Why I'm voting Lib Dem - and you should too
Jamie Thomas gives his take on why he's voting for the Liberal Democrats next Thursday
One of the biggest things I’ve noticed as secretary of the newly formed Liberal Democrat Society this year is that students have very mixed and often strong opinions of the Liberal Democrats. I’m hoping to shine a light to the undecided voter on why the Liberal Democrats deserve your vote on 7th May.
That said it would be silly not to address tuition fees first. Despite the controversy, I have stuck with my support for the party because I genuinely believe that no Liberal Democrat in Parliament wanted to support the Tories with raising tuition fees. Despite this, they fought hard to get the best deal possible for students, by introducing a progressive loan system that has resulted in graduates actually paying less per month than they would have before (not to mention the fact that universities now have more money to give out as bursaries, for example the top rate of bursary at Imperial went up from £3,500/year to £6,000/year).
The mood amongst the party and its supporters is that the coalition has been a success thanks to the Lib Dems; they’ve had the chance for the first time in recent history to pass legislation directly from their manifesto, such as creating the world’s first green investment bank, cutting income tax altogether for three million people (with the average family receiving an £825 tax cut), legalising same-sex marriage and creating two million new apprenticeships. They also fought tooth and nail to block some of the Tories’ crazy policies such as inheritance tax cuts for millionaires, privatising the motorways and giving bosses the power to fire employees with no reasons given. The Liberal Democrats have achieved all of these remarkable things despite winning less than 9% of the seats in Parliament, something no smaller party has achieved in recent history.
This election, the Liberal Democrats have put forward a manifesto that I think is the best of the lot. They have put a strong emphasis on young people’s mental health, something close to many students’ hearts. The Liberal Democrats will deliver parity of esteem for mental health in the NHS. They will do this by increasing NHS funding for mental health, establishing a Mental Health Research Fund and reducing waiting times for therapy. In this Parliament the NHS budget has increased in real terms every year and Nick Clegg has promised to deliver the extra £8 billion a year England’s NHS needs, according to the Chief Executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens.
On Education, the Lib Dems have done great work by introducing a £2.5 billion pupil premium, introducing free school meals for children under seven and cutting the cost of childcare. Nick Clegg has pledged to protect the education budget from nursery to 19 in the next Parliament, with the ambition of eradicating child illiteracy in the United Kingdom by 2025.
The Lib Dems also want to shift tax away from work and towards unearned wealth, to allow workers to keep more of what they earn and create a more equal society. In this Parliament they raised the tax-free income threshold from £10,000 to £10,600 and want to raise it further to £12,500 in the next government. The Liberal Democrats also want to introduce a mansion tax on residential properties worth over £2 million and clamp down on tax avoidance in the next five years.
Freedom and equality is also high up on the Lib Dem agenda. This government they blocked the Tory ‘Snooper’s Charter’ which threatened online privacy, and want to take this further in the next government by introducing a Digital Bill of Rights to safeguard people’s privacy online. They also plan to tackle homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools and professional sports, force companies to publish the differences in what they pay men and women, and employ more Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic police officers.
It’s pretty clear at this point that no party will win an outright majority on May 7th, so another coalition is the most likely outcome. The Liberal Democrats have proven themselves to be a strong, sensible coalition partner and plan on being one again in the next government. They won’t let Labour borrow too much, and they won’t let the Tories cut too much; as Nick Clegg put it, “We’d give a heart to a Tory government and a brain to a Labour one”. In fact, just a few days ago Nick Clegg announced that the Lib Dems will not enter coalition with Labour or the Conservatives unless they promise to increase education funding and to introduce a stability budget within 50 days of forming a government to balance the books fairly and quickly.
With the recent rise of smaller parties from both ends of the political spectrum, the Lib Dems are the only party committed to keeping the country firmly and sensibly in the centre instead of veering off left or right. They are the party most committed to building a stronger economy and a fairer society; this is why I’ll be voting for the Liberal Democrats come election day.
