IF the Labour manifesto, launched on Tuesday, represents a change of direction after the years of Blair, Brown and Miliband, then the Liberal Democrat manifesto, which was launched on Wednesday, is sticking with the familiar. In fact, in many ways it looks like a 95-page apology to the base of the party: following the virtual wipeout at the last General Election after five years of coalition with the Conservatives, this LibDem manifesto is a reboot to more traditional liberal values.
The policies themselves have a lot going for them, particularly on the economy and health. On the economy, the manifesto rightly identifies the problem in the UK – an over-reliance on debt-fuelled consumer spending ¬ and has a sensible suggestion for a different approach based on spending on infrastructure and housing.
On health, the party is also talking sense and has reiterated an old promise to put 1p on income tax to help fund the NHS. The policy would only apply in England and Wales, but it is based on the sound principle that if we want a better health service, we are going to have to pay for it. Perhaps the SNP, which has declined to raise tax to fund public services, is listening.
In other areas, there are policies many LibDem activists will know and love – the legalisation of cannabis for example ¬ but the party is still squirming on university tuition fees, the issue that was their undoing last time round and which barely gets a mention in the manifesto. Famously, the LibDems promised no tuition fees, then did a U-turn in government, and are now left in the manifesto with a mealy-mouthed defence of their record and no promise to abolish them. This leaves the SNP having scrapped tuition fees, Labour promising to do so in England and Wales and the LibDems, who once led the way on the issue, apparently prepared to accept them. Perhaps they are afraid to U-turn again but their “don’t mention the war” approach in the manifesto is unlikely to win them many votes.
On Brexit, there is more hope. The manifesto says a hard Brexit deal would be bad for the British economy ¬ which it would ¬ and that there should be a second EU referendum on the deal. The LibDems hope this approach will pull in Remainers willing to vote tactically, and it may do in some parts of the UK. However, their hard line on a hard Brexit has not given them a bounce in the polls so far, and they are likely to remain a peripheral force for now, particularly in Scotland.
Part of the problem is the leader himself, Tim Farron. His manifesto espouses liberal values such as openness and unity (the LibDems are opposed to a second referendum on Scottish independence) and yet the party is led by a man who took several attempts to accept gay sex is not a sin and is now in a tangle over an old interview in which he said abortion is wrong.
After the election, it may be that the issue of leadership will come up again, particularly if Vince Cable is re-elected, but in the meantime Mr Farron is attempting to assert control over an election which has not been going well for him. His hope is that he can carve out a distinct place in the centre; the danger is that his party will end up being squeezed even further.
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