendum supports the change is best for the party because it holds off the decision until the British people support the change.  The Liberal Democrats also desire less government intervention in the lives of its citizens.  Attempting to adopt the Euro without approval from the people could be construed as figuratively reaching into a Briton’s purse and switching her pounds for Euros.  This policy contradicts the Liberal Democrats’ concept of less government intervention. Before holding a national referendum, however, the party should back conversion to the Euro because switching currencies would reduce uncertainty regarding the British economy by tying it to the wider European economy, therefore securing international investments and consumer choices.  Conducting a national referendum regarding British changeover to the Euro while supporting the referendum is ideal because it promotes a policy that would benefit the British economy while allowing Britons the freedom to decide for themselves what currency they wish to use as a country.

National Health Service

          One problem reported by the HealthCare Commission about the NHS is that primary trusts failed to manage the public’s money adequately in the last year.  To combat this misuse of funds, the Liberal Democrats would return control of these trusts and of this taxpayer money to local elected officials who are responsible to the people and may be held accountable by the people.  This would provide the British taxpayer with indirect control over his own money in the NHS and how it is spent through his elected officials and cuts down on a huge, detached national bureaucracy.  Another problem with the NHS as reported by the HC is inconsistency regarding the quality of healthcare administered in NHS facilities.  An easy way for the Liberal Democrats to increase service quality is to increase the resources available to provide services, though this does not have to be done through increasing taxes.  The above recommendation, placing the handling of funds into the hands of those who may be held accountable for any misuse of these public funds, would increase funding by minimizing waste.  To accompany this, the HC would need to continue its monitoring of the expenditures of these funds.  Increasing care specialization in hospitals would also increase service quality as patients would be more able to have their specific needs met and allow the caregivers to become more adept at meeting these specific needs.

Gasoline Tax:

Liberal Democrats in the UK are calling for reform. We sympathize with people in rural areas where the price of fuel is the highest, but we don't believe that punishing other innocent road users and businesses with blockades and go-slows will help the cause. We call for a structured and well thought out plan for national road charging. We feel that motorists should have a fair tax, not a fuel tax. We propose that government cap fuel taxes for five years in real terms so government would not profit from future increases in oil prices. We also propose using the VAT windfall received from the higher-than-expected fuel price to ease the burden on the traveling public and supporting people in rural communities who rely on fuel, for example, by providing rate relief on rural fuel stations and investment in public transport. The final measure we propose is to ensure oil companies recognize their social responsibilities in terms of price and supply security. If they fail to do so, we would take measures to tax their excess profits. Liberal Democrats propose to permit variable rates of duty for specified remote rural areas, as currently happens in some remote parts of France, Portugal, and Greece, recognizing their lack of public transport alternatives and higher than average prices at the petrol pump. To address environmental concerns, Liberal Democrats call for a reform of the Vehicle Excise Duty System to cut tax altogether on cars that pollute least, funded by increasing it on those that pollute more. We suggest that in the long term, technology might advance to the point at which it would be possible to incorporate both the costs of congestion and pollution and replace fuel duty in whole or in part.

Education:

The Liberal Democrats tend to side with the Scandinavian countries policy on education. We support "free education for all" and propose to abolish university tuition fees and set up a system of Government grants for university students. We support this issue and put in the forefront of our policy making, because we believe that it is absolutely imperative to the welfare state. We want everyone to be able to go to school, even the poorest of the poor. There should be no discrimination on the level of education. We can implement this by funding all students, as well as providing subsidized housing for people from low income families. We also believe in the results of a smaller class room settings. There should only be 20 children per every infant class and 25 per every junior class. We believe that this will create a better learning atmosphere, which will be reflected in the student’s grades and student conduct. The system will eliminate the numbers of what we call problem children, because the student will be getting all their needs met. Another issue we feel needs to be addressed is teacher capacity. We need to make sure that teachers know what they are teaching. One way of securing this would be by making sure that all teachers who are teaching within the subjects of English, Math, Science, Modern Languages, and Computers have, in their collegiate education, studied how to teach these subjects. We also feel that teachers spend too much time making sure they are reaching Government targets. We want less tests and more time spent just teaching. We also think that there should be programs targeted at what people do best, which is more on target with the German educational system. We need to spend more money on skills training to teach people what they need to know for the work force, because not everyone is best suited for school work.

Environment:

The Liberal Democrats are most definitly pro environment!

Phew! Now that you've read our long winded manifesto..Let's get together and make a coalition, baby!

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