5 things Lib Dems will do to build a brighter future for young people

What the Liberal Democrats are offering children and young people in our manifesto.

Every child deserves the best start in life.

That’s why children’s charities have asked every party leader how their policies will help children and generations to come.

Here are five things the Liberal Democrats will do to build a brighter future for every young person:

1. Stop Brexit

Brexit is a disaster for our young people. It limits our ambitions and our horizons.

Outside the EU, the UK can no longer take part in the Erasmus student exchange programme for schools, colleges and universities.

Brexit makes our children less safe. The European Arrest Warrant lets us track down people accused of crimes against children if they move abroad.

Brexit will make us poorer. If Boris Johnson wins this election, his ‘die in a ditch’ Brexit policy means we could crash out of the EU’s trading bloc in 2021. That would harm our economy and increase debt – meaning we have less to spend on our children and young people.

Only the Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit so we can spend our £50 billion Remain Bonus on public services, like our schools, and tackling child poverty.

2. Free childcare

Under the Conservatives, the gap between the performance of richer and poorer children at nursery school is widening.

They’ve turned their backs on families. Working parents can get 30 hours a week of free childcare, but only when their child turns 3 – and it doesn’t cover the school holidays. It’s been so underfunded that some providers have had to close.

Liberal Democrats will provide free, high quality childcare for every child from when their parents go back to work to the day they start school.

The Liberal Democrats’ plan includes 35 hours a week, 48 weeks a year, for every child from 9 months to school age.

We’ll pay childcare providers properly, so that every child has a high-quality place.

3. Reverse school cuts

Our schools and colleges should be world-class. But instead, they’re falling behind.

Teaching assistants are being sacked. Cash-strapped councils struggle to help children with complex needs. Some schools aren’t keeping their doors open for a full five-day week.

The Conservatives are failing our children. They have cut school budgets to the bone.

By stopping Brexit, Liberal Democrats can use the Remain Bonus to reverse school cuts with an emergency cash injection.

By 2024, we’ll spend £10 billion a year more on schools, so we can employ 20,000 more teachers.

Children should come home from school happy, healthy and with all the skills they need to succeed.

4. Invest in Children’s Centres

Local councils’ budgets have been slashed – but more children than ever need their support. Councils are spending more on helping children in crisis, so they’ve got less to spend on stopping children getting into crisis in the first place.

Children’s centres provide vital support for children and their families in the first years of life. They give advice to parents on how to manage behaviour. They give free post-natal checks for new babies. They’re a safe space for toddlers to play.

Liberal Democrats will support our most disadvantaged young children, by spending an extra £1 billion a year on children’s centres.

5. Support children in poverty

Under the Conservatives, almost 30% of children were in poverty in 2017/18.

The Tories botched the roll out of Universal Credit and they made brutal cuts to benefits in 2015.

Liberal Democrats will support children in poverty. We’ll scrap the two-child limit and the benefits cap and let families where both parents work keep more of their money.

That’s why the independent Resolution Foundation says that our manifesto does more to help child poverty than both Boris Johnson’s Conservatives or Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.

Under the Liberal Democrats, 600,000 fewer children will be in relative poverty than under Boris Johnson.

The Liberal Democrats is the only party that can win seats from both the Conservatives and Labour, so that we can stop Boris Johnson, stop Brexit, and build a brighter future for our children.

Want to help us?

The Lies Of Brexit

The lie on the side of a bus

Perhaps the most famous of the Brexit lies, Boris Johnson championed an outlandish, fraudulent promise on the side of his Vote Leave bus in 2016.

The claim that we send £350 million a week to the EU is just not true, let alone the idea that this imaginary money could instead be used for the NHS.

Johnson knew it was a lie, but he put it on a bus anyway. In the words of the Head of the Office of National Statistics, it was “a clear misuse of official statistics”.  

Many people voted Leave in the hope that it would help the NHS.

Unfortunately, Brexit is very dangerous for the NHS. Here’s why:

  • The economy will be negatively affected, so the government will have less to spend on the NHS.
  • We’ve already lost 5000 EU health workers, and more will go.
  • The Tories are planning on taxing EU doctors and nurses.
  • The NHS could be up for grabs in a Trump trade deal.

We’ll stop Brexit, give the NHS £35 billion, and fix our broken mental health services. That’s the sort of Christmas present the NHS needs and deserves!

The easiest trade deal in human history

“The free trade agreement that we will have to do with the European Union should be one of the easiest in human history.” – Liam Fox

This statement hasn’t aged well. Brexit has claimed two Prime Ministers so far, and potentially a third.

It has proved impossible to get a Withdrawal Agreement that everyone is happy with, let alone a free trade deal.

Philip Rycroft, who was the Permanent Secretary for Department for Exiting the European Union said; “it’s going to be a huge negotiation, probably four or five times bigger than the withdrawal agreement negotiation, and will absorb a huge amount of government effort.”

This is the reality of the situation. A trade deal would take years to negotiate with the European Union. Our economy would suffer in the meantime, as will our public services.

The Liberal Democrats wouldn’t embark on negotiations that will take years and leave our country worse off at the end of them.

We will Stop Brexit immediately, and spend the £50 billion ‘Remain Bonus’ on our public services.

We will work to solve the problems in our society that led people to vote Leave, rather than waste time in pointless negotiations with the EU.  

The UK economy is performing strongly

“The UK economy is performing strongly,” said Kwasi Kwarteng, Conservative Business Minister, “much more strongly than [the] doom-mongers and naysayers have suggested.”

Unfortunately, Mr Kwarteng was lying. Brexit has already caused a vast amount of damage to the UK economy.

The Centre for European Reform have said that Brexit has cost the UK economy £70 billion. That’s the equivalent of £840 for every house hold each year.

Our economy is 2.9% smaller than it would have been if we’d remained in the European Union.

And we haven’t even left yet. If Brexit goes ahead, there are varying predictions of how bad it will be, based around the way in which we leave. But it will be bad.

Brexit has already been an appalling waste of money that we could have invested to make Britain a better place.

Whilst the Tories and Labour are preoccupied with ideological fantasies, the Liberal Democrats produced the only manifesto that the IFS called ‘credible’.

The Liberal Democrats would stop Brexit, and invest the £50 billion Remain Bonus in public services.

No Single Market For Services

This disinformation comes courtesy of Michael Gove. He claimed on Radio 4 that “At the moment we do not have a single market for services, even within the European Union.“

This is just plain wrong. Services account for 80% of the UK economy, 45% of exports, and companies and customers alike enjoy single market access.

In our current deal, we have 25 per cent of typical barriers for services than if we were outside the European Union.

If we leave the European Union, barriers will be placed for trade in services, and the UK economy will take a massive hit.

In the words of Alan Winters, Head of the UK Trade Policy Observatory…

[after Brexit] It’s going to be way worse. It looks as if there is very little that is being seriously negotiated on services.

We will also sacrifice the opportunity to expand trade within the single market if we leave the European Union.

Britain is incredibly strong in financial services, technology and education. It’s vital that we run the country in a manner that maximises the opportunities for these sectors.

The Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit so we don’t jeopardise our economic development.

Jo’s Message for International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Jo Swinson’s message of fairness and openness on the international day of persons with disabilities.

3rd December is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. A day set aside to promote the rights and well-being of people with disabilities.

Let us use today to increase our understanding of disabilities, which can be physical, mental, sensory or cognitive.

People with disabilities play a crucial role in the development of our communities. Yet, disabled people are one of the most marginalised groups in our country. Discrimination, isolation and injustice are an everyday reality for many. This is not good enough.

As a Party, we are clear: people with disabilities must have the opportunity to fully participate in every aspect of society. We cannot accept cuts in the support available to disabled people. We cannot sit back while our villages, towns, and cities remain inaccessible. And we cannot stand by as disability hate crimes continue to rise.

We must be relentless in our efforts to build a more inclusive country, because we are all better off when everyone can realise their full potential.

Let us build a brighter future for disabled people everywhere.

Liberal Democrats to waive exorbitant fees for veterans

A line of Royal Marines.

We’re waiving archaic fees that allow the Home Office to make a profit off of our veterans.

There are currently over 4,500 Commonwealth soldiers serving in the British Armed Forces. 1.7m men and women of the Commonwealth forces gave their lives for us during the two World Wars.

We owe them all a great debt – yet we are not doing nearly enough to support them.

If a foreign soldier wants to bring their family to the UK, they have to meet minimum income requirements. To bring their partner alone, a soldier must earn £18,600 – if they have three children this threshold gets as high as £27,200.

This prices out many veterans from coming to the UK.

And then there is a second cost.

The cost of applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain has increased three-fold over recent years. While the cost used to be £750, it is now £2,389. This means that a family of four would have to pay over £9,550.

This is especially outrageous as the cost per application to the Home Office is just £243. The Home Office is making a profit off the back of veterans who have risked their lives to protect us.

For many veterans, this has meant that they have had to return to their country of origin. For others, it has meant they have stayed in the UK without immigration status, unable to work and living in destitution. In either instance, these servicemen and women have not been allowed to settle in the UK.

This is an appalling way to thank veterans who have spent years serving our armed forces. Unfortunately, it is yet another example of the Tories’ spiteful hostile environment policy.

The Liberal Democrats demand better for those who have served us so bravely.

A Lib Dem government will waive veterans’ application fee for Indefinite Leave to Remain. We will support our Commonwealth and foreign veterans when others refuse.

The Lib Dems’ vision for our country is open and inclusive to all. By encouraging these brave servicemen and women to settle here, we will build a better future.

Well that’s hustings number 1 done!

Angie & Martyn attended a hustings in Olby’s in Margate last night. It was called by Extinction Rebellion, and attended by candidates for North and South Thanet from Labour, Green, and Lib Dems.

The Conservative Candidates were unavailable.

As we expected, this was a lively event, with passions running high, and the majority of the audience were staunch Labour supporters.

As Liberal Democrats, Martyn and I gave a good account of the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto pledges on the environment, and whilst we were robustly challenged on Manston Airport, I believe we gave a good account of ourselves, and projected our integrity as candidates.

Our next hustings

The next hustings is in Herne Bay for North Thanet Candidates on Monday 25th November at 7pm at:

Christ Church
William Street
Herne Bay
CT6 5NR

Do come along to support Angie if you can and publicise amongst friends and family.

Fundraising Event – with pizza!

We are urgently in need of funds to ensure we are able to run our best campaigns, and Robert & Alistair of the Bay Tree Hotel in Broadstairs, are kindly holding a fundraising event on Wednesday 27th November at 7pm.

This is your chance to meet us, your candidates, and support our campaign!

The Bay Tree Hotel
12 Eastern Esplanade
CT10 1DR

There is a suggested donation of £5, which includes tea, coffee, or a glass of wine, plus a slice of pizza!

There will be also be crafts, gifts, and a raffle!

All proceeds go to help fund the election campaigns in North and South Thanet.

Please RSVP if you plan to come along, so that we can make sure there is enough pizza to go round: RSVP.

Campaign materials are now available but we need your help!

We now have postcards, to be delivered for both North and South Thanet, so if you are able to take some to deliver in your own street and those surrounding you, please do let us know, and we’ll arrange to drop some off to you.

Just email us here.

Social media campaign

Our social media campaign is now running, so please follow us on Facebook:

@ThanetLibDems
@EKLibDems
@AngieCurwenLD

Once you have followed us, please like, comment, and share our posts. This will help to drive engagement, and get our messages out across North and South Thanet.

Thanet Liberal Democrats Annual General Meeting

Finally (for now!), we look forward to seeing you at our AGM tomorrow in Sandwich Guildhall, ground floor meeting room, at 10.00am.

Sandwich Guildhall
Cattle Market
Sandwich
CT13 9AH

The Liberal Democrats’ plan to tackle the housing crisis

A partially built housing development: Liberal Democrats' plan to tackle the housing crisis.
We will ensure that 300,000 new homes are built per year, including 100,000 social homes for rent. 

Whether renting or buying, too many people across the country – people who work hard and play by the rules – are struggling to afford good homes in in the right location.

We are facing a national housing crisis. Both Labour and the Conservatives, in pursuing Brexit, show they are wiling to risk 10% of our construction workers who are from the EU, making this crisis worse.

Everyone deserves to have a safe and secure home. Liberal Democrats will tackle rogue landlords with mandatory licencing, and promote long-term lettings.

A Liberal Democrat government will tackle the housing crisis by ensuring that 300,000 new homes are built per year, including 100,000 social homes for rent.

We will also establish a Rent-to-Own model for social housing, and provide government-backed tenancy deposit loans for all first-time renters under 30.

We’ll tackle wasted vacant housing stock by allowing local authorities to increase council tax by up to 500% where homes are left empty for more than six months.

Building secure homes which are fit for the future is at the heart of the Liberal Democrats’ plan for a brighter future.

Learn more about our Plan for the Future here. 

The top 5 steps in our plan for Britain’s future

Jo Swinson holding the Liberal Democrat manifesto.
Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit, and invest in our mental health services, give free childcare to working parents, put 20,000 more teachers into classrooms, and take ambitious action to tackle the climate emergency.

The Liberal Democrats have officially launched our 2019 General Election Manifesto! 

In it, we have outlined a clear plan to build a brighter future, where every person, every community and our planet can thrive. 

Don’t have time to read the full manifesto right now? Here, we explain our top 5 steps:

1. Stop Brexit

Liberal Democrats' Stop Brexit poster, showing police officers in hi-vis jackets.

Labour and the Conservatives can’t offer the country a brighter future because they both want Brexit.

The national humiliation of Brexit puts so much at risk; we know that it would be bad for our economy, bad for our NHS and bad for our environment.

Jo Swinson is the only candidate for Prime Minister who unequivocally believes that the UK is stronger as part of the EU.

By keeping the UK in the EU, we can get on with tackling the real issues facing our country, and we can do this by investing the £50 billion Remain Bonus in public services and tackling inequality.

2. Tackle the climate emergency

LibDems climate emergency campaign poster, showing a man fitting solar panels to a roof.

We are the first generation to know we are destroying the environment, and the last generation with a chance to do something about it before it’s too late.

Liberal Democrats offer a new plan to innovate our way out of crisis. To mobilise every community in the country, and the resources of both the public and private sector to achieve it. To turn the birthplace of the industrial revolution into the home of the new Green Revolution.

This starts by generating 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030 and insulating all low-income homes by 2025.

3. Give every child the best start in life

LibDems' campaign poster to give every child the best start in life; showing Jo Swinson, a teacher, and a pupil in school.

Our schools should be world class, helping every child make the most of the challenges ahead. But instead, they are trailing behind.

The Conservatives have cut school funding to the bone and children have paid the price, especially those with the most complex needs.

Liberal Democrats will build a brighter future for every child. By stopping Brexit, we can spend £10 billion of our Remain Bonus on reversing school cuts and hiring 20,000 more teachers – so that pupils can leave school happy, healthy and with the skills they need to succeed in life.

This is an investment in our children’s future.

4. Build a fairer economy

Liberal Democrat skills and training poster, showing British money.

In an ever changing workplace people often need to develop new skills, but the cost of courses and qualifications shuts too many people out.

Liberal Democrats will create a new era of learning throughout adult life with Skills Wallets for every individual, providing them with £10,000 to spend on education and training at various stages of their lives.

With Skills Wallets, we will empower people to develop new skills so that they can thrive in the technologies and industries that are key to the UK’s economic future and prosperity.

Another key factor in building a fairer economy is by providing free, high-quality childcare for every child aged two to four, for 35 hours a week, 48 weeks a year. This offer is extended to children aged between 9 and 24 months where their parents are in work. 

This offering will finally give parents more choice about when they return to work and unlock their untapped potential for our economy.

5. Transform our mental health services

Liberal Democrats' improved mental health campaign, showing a counsellor speaking with a patient.

Approximately one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year. But for too many, treatment is a postcode lottery.

No one should be forced to travel unreasonable distances away from home, and that’s why Liberal Democrats will invest £11bn into mental health to provide parity of urgency with physical health.

We want to break down the barriers of stigma and shame, which leave those suffering, alienated and isolated, and we want to make the UK a world leader in keeping our nation well with our push for greater emphasis on wellbeing.

Only Jo Swinson and the Liberal Democrats have a plan to stop Brexit and build a brighter future for everyone.