Political

How the Liberal Democrat general election manifesto was finalised

On Friday, the Liberal Democrat general election manifesto was finalised. In a special piece for this blog, Federal Policy Committee Vice Chair Jeremy Hargreaves explains what happened:

On Friday night, I chaired the Federal Policy Committee’s meeting to make the final decisions about our party’s manifesto for this general election. It was a marathon seven-hour session for the FPC, where we went through the whole document again, line by line. We had a total of 604 individual suggested amendments in front of us and discussed many specific proposals, from precise tax changes, to foreign affairs issues and details of how individual public services work and much, much more.

We looked very carefully at what our proposals will cost, and have a precise programme showing exactly how we will pay for them. Other parties are often very vague about how they will pay for their bright ideas – by contrast, we will show our costings clearly. There’s been a great example of that this week, when the IFS, the respected independent guardians of financial responsibility, said our Remain Bonus was reasonable – as close to a green light as they give, and in contrast to what they said about some other parties’ plans!

And of course, our manifesto is drawn from the existing body of Liberal Democrat policy passed by party conference. Something the many lobbyists who’ve been contacting me over recent weeks never seem to understand is that if you are looking for it to reverse agreed policy in a major area I’m afraid you will be disappointed!

Because our policy is made by our members at conference, the challenge of writing the manifesto – which has seen a massive amount of work underway for several months, especially by party staff – is to draw together our ideas into a consistent programme, and highlight priorities which help people understand what Liberal Democrats believe, and which will attract voters to us.

The result is a programme for changing Britain that as a party we can be proud of. It is clear, highly distinctive – even apart from Brexit – and practical and implementable policy. Most importantly of all, it is distinctively Liberal Democrat, and is a programme of policies which will make Britain a more liberal place.

There will now be a few days’ work to incorporate all the decisions, iron out any wrinkles, get it proofed, designed and printed – and it will then be formally launched! We hope you like the more liberal society and world it describes.

If you sign up for my blog posts digest you’ll get a handy one-a-day email with links to all the latest posts. You can also sign up for a range of other lists, including Liberal Democrat Newswire – a monthly newsletter about the party. Just pick the options you’d like on the sign-up form.

4 responses to “How the Liberal Democrat general election manifesto was finalised”

  1. This election, somehow, however difficult it may be, we must do utmost to break the two party system.
    Probably never before has an election exercised the minds of British voters so much, because of Brexit together with so many people having suffered as a result of Tory policies and cutbacks over the past nine years.
    So many people, even dogged Socialists, don’t want Corbyn to become the next prime minister.
    This gives Jo a unique opportunity to put Lib Dems in a position they have never been before. Somehow we must get that message across that there is something better than the two party system.

  2. All I ask is that it includes a positive vision for the EU – why it exists and what it can achieve – in addition to the Stop Brexit/No good Brexit message. Still not enough getting through on that front.

  3. Totally agree with Peter Nicholson here. We must ensure a proper case for remaining in the EU is made with simple bullet points of facts and figures + the ability of freedom of movement. We have to highlight the nonsense ” motherhood and Apple pie” stories that Labour are offering . We must also have really sound policies to help in every way possible the 18 / 40 year olds that are working their socks off and getting next to nothing in return

  4. Agree with Peter and Colin, absolutely, but we must reach beyond ‘remain’ and ‘EU is good for us’ messages, and portray our vision of the UK leading Europe towards a truly ‘global Britain’.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All comments and data you submit with them will be handled in line with the privacy and moderation policies.