Peter Black

This article was published on Liberal Democrat Voice on Sunday

Listening to David Miliband at the Hay Literary Festival a few days ago, two things that he said struck me as interesting.

The first was that the Labour government had been elected to effect change, but they have not changed enough. The second related to the high number of young people who have left school with no education, employment or training opportunity. Where is the triple lock for that cohort, he asked.

Of course, both of these statements are easy soundbites, needing much more policy detail and commitment before any government can make a difference, but if, as is the case, people are disillusioned with Starmer’s administration, and are casting around for an alternative, then why have the Liberal Democrats not stepped into the breach?

Just over a week ago from the time of writing this, Harrogate MP, Tom Gordon, posed the question on Liberal Democrat Voice of what his, and my party, should stand for.

He pulled out three examples from the King’s Speech, where the Lib Dems could adopt a distinctive position. These were a full ban on conversion therapy, with no exceptions, Leasehold Reform and opposition to digital ID.

My purpose is writing this is not to disagree with Tom’s analysis but to seek to extend it to a fuller list of how the Liberal Democrats can promote a radical and bold programme for change that will make people sit up and listen, a broader canvass if you like.

My list is not comprehensive and there will be items that others will want to add or take away from it, but if we are to use the opportunities that present themselves to grow our party then we need a narrative that will capture people’s imagination.

Above all, we need an engaged leadership who are prepared to embrace an agenda for change in a serious and compelling way, without the stunts and gimmicks that have lost us support in the past.

None of these suggestions are new, it’s just that the party has appeared too timid to fight for them in the past.

Europe is a Liberal Democrat issue and yet we seem too embarrassed to campaign openly for party policy. Opinion polls show that there is a majority who believe that Brexit has been a disaster and that we need to get closer to the EU.

I accept that full membership of the EU is not an option at present, but why aren’t we saying loudly and often that we need to rejoin the EU customs union to reduce red tape, get rid of tariffs on trade with our biggest export market and to provide the protection for key industries such as steel? The boost to GDP will also help to fund everything else we need to do to get this country back on its feet.

Donald Trump’s attitude to Russia, his war in the Middle East and his willingness to cast aside traditional alliances, make it imperative that we move closer to Europe, to protect our borders and to collaborate on defence, new technology and a whole range of other issues. We cannot do that without jettisoning Brexit.

Social Care and health – Is it me or have we gone quiet on the need for a massive investment in social care to relieve the pressure on the health service? This should be at the centre of our campaigning, along with calls for capital investment in the buildings and equipment that house these services.

Climate Change is the other big issue facing us and in particular energy policy. Rising temperatures, predicted to be 40C by 2052, mean that we need to have strategies to preserve food and water supplies. The party should be pushing for all homes to be heavily insulated and linked to solar panels to reduce energy costs and consumption and provide some refuge from hot weather. A huge investment in alternative energy is imperative for security, the environment and affordability and, if we are serious about moving away from the combustion engine, then we need electric car chargers in every street.

Young People – Alan Milburn’s review tells us that there are over one million 16-24-year-olds not in education, employment or training in the UK. This is not an issue that should be left to the Labour Party. We should be calling for better educational opportunities, supporting companies to provide more apprenticeships and better access to vocational training – a triple lock that could create the skilled workers we need to rebuild our infrastructure, to construct the public sector social homes we need to reduce homelessness, and provide the staff needed for the health service.

Higher Education – this leads on to the state of our higher education institutions, many of which are in debt, laying off staff and cutting courses. Why aren’t we calling for changes to the visa regime that has precipitated this crisis and looking at how we can make this sector more sustainable?

Social Media and Child Protection – whatever your views on Jess Phillips, her resignation letter raised some serious issues about protecting children on-line. This strikes me as a cause we should be promoting. Outlawing serialised images of children on-line and restricting access for the under-18s should be a no-brainer.

Housing – a commitment to a massive increase in social housing to reduce homelessness in my view should be the very minimum we can do on this issue. In addition, there is no doubt that leasehold tenure, like rent charges, has had its day, can be exploitative and expensive. We should be campaigning to abolish it. And don’t get me started on shared ownership leases, a supposed form of affordable home, in which the tenant pays rent, a service charge and a mortgage. Government should prevent public sector bodies using this format straight away.

Immigration – in many ways the elephant in the room. However, as Liberal Democrats we have always recognised the many benefits migrants bring to our society and our economy. Net migration has dropped significantly in recent years but there is still work to do in reducing backlogs on asylum claims, looking at whether we can allow asylum seekers to work and re-opening legitimate pathways for asylum to reduce channel crossings. We should be much more vocal on this issue.

Defence – contrary to current government thinking, renewing our commitment to the UN target of spending 0.7% of GDP on overseas aid actually helps in making our country more secure. But, yes, we need to increase the amount we spend on conventional defence in the light of increasing international threats, build alliances across Europe, including joint operations and command, and invest in building up our capacity to resist cyber and drone attacks.

Liberty – the party needs to be more vocal in defending the European Convention on Human Rights and continue our resistance to digital ID as both a waste of money and a threat to our freedoms.

Finance – finally, how do we pay for all this? These measures cannot all be carried out at once, but better alignment with Europe can increase GDP, while making the tax system fairer, with a wealth tax, reform of council tax and other measures can bring in new income.

These are just some of my thoughts on how the Liberal Democrats can lay out a distinctive agenda in a five- or six-party system in which our support appears to be stagnating and where we are failing to cut through in many parts of the country.

Others will have different priorities, but what seems clear to me is that a change of approach is needed. We have to be louder and bolder in standing up for liberal principles and values. Maintaining our present course is not an option.