The Liberal Democrat Party (Milton Keynes Liberal Democrats)

Milton Keynes Liberal Democrats <info@mk-libdems.co.uk>

The Liberal Democrat Party

Nick Clegg MP, Liberal Democrat Leader

"The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity."

Preamble to the Federal Constitution of the Liberal Democrat Party

But what does that mean?

Liberal Democrats believe in:

The right of every individual to develop his or her talents to the full, regardless of gender, race, disability, class, sexual orientation or background.
A free, open and inclusive society that balances our individual freedom with equality of opportunity and with our obligations to other people in our community.
A strong economy, based on effective worker and shareholder participation and a fair distribution of profits.
The devolving of power so that decisions concerning our local communities are taken as close to the people affected as possible. A Government that enables this rather than assuming all the power itself.
The sustainable development of our communities through conservation of our natural resources.
A foreign policy based on the imperative of peace and recognition of the interdependence of countries. A commitment to aid and better terms of trade for the developing world.
The need for responsible stewardship of the earth's resources by individuals, governments and commercial organisations.

These are our fundamental values. Examples of those policies in action follow here and on our national website www.libdems.org.uk, and the stories on our home page here give examples of these policies in action locally.

The Liberal Democrats have won a reputation for fighting for causes that most UK people feel are fair and right. Examples include rights for residents of Hong Kong and for the Gurkhas, opposition to the ID Card scheme, which even the Labour Government admitted would do nothing to help national security, and opposition to the war in Iraq, forcing scrutiny. And as the recession hit, Vince Cable, then Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, won the respect of the nation for his practical and realistic attitude to managing the economy and safeguarding services during the recession.

"In 2010 we entered a coalition Government so that we could work to put some of our policies into practice. Since then we have

Extended early years education for all and will provide extra funding for a Pupil Premium for every disadvantaged child via a £7 billion investment
Providing £2 billion more for social care
Providing 150,000 new affordable homes over the next four years - more than Labour delivered in their first eight years in office.
Permanently increasing the cold weather payment for pensioners to £25, along with the "triple lock" guarantee for state pensions re-establishing the link to wages which Labour failed to do in thirteen years.
Taking 900,000 low paid workers out of income tax by raising the tax threshold

We are the minority party in a coalition, so we can't implement all our policies and we don't win all the arguments. And finances are very tight so we can't always afford what we want to do - but we can make a difference, and we will keep on fighting for our policies on issues like tuition fees. Please see our national website for the Liberal Democrat policies that we are still fighting for, in Government or outside!