THE LIBERAL Democrats have pledged to stop Brexit and generate 80 per cent of the country's electricity in renewable ways by 2030 in the party's manifesto for the upcoming election.

As part of its coverage of the general election, the Advertiser is looking at the manifestos of all of the parties that are standing in the area.

Last week, we spoke to all of the candidates, and you can read them all on the website.

Liberal Democrat candidates:

Launching her party's manifesto last week, leader Jo Swinson pledged to revoke Article 50 and tackle the climate emergency.

The party, which previously backed a second referendum on EU membership, controversially decided to switch their position earlier this year to wanting to end Brexit all together.

Their manifesto says: "Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to stop Brexit and stay in the European Union.

"Although the Conservatives claim that a vote for them will ‘get Brexit done’, it won’t: it will simply usher in more years of difficult negotiations over the UK’s trade deal with the EU, with a very high chance of Britain crashing out and trying to survive on so-called ‘WTO terms’ – a deal so bad that almost no other country anywhere in the world trades on that basis."

They also say that they will ensure that EU citizens that have lived in the UK for five years or longer are able to have "full participation in civic life".

This includes allowing them to stand for office and vote in UK referendums, as well as general, local and European elections.

The manifesto says that by revoking Article 50, they can access a £50 billion 'remain bonus' - that they will use to spend on public services.

Climate crisis

The Lib Dems have said that tackling the climate emergency is also one of their top priorities, saying: "The UK should be leading the world in tackling the climate emergency."

They have a three-pronged attack - improving energy efficiency, improving public transport and reducing greenhouse gases and carbon emissions.

They will end fossil fuel subsidies by 2025, accelerating the deployment of renewable power and aiming that at least 80 per cent of electricity will be generated by renewables by 2030.

In terms of energy efficiency, the Liberal Democrats will cut energy bills and aim to end fuel poverty by 2025. This includes reducing VAT on homes insulation and have Stamp Duty Land Tax based on the energy rating of the property.

They will invest in public transport to enable people to reduce their impact on the environment whilst travelling, putting £4.5 billion into restoring and adding bus routes.

They say that they will establish a Citizens' Climate Assembly to engage the public in helping them to tackle the climate emergency, ensuring local authorities produce a Zero Carbon Strategy, whilst also improving animal welfare and "saving nature".

NHS

Mrs Swinson's main policy for the NHS is to raise an extra £7 billion a year, ring-fenced to be spent on the NHS and social care. It will be generated by a 1p rise on income tax.

They will spend an additional £10 billion on equipment, hospitals, community, ambulance and mental health services buildings.

The GP shortfall will be ended by 2025, by training more GPs and making greater use of other medical staff.

They will also help people to be healthier, saying: "It is clear that there are strong links between illness and both environmental and social factors. We know that poor housing, unsafe streets, poor air quality, unhealthy diets and financial uncertainty can create the conditions for people to become both physically and mentally unwell."

'Fair society'

The party say that they want to create a 'fair society', saying that life has become "unaffordable".

They say they're the only party to have a plan to tackle poverty and inequality that makes sense, with their main proposals including:

  • Investing £6 billion per year to make the benefits system "work for people who need it".
  • Building 100,000 social homes
  • Ending rough sleeping within five years
  • Bringing in a legal right to food
  • Reduce reoffending by turning prisons into "places of rehabilitation" - recruiting 2,000 more prison officers and improving the provision of training, education and work opportunities.

Other policies

The Liberal Democrats have long been supporters of 16 and 17 year olds having the right to vote, and tried to force the government to allow those people to vote in this election.

However, they say that they will bring that in should they win the election, as well as:

  • Introducing proportional representation for general and local elections.
  • Reforming the House of Lords
  • Giving the Scottish and Welsh governments extended involvement in UK-wide frameworks
  • 35 hours of free childcare for children aged two to four, or from nine months for working parents
  • £11bn for mental health services over five years, including on 24-hour support
  • Legalise cannabis