21 extreme Tory policies the Lib Dems blocked

Update: this post was written ahead of the 2015 general election and has been lightly updated since. It still stands as evidence of how important a strong Liberal Democrat voice is, one which is – after the 2015 election – needed more than ever. You too can help strengthen that liberal voice by joining the party here.

There are two reasons for the Liberal Democrats being in government – one is to get Liberal Democrat beliefs and policies put into action, the other is to stop Tory policies. With less than one in ten MPs in the 2010-15 Parliament being Lib Dem, both lists are impressively long given that basic Parliamentary reality.

I’ve written before about what the Liberal Democrats have achieved in the coalition, so this time here’s a list of extreme Tory policies stopped:

• Inheritance tax cuts for millionaires
• Scrapping help with housing costs for young people
• Weakening arrest warrants for people who have fled overseas
• Firing workers at will, without any reasons given
• Regional pay penalising public sector workers outside London and the South East
• Privatising the motorways and key A-Roads
• The Snoopers’ Charter
• Bringing back the old O-level / CSE divide
• Profit-making in state schools
• Cutting the time childminders can give to each child
• Cutting new nursery buildings
• Stopping geography teachers telling children about how we can tackle climate change
• Axing human rights from national curriculum
• Ditching the Human Rights Act
• Appointing Michael Howard as a European Union Commissioner
• Watering down the ban on hunting by allowing 40 dogs to flush out a fox
• Weakening the protections in the Equalities Act
• Renewing Trident in this Parliament
• Scrapping Natural England
• Cutting investment in green energy
• Nation-wide immigration checks on all new tenants and lodgers

As for what the Liberal Democrats have positively achieved, take a look at the long list of policies from the 2010 Lib Dem manifesto that have been implemented, or this poster.

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