[ARCHIVE] GE7 Manifesto: Classical Liberals by electricbluegreenparty

Classical Liberals Take Back Your Freedom!

Contents Foreword

Pg. 4 - 5

Economics

Pg. 6 - 9

European Union

Pg. 10 - 13

Foreign Affairs

Pg. 14 - 17

The Constitution

Pg. 18 - 21

Home Affairs

Pg. 22 - 25

Justice

Pg. 26 - 29

Health

Pg. 30 - 33

Education

Pg. 34 - 37

Defence

Pg. 38 - 41

Business and Skills

Pg. 42 - 45

Work and Welfare

Pg. 46 - 49

Transport

Pg. 50 - 53

Trade and Aid

Pg. 54 - 57

Contents Communities

Pg. 58 - 61

Environment and Energy

Pg. 62 - 65

Culture, Media, Sport

Pg. 66 - 69

Equalities

Pg. 70 - 73

Scotland

Pg. 74 - 77

Wales

Pg. 78 - 81

Northern Ireland

Pg. 82 - 85

Foreword The last time I put myself forward for election as a Member of Parliament, I did so in very different circumstances, even if it was only at the last election. The last time I ran to be an MP, I did so with no party, no political backing, just my own convictions, and as the result affirmed, the support of the people of Cumbria and Lancashire - now I am before you again, this time again as the Leader of the Classical Liberals and with a slate of fellow liberty loving candidates spread across our United Kingdom. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been at this for a while now, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen just about everything there is to see, and spoke on just about any topic that has been a political issue in my lifetime, but in spite of my interventions and efforts, the march of statism and big government has rolled on, firstly from the left, and now sadly from the right as well. The mainstream, establishment parties all have their issues, all of them have one main thing in common they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t leave you alone. Under the left, the taxman comes and takes away over half of your income, and then when the right get into power, they fail to stop the taxman doing that, but they also have the police arrest you for your own life choices.

I know Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not alone in believing that Britain needs a new and proper alternative to the failed politics of authoritarianism found in every major party these days, and that is why myself and others who share that view joined together to found the Classical Liberals from the foundations of my Cumbrian and Lancastrian Classical Liberal campaign. We joined together to be able to raise a serious opposition to the failed politics of the past, and to promote our vision for the future together, and across the country more and more people are joining our revolution against authoritarianism and for liberty. At this election, you have a huge chance to elect more Classical Liberal MPs to Westminster who will tirelessly stand up and support your fundamental rights, stand up against authoritarianism, stand up against excessive taxation, and stand up for the values of liberty and freedom. The Classical Liberals MPs you elect will do our utmost to stand up and tackle the real issues facing the country, rather than continue the failures of the past. One of these issues is Brexit, now over a year has passed since we voted 60% in favour of Leaving the European Union, and yet no progress has been made - the government promised another referendum on the Common Market, prolonging uncertainty and division across the country, while the leftist government before them completely failed to make any progress. If you elect Classical Liberals MPs, you can be assured that we will take the action you voted for a year ago, and seek a Brexit in line with that, and the policies in this manifesto that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll elect us upon. When you go into the polling station on the 7th of September, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have the chance to change the future of our country for the better by voting for the Classical Liberals if we are standing in your seat, or the recommended candidate for liberty if we have decided not to contest your seat. I hope that on the 9th, our country will awaken to real change and new politics.

Duncs11 The Rt. Hon. Sir Duncs11 KCT KCB MP Leader of the Classical Liberals Member of Parliament for Cumbria and Lancashire Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Classical Liberal candidate for Cumbria and Lancashire North

Economics Our country faces real and serious trouble - taxation rates are through the roof, spending is out of control, and we are racking up debt at a rate which is unsustainable. While the recently passed Government budget was an improvement, it was nowhere close to our ideal budget, and if you elect us, we will continue to fight for better budget with lower taxes. It’s clear that the approach of the left has failed, and with the traditional parties of the right failing to take any action to remedy it, a new approach is needed. We want to liberate the people of this country from the excessive rates of taxation they face, and we want to liberate our children and grandchildren from a mountain of unplayable debt. We do recognise that at some point in life, some people can fall upon hard times, be it through losing their job, a failed business venture, or a hard divorce, and we must not forget about them and their needs. As the old proverb goes, “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” - we want to give these people help, we want to give them a hand up to get them back into employment and help them succeed.

Negative Income Tax

Balancing the Budget

Our welfare system needed reforming the introduction of Basic Income should have seen a simplified system, but it has instead seen almost the exact opposite. Change was needed, and the Classical Liberals fully supported a Negative Income Tax as the solution, however the current system is not our system - we feel that the system introduced in the budget is unable to make the changes to the welfare system required for it to truly be a hand up, not a hand out system.

Our country is facing a debt crisis, with a deficit of over ÂŁ160 billion per year at the start of the last budget we borrowed three hundred thousand pounds a minute. It should be clear that this cannot go on - weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re nearly two trillion in debt already, and yet the policies of the left are to keep spending and forcing more and more debt upon future generations. Britain needs something different, and it needs it urgently. We will make balancing the budget a priority to ensure that our children do not have to deal with the excesses of our generation

Value Added Tax Like all taxes, we must ensure that the level of Value Added Tax is balanced so that people are not subjected to excessive levels of taxation, but also so that funds can be raised for the limited functions of the state. Like all taxes, we want to lower VAT if possible, but we absolutely will not stand for an increase in the rate of VAT from the current level of 25%.

Inheritance Tax

The Inheritance Tax subjects money to double-taxation - taxed when it was earned, and now taxed when it is passed on. While the ultra-rich can avoid this, the middle class find themselves subjected to this most unfair tax. We do not wish to stop people from passing on something to their descendants, but we must also balance that with a desire to stop an aristocracy forming.

Excise Taxes We believe that in many ways, Excise Taxes on harmful activities and products are one of the fairer taxes in existence ensuring that people can engage in their own life choices, but also ensuring that those choices will not result in the taxpayer having to fork out the bill for NHS treatments for conditions caused by smoking or excessive drinking. Therefore, we would maintain the existence of the current Excise Taxes on alcohol, tobacco, legalised drugs, and gambling - the rates of which shall be varied throughout the course of the Parliament based on information on the societal and healthcare costs incurred by the products which are being taxed.

Land Value Tax

We believe that the Land Value Tax is an ideal way to ensure that owners of property contribute to the social services from which they and their property benefits, such as national infrastructure. During itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s implementation, it has been more effective at raising revenue, defeating avoidance, and helping to fund local government than previous methods, such as the Community Charge, or Council Tax - therefore we support the continued existence of a Land Value Tax

Corporation Tax Corporation Taxes need major reform for the past term they have been used to hold companies to ransom to comply with the authoritarian Companies Act, with the rate doubling depending on compliance with the Companies Act, rather than the rate being based on sound economics and need. We will oppose a flat rate of Corporation Tax, instead having a progressive Corporation Tax, which will both help small businesses, and ensure that large companies remain competitive in the UK while paying their fair share.

Tax Evasion

Despite the current rates of taxation being excessively high, it must be made clear that tax evasion is unacceptable, and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. When somebody avoids taxes, all they do is make them higher for the rest of the population. While we recognise the importance of a fairer tax system, we also recognise the importance of everybody paying their share. Due to tax evasion, it is estimated that the Treasury misses out on nearly ÂŁ5 billion of revenue every year - money which could be used to reduce your taxes instead.

Our Proposals We will reform the current Negative Income Tax, under which the personal allowance would be set at £18,000 with a subsidy rate of 50%, meaning that an individual with no income would receive £9,000 under the Negative Income Tax scheme. Under our proposals for the NIT, the base rate of taxation would be 35%, while the higher rate would be 40% apply for earnings over £50,000, with the highest rate - the ‘additional’ rate being 50% for earnings over £100,000. We will refuse to support any budget which does not balance by the end of the Parliamentary term, in order to ensure future financial security for our children We will raise the threshold for inheritance tax to only tax estates over £2 million in value, balancing the need to prevent an aristocracy and the right to pass something down to future generations  We will vote against any increases in the rate of Value Added Tax from the current rate of 25%, and lowering it if financial circumstances are right  We will continue to support the existence of the Land Value Tax as the means of funding local government expenditure  We will completely reform the system of Corporation Tax, ending it’s current status as a means of enforcing the Companies Act, and instead moving towards a progressive Corporation Tax model, based on the profit of the company in question  We will maintain the existence of Excise Taxes on alcohol, tobacco, legalised drugs, and gambling as a means of funding NHS treatments for conditions brought about by them, and dealing with societal costs  We will not tolerate tax evasion, supporting the current levels of funding committed to tackling it, and ensuring all cases are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law if they meet the Crown Prosecution Service criteria.

European Union In August 2016, our country voted overwhelmingly to leave the European Union, and yet we have not made any progress towards implementing your democratic will - it is clear that change is needed to put into place what you voted for last August. Leaving the European Union presents us with an incredible opportunity to become a free trading, internationalist nation who are open to immigration and the fruits of the world. However, it also presents us with a dangerous risk - if we allow the protectionists to push for a “no deal” Brexit, our economy will be irreversibly damaged, our people poorer, and our nation less respected. This election is your chance to ensure that internationalists are elected to carry out Brexit, rather than allowing your family to be made poorer because of a bad deal, or the worst deal of them all - no deal. If you elect the Classical Liberals as the Government you want to carry out your will for Brexit, then we will fight tirelessly to ensure that your will is implemented, and to ensure that our country ends up better off and better positioned in the world, rather than allowing the protectionist right to force us into a “no deal” option.

Article 50

When any Government wants to get started with Brexit, they will have to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which begins the process of withdrawal from the European Union, to take place over a two year time period. We wish to have a period of time to conduct preliminary talks with both the European Union and the member states which compose it, along with other parliamentarians and organisations in the United Kingdom before we trigger Article 50, in order to ensure that we have consensus at home and have the basic principles of our deal agreed before we start the two year time period. This will ensure that we are able to fully negotiate our exit from the European Union over the two year period, and minimise the possibility of being left with no deal at the end of the two year period.

Erasmus

The Erasmus programme has been massively beneficial for British students, giving them the chance to spend a term or year in another European country, and allows EU students to come to the United Kingdom as well, and experience our country - we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe our young people, along with the young people of other European countries should lose their chance to participate in Erasmus, and we will make it a priority of our time in government to reaffirm British participation in the Erasmus programme

Second Referendum

We believe that the last thing the country needs now is yet more division and uncertainty. We completely oppose all attempts to force the country to go through that again, be it as a vote on the terms of Brexit after they are negotiated, a vote on the type of deal we want to seek, or a simple re-run of the previous vote. We believe now is the time for our country to move forward as one, rather than continuing to divide ourselves through referenda.

Retaining the Four Freedoms The Four Freedoms - Freedom of Movement of Goods, Labour, People, and Capital have proven incredibly beneficial to the United Kingdom during our membership of the European Union with the right to Freedom of Movement of People making it easier to go on holiday, to live and work in another country, and the other three rights Freedom of Movement of Goods, Services, and Capital making international trade more free flowing and open. We will make it a priority during the Brexit negotiations to secure the mutually beneficial agreement to keep the Freedom of Movement of Goods, Labour, People, and Services between the United Kingdom and the European Union after Brexit.

EHIC

EFTA

The European Health Insurance Card scheme is another programme which has been beneficial for both British citizens and citizens of the other member states of the European Union. The EHIC scheme has taken worry out of holidaying abroad and ensured that holidayers will not have to fork out for expensive medical treatment abroad - this is the exact type of scheme that should be kept as Britain leaves the European Union, and we will do all we can do in negotiations to continue the EHIC programme as it currently is.

We will seek British membership of the European Free Trade Association as the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, which we believe would be in the best interests of the United Kingdom. Membership of the EFTA would allow the United Kingdom to sign our own bilateral or multi-lateral free trade agreements, just as EFTA member Iceland did with China in 2014, while also giving the United Kingdom access to the vitally important European single market, and the trade agreements associated with that. Indeed, the United Kingdom have already previously been members of the European Free Trade Association, joining in 1960 when it was founded, and leaving when we joined the European Economic Community in 1973. We believe that this option is the most preferable option, as we would retain the vitally important right to make our own trade deals around the world, but also maintain full, tariff free, access to the European Union and the vitally important markets contained within the EU.

Euratom We recognise the important work done by, and the importance of involvement in the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and we wish to preserve our involvement in Euratom after Brexit. While the current treaties make full Euratom membership as a non-EU member impossible, we will seek the same agreement as Switzerland do which is Associate Membership, ensuring that we can still participate in Euratom after Brexit.

Parliamentary Vote

We believe that any Brexit deal must be given a vote in the House of Commons before it is confirmed, so that elected representatives can ensure that the deal will not harm their constituents.

European Space Agency

While not directly a part of the European Union, the ESA is linked to the EU, with many nations being members of both, and we believe that there should be no change to the status of British membership or of British funding of the European Space Agency as a result of Britain Leaving the European Union.

Our Proposals Trigger Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon - beginning the formal process of British withdrawal from the European Union after conducting preliminary talks with both other national governments, and other organisations within the United Kingdom We will oppose all attempts to push for a second referendum of any variety at any stage in the Brexit process, instead pushing for a final Parliamentary vote on Brexit at the end of the process We will seek full membership of the European Free Trade Association as the outcome we want from the Brexit talks, including full and unconditional retention of the Freedom of Movements of Goods, People, Services, and Capital  We will reaffirm our commitment to the European Space Agency and our current funding of it, and seek to participate fully as a member in the future regardless of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations  We will seek to become associate members of the European Atomic Energy Community, the same status as Switzerland currently holds within the European Atomic Energy Community  We propose introducing all current EU legislation which applies to Britain into our domestic statue books, and then Parliament can decide which pieces of legislation it wishes to repeal after the Brexit process is concluded  We pledge to continue full British membership in, and funding of the Erasmus programme  We will seek the retention of the European Health Insurance Card programme in any Brexit deal

Foreign Affairs Our country has the potential to be a true leader on the international stage, with our unique history and current international relations setting us up perfectly to set an example to the world and be the force for change we want to see in the world. With the close ties we have to the Commonwealth of Nations, and many other nations around the world, an internationalist government could unleash the potential of the United Kingdom in helping the world. The world today is an increasingly unstable place, with many unresolved conflicts still causing issues between nations, with states such as North Korea and Iran trying to develop nuclear weapons, and with many people still living under the rule of dictators and tyrants. The world needs a nation who can stand and try to solve these issues, and with the United States becoming increasingly protectionist and insular, that duty falls upon us to stand as a beacon of democracy and liberalism across the globe, and to set an example to the rest of the world.

Special Relationship The United Kingdom and the United States of America will always share a close and special relationship which each other as the two leading Western democracies. Despite the current policies being pursued by the President of the United States, we know that our relationship will stand strong and that under a new administration after the Federal elections, the United States and the United Kingdom will be able to continue our special relationship.

Commonwealth We fully support the existence of the Commonwealth of Nations, and fully support increasing itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role, and seeking to further improve British relations with other Commonwealth nations. In addition, we completely support expansion of the Commonwealth - while originally formed from former colonies of the British Empire, the current Commonwealth represents a union of countries strongly committed to the values of democracy and human rights, and we would welcome any application from a country who shares those values, regardless of their former colonial history with the United Kingdom to join the Commonwealth, as Rwanda and Mozambique have done.

Israel-Palestine

Solving the Israel-Palestine conflict is one of the greatest challenges of our generation, but it is clear that something needs to be done, and the current status quo cannot continue. It must be clear that any state of Palestine should not be recognised by the United Kingdom, nor the international community, unless it is formed as a fully democratic state who will keep the peace with Israel. In a ideal world, a two state solution would be the objective, with Israel peacefully coexisting with a demilitarised Palestinian state. However, Israel should not have to accept a solution which would leave them vulnerable to more attacks, either in the form of terror attacks from groups like Hamas, or in the form of conventional military attacks. We feel that current proposals for peace have been overly kind to Palestine and failed to recognise the security needs of Israel, leaving them vulnerable to future attack - weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re clear that any proposals for peace must not put Israel or her people in danger of terror attacks or invasion from hostile armies.

Zimbabwe

United Nations

Since the country of Zimbabwe was established, it has been ruled by one man who has stripped the wealth from his nation and turned the breadbasket of Africa into a country on the verge of famine. Robert Mugabe has committed acts of genocide against the Matabele in the Gukurahundi, where 30,000 Matabele were killed by the forces of the Mugabe regime. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;land reformâ&#x20AC;? policies of the Mugabe Government have seen many white Zimbabweans lose their land and often left them no choice but the flee the country in fear of their life. We believe that the people of Zimbabwe can never be free so long as Mugabe and ZANU-PF remain in power, and therefore we propose a range of economic sanctions targeted at the personal wealth of Mugabe and Government officials in an effort to force them from office, so that all Zimbabweans may enjoy their inalienable human rights, and live as part of a democracy.

We believe that international cooperation and dialogue has the potential to solve most of the conflicts in the world today, and as such, we support the existence of the United Nations, and we will continue to support UN efforts at solving international issues.

China

While we must remain mindful of Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s status as an economic power and future superpower, and seek close relations with them, that does not mean we should let the situation in Tibet and Taiwan go unnoticed, nor should we stop our advocacy for increased rights for the Chinese people. We will seek to work with our international allies to make proposals regarding the situation in Tibet and Taiwan, along with the Human Rights situation to the Chinese Government, and work with them to achieve reforms in these areas.

Russia

The Russian Federation has essentially invaded Ukraine, a fully sovereign and independent nation, and taken Crimea, which goes against international law, and this must not be allowed to pass without international action against the Russian Federation. Additionally, Russia have also been acting aggressive against their other neighbours, some of which are NATO members, and also against the United Kingdom, with frequent incursions into our waters and air space. We believe that the only way the Russians will respect the sovereignty of their neighbours and the territorial waters and air space of the United Kingdom is through sanctions against the Russian regime until they cease sabre-rattling.

Our Proposals Maintain the Special Relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of America Revoke our recognition of the state of Palestine until such a time when Palestine is fully democratic and committed solely to peaceful methods in resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict  Work towards a two state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, which will include Israeli recognition of the state of Palestine, and will include fully defensible borders for Israel, and also ensure that the neighbouring Arab nations also recognise Israel’s most fundamental right - the right to exist.  We support the existence of the Commonwealth of Nations, and will work for closer ties with the member states of the Commonwealth, while also being open to any application from countries who share the values of the Commonwealth for membership  We fully support the implementation of sanctions against the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe, in order to force him and his party to resign from office and to hold full, free, and fair elections, under the watch of international observers, including from the United Kingdom.  We support sanctions against the Russian Federation and the Putin in response to the illegal occupation of Crimea, the threats made against the sovereignty against other nations, including NATO members, and the incursions into British territorial waters   We will work with the Chinese government and the international community in an attempt to resolve the situation in Taiwan and Tibet, along with attempts to enhance the rights of the people of China, in a first attempt to deal with these important matters while maintaining good relations with China

The Constitution Our constitution is dangerously flawed right now - with unelected Lords making laws despite no authority from the people to do so, with the mismatch of devolution driving anger among those who have found themselves left behind, and with cries for a new constitutional settlement being heard across the United Kingdom. It is time for action - for too long many different parties have offered tame proposals for reforming the House of Lords or for some form of more patchwork devolution to cities in England, but all of these will leave us barely better off than we are now. Other proposals at fixing the broken system donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hold up well either - the current proposals for Federalisation are fatally flawed, and they were expressly rejected by many people at the last election, including the people of Cumbria and Lancashire when they elected an MP expressly opposed to the idea of the imposition of the Federalisation Bill. Our constitution needs to be revived to be made suitable for a 21st century democracy, rather than continuing outdated practices such as allowing unelected peers to make the law of the land. This election is our chance to make our proposed changes a reality.

British Senate

Federalisation Bill

We strongly oppose the continued existence of the House of Lords, and would like to remove all legislative input from the unelected, unaccountable peers. However, we do recognise the vital importance of a second chamber in our legislature, which is why we propose replacing the House of Lords with a Senate of the United Kingdom. While the House of Commons would represent the people of the United Kingdom, the British Senate would represent the Counties of the United Kingdom, a system seen in many other successful nations. In order to allow for longer term policy thinking and to stop the Senate being a reflection of the Commons, only half of the Senate will be elected at each General Election, with Senators serving terms equivalent to two Commons terms.

We are opposed to the current Federalisation Bill, and the proposals on which it is based. Namely, we oppose the basis on which the regions have been selected, and the very existence of these regions. The proposed regions do not give power to the people in local counties and local places, but rather just create another layer of distant government from the people. The people of Cumbria are as disconnected from a North West Parliament in Manchester as they are from the House of Commons in London. We will oppose all forms of Federalisation based upon the use of NUTS-1 regions, and a vote for the Classical Liberals will be a vote against your community being forced to accept rule from a big city which is distant from your needs, problems, and desires. A vote for us will be a vote directly against the acceptance of the NUTS-1 regions, and there would be no mandate for the imposition of a NUTS-1 Federalisation Bill in the areas we win.

Monarchy

We support the continued existence and constitutional position of the monarchy in the United Kingdom, as the current status of the monarch as a ceremonial Head of State brings in large amounts of income for the treasury from tourism, in addition to the rents gained on the Crown Estates, while also serving as an important figure for national unity. Additionally, we believe that a referendum on the monarchy is functionally identical to a Presidential election, and therefore we oppose it, in addition to the other reasons we generally oppose referenda.

Direct Democracy

We are a party of representative democrats, not direct ones. We believe that referenda overly simplify complex issues, and achieve little more than dividing the population. We therefore oppose the Direct Democracy Enhancement Act, and will seek to repeal it, and return decision making power to the representatives elected to Westminster and devolved Assemblies and Parliaments.

County Assemblies

Supreme Court

While we oppose the current model for Federalisation, we support the principle that government should be close to the governed, and acknowledge the desperate need for a fairer devolution settlement. This is why we propose the abolition of the current County Councils, and their replacement with powerful County Assemblies, each with their own directly elected Governor - below the County Assemblies will be unitary authorities, based upon the councils set out in the Local Government (England) Act in England, the current 32 councils in Scotland, and the 22 principal areas in Wales . This model will give local people a real say in their government, rather than forcing them to accept yet another layer of distant government.

An independent judiciary is a key competent of a fully functioning democracy, yet until 2009 we did not have an independent Supreme Court or final court of appeal - this function was instead carried out by members of the House of Lords. Despite nostalgic desires of some traditionalists to return to this flawed system which combines the legislature and the judiciary, we do not believe the best interests of the people are served unless we have a fully independent and impartial judiciary, and we will oppose all moves to return to having a politically biased court system.

Codified Constitution

We believe that the current, uncodified structure of the UK constitution is ideal and preferable to a codified system, as we are able to respond to social changes and developing events quicker and more effectively rather than spending years fighting over every issue in the courts. We therefore reject the idea of codifying the British constitution, believing that the uncodified model serves us well.

Our Proposals Completely oppose the current Federalisation Bill at every stage, and do the same for all other proposals for Federalisation built on NUTS-1 regions  Instead of adding another layer of distant government far removed from the governed, we will introduce County Assemblies for the ceremonial counties of England, preserved counties of Wales, and the regions of Scotland. Along with the County Assembly, there will also be a directly elected Governor to go with each County Assembly  We will abolish the House of Lords as it currently is and replace it with a Senate of the United Kingdom - in this system each County will receive 2 senators, who will serve for two House of Commons terms, elected at alternating General Elections through the Alternative Vote system  We will reintroduce the Direct Democracy Enhancement Act (Repeal) Bill which will repeal the provisions of the Direct Democracy Enhancement Act and restore the United Kingdom to representative democracy, rather than rule by referenda.  We will oppose a referendum on the abolition of the monarchy  We will continue to support the existence and independence of the Supreme Court, and we will oppose any attempts to abolish the Supreme Court and to return to the system of Law Lords  We oppose the codification of the UK constitution, preferring to maintain an uncodified constitution which results in greater flexibility

Home Affairs The job of the Home Secretary is an incredibly mixed one, dealing with a variety of policy issues, many of which are incredibly important to the safety of our people, such as the power given over the police and the security services. However, the Home Secretary also has another very important role - the person who will generally set the immigration policy of the United Kingdom. It should be clear from those powers and responsibilities that depending on the views of the Home Secretary, they can either be a strong and powerful champion for liberty, or they can further authoritarian policies. Unlike many parties contesting this election, we do not see immigration as something to be feared, but something to be embraced - helping to boost our economy and increase the amount of talent weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got in our country. When it comes to the security services, we believe that our rights have been excessively restricted in the name of fighting terror - with policies such as warrantless surveillance breaching our right to privacy and failing to catch plots that would not be uncovered through other means.

CANZUK Free Movement When M149 - The Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Treaty Ratification Motion was passed in June 2016, it opened our nation Australians, Canadians, and New Zealanders to come to our nation and contribute their skills and expertise to our economy, and afforded Britons the same right to go and do the same in Australia, Canada, or New Zealand. We fully support the continuation of that right in the next Parliament and beyond, and we will strongly oppose all attempts to pull up the drawbridge on immigrants from these countries.

EU Freedom of Movement

As previously outlined in our European Union section, we support the full continuation of the Four Freedoms which includes Freedom of Movement of People between the United Kingdom and the EU27. Like with the CANZUK Freedom of Movement treaty, we believe that the right and ability of a Spaniard, Frenchman, or Swede to come to our country and contribute to our economy has been a benefit - not a detriment to our country. However, we do recognise the issue with a very small minority coming and not contributing to our country, and instead trying to claim off of our welfare system - which is why we will Illegal Immigrants make use of a mechanism not used by We do not endorse illegally entering the previous governments, which is fully inline United Kingdom, or any other nation, with EU law - the right to send any however we recognise now that the migrant from the European Union back to current crackdown on illegal immigrants their country of origin if they have not isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t working, and a new strategy needs found employment in the United implemented. We believe that with up to Kingdom within 3 months of their arrival a million illegal immigrants in the UK, it is in the United Kingdom. This will ensure impossible to deport them all to their that we continue to benefit from EU country of origin, especially when many of Freedom of Movement, while ensuring them come from dictatorial regimes who that a very small minority are unable to threaten their human rights. Therefore, we take from our welfare system without wish to extend a one time, one off, offer contributing to our country. of a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants will be encouraged to come out of the shadows, and if they are able to live, work, pay taxes in, and obey the law of the United Kingdom, then they will be offered the chance to become British citizens.

Policing

Deradicalisation

We believe that the current system of British policing is functioning well, however, that does not mean we believe that it is entirely perfect. We feel that in many areas, a greater presence of police foot patrols around local neighbours would be beneficial to building strong police-community relations - therefore, we will advocate for a more community based policing strategy. When it comes to the equipment the police carry, we believe that our police are well-equipped already, and we certainly oppose all attempts at routine armament of regular police officers. In order to fully ensure the police are able to continue to do their jobs, we will protect front-line police funding and pledge to raise it in-line with inflation, keeping all cuts to the budget to bureaucracy and through increased efficiency.

The previous PREVENT programme for deradicalisation undeniably failed to meet any of its objectives, and the move to replace it in M109 - PREVENT strategy motion was the correct move. However, we must always be vigilant and ensure that deradicalisation is only used for people who have views which are violent in outlook, and are likely to lead to them committing a violent attack - it should never be used to censor views deemed unacceptable by the government of the day.

General Immigration

For citizens of nations not covered under either the CANZUK or EU freedom of movement provisions, we believe that if you have a skill to bring to the United Kingdom, immigrating should be as easy as buying a plane ticket and filling out a few forms. We will reduce unnecessary and unneeded restrictions on immigration, as well as negotiating freedom of movement treaties with Singapore, South Africa, and the United States of America

Warrantless Surveillance

We completely oppose warrantless mass surveilance of British citizens by the intelligence agencies, and we will immediately cease mass collection of data by GCHQ and the other intelligence agencies, along with introducing significant amendments to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) which would mandate that any surveillance of any communications is illegal and must cease, unless there is a warrant, based on evidence showing a significant likelihood of a serious criminal offence being committed.

Our Proposals Continue to fully support the Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Treaty, which allows freedom of movement between the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand  Support the full continuation of the Four Freedoms, including Freedom of Movement of People between the United Kingdom and the European Union after Brexit, however we will make use of provisions in the treaties of the European Union which allow us to send any migrant who has not found employment within 3 months of arrival in the United Kingdom back to their country of origin  We will institute an amnesty scheme for persons currently in the United Kingdom illegally, which will allow them to resister themselves and become eligible to be employed (and by extension, pay taxes in the United Kingdom), and if they are able to live and work in this country for 5 years after their first registration without being convicted of a criminal offence, then they will be eligible to seek British citizenship  We will protect the frontline policing budget, ensuring that all savings made from the police budget come from the reduction of bureaucracy and through increasing the efficiency of the police force and reducing waste.   We will have police forces assign officers local areas to patrol on foot, interacting with local residents, and providing a visible deterrent against petty crime.  We completely oppose warrantless surveillance, and will order it to be immediately ceased by GCHQ and other intelligence agencies, along with amending RIPA to ensure that all surveillance is backed up by a warrant  Seek to negotiate bilateral Freedom of Movement treaties with the United States, South Africa, and Singapore, while also rejecting the imposition of additional controls of immigration

Justice Unfortunately, some individuals will break the law, and when they do, we must have a robust justice system which is able to tackle the reasons that they broke the law, and help them to ensure that they will not break it again, and ensure they become a fully functioning and law-abiding member of society. Criminals donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just break the law for something to do, and when they are convicted of an offence, the aim must be to stop them committing further offences, and we do that through treating their underlying issues, be it a lack of education, a lack of support, mental health issues, or other problem, rather than just blindly punishing them by locking them in a cage and letting them out a few years down the line. Our policies for Justice are built upon the belief that punishment is not, and should not, be the sole aim of any sentence handed down by the courts, but that sentencing should take into account the individual needs of the offender to help them to not offend again, because in the long term, it is in our best interests to turn offenders into law-abiding members of society.

Capital Punishment

Corporal Punishment

Sentencing Guidelines

Legal Drugs

We completely oppose the use of Capital Punishment on multiple grounds, the first being that we do not believe that the state should have the power to take the life of any citizen, the second being that Capital Punishment is a form of cruel and unusual punishment, and the third is that it doesn’t work at deterring crime at all. All evidence points to the failure of retributivist policies in reducing rates of crimes occurring, with countries that have the death penalty generally having higher crime rates than those that don’t. For these fundamental reasons, we completely oppose the use of the death penalty both in the United Kingdom, and across the globe, and we will work to make the death penalty history.

We believe that every offender and every crime are different, and that the sentences handed down for them should reflect the necessity of that sentence in stopping reoffending and protecting the public. We do not believe sentencing guidelines should be set in some attempt to look to be “tough on crime”, and nor should they be overly restrictive on judges. We will review and reform the sentencing guidelines to give more power to the judges in the country to decide which sentence the offender needs to help them reform, while balancing the requirement to keep the public safe.

We believe that Corporal Punishment is a barbaric punishment which should be left in the past where it belongs. We do not believe that a civilised society should use state power to inflict physical pain on offenders in any attempt to punish them for their offences, and will work to ensure that corporal punishment is never used in the United Kingdom, and will work to abolish it around the world as well. Like Capital Punishment, Corporal Punishment is an overreach of state power, it is cruel and unusual punishment, and it also doesn't work at stopping offences, and nor does it work at stopping recidivism, and for all these reasons, we completely oppose the use of corporal punishment, both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

As a point of principle, we believe that you should be free to consume what you want, and that addiction to drugs is a medical issue, not a criminal justice issue. We fully support the previous legislative action taken to decriminalise and legalise drugs, and to take an evidence based approach to drug addiction, rather than locking addicts up when they need help. We will oppose any and all attempts to re-criminalise drugs in the United Kingdom, as prohibition does not work, and the state has no right to tell individuals what they can and cannot do with their time, their money, and their body

Purpose of Prison

While we would ideally like to see a reduction in the use of prison in favour of alternative sentences, we do acknowledge that there will be some offenders who are not suited to the alternative sentences, and that we must make sure that we have a prison system that can ensure these individuals are able to emerge from prison as law-abiding, functioning members of society. We believe that the two most important purposes of prison are to keep the public safe, and to reform and rehabilitate offenders for their release. We recognise the fact that the vast majority of prisoners will one day be released, and therefore we wish to give them the skills to succeed upon their release, helping them to become law-abiding members of society, and avoid reoffending. We recognise the examples set by Norway in this respect, and the success of this type of system in Norway, especially when compared to more punitive regimes, and we see no reason why this system could not work in the United Kingdom.

Maximum Sentence

In line with our view that prison should be about protecting the public and helping prisoners to reform, we propose the introduction of a maximum sentence for the majority of offences, as is currently the system in Norway, which has proven effective in meeting the aims of the prison system. Under our proposals, we would make the maximum sentence for all offences other than terrorism, treason, and war crimes a sentence of 21 years. After this 21 year period, prisoners would be entitled to appeal for release, and they could only be imprisoned for longer if they posed a threat to the public.

Minimum Sentences We believe that all sentences should be tailored to the specific needs of the offender, and we believe that mandatory minimum sentences harm this process, and are only used as a means for politicians to appeal to populist desires to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;tough on crimeâ&#x20AC;?. Therefore, in line with our proposals to give judges more autonomy in sentencing, we propose the abolishment of all mandatory minimum sentences.

Our Proposals We will completely oppose any attempts to reintroduce the death penalty in the United Kingdom, and will work to abolish it across the world, through negotiations with countries that use it, United Nations resolutions, and a refusal to export chemicals for use in lethal injections. We will completely oppose all attempts to introduce corporal punishment to the UK justice system, and will work with our international allies and the United Nations General Assembly to condemn the use of corporal punishment in other nations, with a long term view towards world-wide abolition  We will review and reform sentencing guidelines for all offences, removing all mandatory minimum sentences, and giving judges more autonomy over the sentence best suited to the offender, although we will introduce a presumption of a non-custodial sentence for first-time, non-violent offenders  We believe that the two most important purposes of the prison system are to protect the public from dangerous offenders, and to help offenders to be rehabilitated and to turn their life around, therefore we will oppose any moves towards a more punitive penal system  We will introduce a maximum sentence of 21 years, based on the system used in Norway, where unless a person was convicted of terrorism, treason, or war crimes, they would be eligible for release after 21 years in prison, and could only be denied release if they posed a threat to the public  We will maintain the legality of drugs in the United Kingdom and oppose all attempts to criminalise them again

Health We will all need some form of healthcare at some point in our life, that is an undeniable reality, and it is therefore in all of our interests to ensure that the quality of healthcare in our country is one of the best in the world, however, this cannot be achieved through just throwing money at the NHS as previous governments have done. However, we also acknowledge that there are areas where the market cannot work as effectively, and healthcare is one of these areas, since you can’t negotiate the price of drugs if you need them to live, and you can’t look up prices for treatment at different hospitals if you’re in an ambulance with a broken leg or suffering from a heart attack. We do however recognise the real and serious issues that the NHS faces, and will propose new ideas to fix these issues and take pressure off of the NHS, rather than trying to continue the failing policies of the left of borrowing money to throw at the NHS and hoping the outcome is different this time.

Privatisation

We believe that there will always be a place for the NHS in the United Kingdom, as no insurance based system can cover every member of society, and we would never want anybody to die because they couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afford the treatment. We pledge that we will keep the NHS in public ownership, and free at the point of use, ensuring that those who lack the means to pay for healthcare do not find themselves left behind

Foreign Staff

We recognise the absolutely vital importance that immigrants play in the running of the NHS, and in-line with our immigration policies in general, we are fully supportive of them living and working in the UK. We believe that as the UK prepares to leave the European Union, it would be wrong to use EU migrants providing vital services to the NHS as bargaining chips, and if we get into government, we will make a unilateral commitment to all EU migrants in the United Kingdom that they will be able to stay in the United Kingdom after Brexit, and be eligible to seek British citizenship down the line if they wish. As per our general immigration proposals, we will fully welcome all future immigrants who are qualified to, and wish to, work in our NHS.

Insurance

We recognise the pressures on the NHS currently, and that attempts of throwing money at the problem have failed to fix it, and therefore we propose a new idea encouraging individuals to take out private medical insurance for their families and them, easing the burden on the NHS. Under this system, we would give a rebate of up to 65% of the cost of private insurance, or 65% of the estimated annual costs of treating those now covered by the insurance, whichever is lower, on the annual insurance premium. This will allow many more Britons to have private healthcare through insurance, which will in turn reduce the amount of people who are relying on the NHS, reducing the burden on it.

Hospital Parking Charges

We oppose the use of car parking charges at hospitals, believing that friends and family shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be forced to pay to see their loved ones, especially when they are in hospital, and we therefore fully support the continued existence of the Hospital Car Parking Act 2016, which abolished parking charges at NHS hospitals, and we will stand against any attempts to repeal that bill, or to reintroduce parking charges through other means.

NHS Funding

As highlighted previously, NHS funding has ballooned well beyond the rate of inflation. In the December 2015 budget, Health spending was £187.8 billion. In the most recently passed budget, this had ballooned to £229.51 billion, an increase of £41.71 billion, well beyond the rate of inflation. Despite this, the NHS still faces many serious issues, and while we have no desire to harm the NHS, we fully acknowledge that this cannot go on. We will seek to improve the efficiency of, and reduce bureaucracy in the NHS, while along with the provisions for private health insurance, will reduce the amount of money needed to be spent on the NHS without impacting on the quality of healthcare.

Rural Healthcare Access

We recognise the difficulties by people in accessing healthcare in rural areas, particularly in comparison to those in urban areas. We believe that nobody should experience inferior healthcare because of where they live, and therefore we will establish an independent commission to fully examine the issues facing by people in rural communities when accessing healthcare, and to make recommendations on how to redress this situation, which a Classical Liberals government would follow

Preventative Measures

We believe that prevention is always better than cure, and where possible, the focus should be on preventing conditions from developing through tackling the behaviours that lead to medical conditions later on down the line, such as smoking, and drinking excessively. We fully support the previous measures such as warnings on cigarette packets, and no smoking in public buildings, which are designed to both reduce the amount of people smoking, and the amount of people who are exposed to second hand smoke. We will continue these measures, along with other preventative measures to combat healthcare problems, which will also mean a reduced demand upon the NHS.

Our Proposals We will keep the National Health Service publicly owned and free at the point of use We will introduce a programme to encourage greater adoption of private healthcare insurance in the United Kingdom, but giving people who choose to take out such a policy a rebate of 65% on whichever is lower, either the cost of the insurance premium, or the estimated cost of treating them on the NHS  We will unilaterally grant permanent leave to remain in the United Kingdom to all migrants from the European Union, which will secure the status of thousands of EU nationals working in the NHS  We support the continued abolition of car parking charges at NHS hospitals, and we will oppose any attempts to reintroduce them  We recognise the dangers the ballooning funding of the NHS serve, however, we will not compromise the quality of the NHS service, instead seeking to make all savings from reducing bureaucracy and increasing efficiency  We will create an independent commission to investigate the issues with rural healthcare provision in the United Kingdom, and will follow through with the recommendations of that commission  We will continue to support preventative measures in order to reduce the amount of people that develop medical conditions as a result of activities like smoking and excessive drinking

Education Education is the basis for the future success of not just individuals, but for our country as well, for a well-educated populace will bring massive benefits to our country, and therefore it is completely in our interests to ensure we have a well-educated populace. Schools should not just be a place of academic learning, but they should be a place that encourages learning of all sorts, encouraging students to go outside their comfort zone and benefit from those experiences. We do however recognise the failure of many parts of the current school system, despite the best efforts of teachers, many of our young people leave school with no qualifications whatsoever, leaving them ill-equipped and disadvantaged for the working world. In many ways, schools lack choice - due to the system of catchment areas, often parents, particularly working and lower-middle class parents, can’t get their child out of going to a ‘bad’ school, while the house prices soar in the catchment areas for the ‘good’ schools. This system has ensured that the working class will have a permanent disadvantage against the middle and upper classes, and this cannot be right. We will ensure that choice is introduced into the school system, putting power into the hands of parents, and creating a cycle of competition and improvement for schools.

University Living Costs

We recognise that currently living costs at university can be a deterring factor, even for middle-class students, as the current system is based around parents helping students out. Therefore, in order to ensure that nobody is put off going to university due to concerns about living costs, we will abolish the maintenance loan with a universal system of a £7,000 loan and £2,000 grant for all students studying their first undergraduate degree - ensuring that education, not money is what our students will be able to focus on.

Religious Schools

State funded religious schools were abolished by the Secularisation Act, and we believe this is the status we should maintain - however, we will oppose further attempts to completely abolish private religious schools, believing that if parents wish to spend their own money to have their child educated with a religious basis, then the state should not stand in the way - however, religious schools will not be eligible for the school choice programme, so all their tuition fees must be entirely paid out for a pupil to go to one, rather than the status with nonreligious private schools in school choice, where part of the fees would be paid via the school choice programme.

School Choice

Competition is the greatest driver of improvement, and it is something which is missing from the education system schools don’t have to compete for pupils, and the only form of choice for parents is afforded to those who can afford a house, who get to pick and choose which catchment area they buy a house in. We believe that all parents should be allowed to decide which school is best suited for their children, and schools should have to show why they are better than the other schools, driving them to be better. Therefore we will introduce a policy of school choice, where the current system of catchments will be abolished, and instead parents will be allowed to send their children to any state school in the local authority, provided it is not oversubscribed already, or send their children to a private school, part of the cost of which would be covered by the state, roughly equivalent to 75% of the cost of educating that child in the state sector. This will increase the quality of education by ensuring that schools can’t take pupils for granted, and allow all parents choice in the education of their children.

Grammar Schools

We support the current status of grammar schools in the state education sector, and will maintain this status of grammar schools as we transfer into the school choice system. However, we completely oppose the return of the old tripartite system, believing that children should not have their future decided for them by a test at 11. We believe in grammar schools and comprehensive schools both existing, with neither set up to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;streamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; pupils down a particular route - we will oppose the introduction of state-funded technical schools and the reintroduction of the other parts of the tripartite system. Furthermore, we believe that pupils should be able to that grammar school admissions tests at the ages of 11 and 13, and they should be eligible to apply to the grammar school for Sixth Form based on their GCSE results.

Political Education We recognise the importance of our young people having an understanding of politics, the British constitution, and our political structures, and we feel that under the current system, pupils are not adequately taught about these important facts about our country and political system. We believe that the Scottish school subject of Modern Studies should be introduced in England and Wales, taught in the same way as History and Geography are in KS3, and should be an optional subject for study at GCSE and ALevel.

Language Education

We are great believers in the benefits of learning a second language, and believe that many European nations set an excellent example, which we have attempted to follow through acts such as the Foreign Language Education Reform Act. We will maintain the provisions of that act in all wholly-state funded schools, and fight against attempts to reduce the quality or quantity of Modern Foreign Language teaching in our schools.

University Admissions

We believe in university admissions, as in all other parts of life, it is a students ability which should matter, not their background. We therefore believe that the only factors that should have any impact in university admissions are the grades, personal statement, and reference of an applicant, as well as their performance in any additional

Our Proposals We will institute a system of school choice, abolishing catchment areas to give parents the choice to send their children to any school within the local authority, or to send their children to a private school, where they shall be entitled to up to 75% of the estimated cost of educating their child in the state sector as help towards the fees  Under the system of school choice, grammar schools will remain as they are, and no money shall go to any religious school, meaning if parents wish to have their children educated religiously, then they shall have to pay the full fees  We will scrap the current system of maintenance loans for university students, and replace them with a universal system, consisting of a £7,000 loan and £2,000 grant.  We will oppose attempts to repeal previous legislation regarding the teaching of Modern Foreign Languages in schools, and oppose attempts to make the quality or quantity of teaching for Modern Foreign Languages worse  In line with our belief that it should be ability, not background that matters in university admissions, we will bar universities from making admissions decisions on anything other than grades, personal statement, reference, and interviews / other pre-admissions tests, ensuring that universities do not see the home address, school, or any other information about an applicant which they could use in their admissions process  While we support the existence of Grammar Schools, we strongly oppose the full or partial reintroduction of the tripartite system in the state sector. We believe that there should only be Grammar Schools and comprehensive schools, as currently exist, with opportunities for movement between the two.  We will introduce the Scottish subject of Modern Studies to the curriculum in the rest of the UK for Key State 3 teaching, and as a qualification at GCSE and ALevel.

Defence A strong national defence is an absolute necessity, especially for a nation ours, which is a world leader and global power, and we believe that the abandonment of our national defence by the left-wing governments of the past is a shameful betrayal of both our world position and our soldiers. We will not accept the continued attacks on the military and our brave service people. In a time when the world is becoming less and less safe, it is all the more important to ensure we can respond to all potential threats. In military planning, what many idealistic left-wingers forget is that we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just have our own island to defend - we have to defend all our Overseas Territories as well, but even that is not going far enough. We should be a champion for the rights and freedoms of all people - so long as one person remains oppressed by an authoritarian government, our world is not free. While we will always prioritise diplomacy as the solution to the problems in the world, we must not be afraid to act, especially if backed with support from both the international community and the inside the country in question. An ideal world will be one with peace and freedom for all nations, but so long as dictators reign, we will never have an ideal world.

Trident

We fully support the Trident nuclear weapons programme and the continuation of Britain as a nuclear power. We believe that it would be greatly harmful to our world place and influence as the second most powerful western nation, United Nations Security Council member, and a key player in NATO if we were to disarm our nuclear weaponry, or allow it to become outdated. Therefore, we will fully support the Trident nuclear weapons system, and fully support the development of a new, continuous nuclear deterrent.

Military Budget

The United Kingdom has made a commitment to our allies and to the international community that we will spend 2% of our GDP on Defence - and we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like to break our commitments. We pledge to vote against any budget which does not contain at least 2% of our GDP as spending for Defence, and if we get into government, we will fight to have Defence spending always rise in line with inflation, or however much is needed to reach 2%, whatever is greater, to ensure that we always have a fully capable national defence, ready to respond to all threats, and able to honour our commitments to the international community.

NATO

International alliances are increasingly important in an increasingly dangerous world - we must be clear to aggressive nations that we will come to the full aid of any NATO member who is attacked, and we expect the aid of all NATO members should we be attacked in turn. However, some believe that despite the dangerous state of the world, we should withdraw from our alliances and try to become a hermit kingdom, hoping that the next evil doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bother with us and we can just sit by while our allies come under attack. We do not believe this to be either a successful strategy in the event of invasion, or a politically correct choice, and we will fight all attempts to weaken ourselves and our allies through attempts to withdraw from NATO and cut ourselves off from the world.

Aircraft Carriers

We recognise the importance of having the ability to strike anywhere in the world, and aircraft carriers are such an important part of that, being able to act as an airbase in any ocean in the world, ensuring our troops will always have air support. Therefore, we fully support the entry of HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales into service as soon as possible, and we will investigate the feasibility of retrofitting them with arrestor wires and catapults, to expand the range of aircraft that can be used by the two carriers.

Overseas Territories

The people and places we need to defend arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just limited to our isles just off the coast of Europe in the North Atlantic - our Overseas Territories and our obligations to the Brits living there mean we must have a defence capable of acting across the globe. Should any of our Overseas Territories be invaded by a foreign power, as happened in 1982 when Argentina invaded the Falklands, we will do everything in our power to liberate them from the invaders, as was tried in 1982, we will try all diplomatic solutions first, but with one red-line - we will never surrender the sovereignty of any of our Overseas Territories, but if that fails, we will take the actions necessary to liberate them from the invaders.

Military Covenant

Since the reign of Henry VIII, our soldiers and our government have had a pact, originally unspoken, now formalised into the military covenant - its contents are simple - our soldiers make many sacrifices, unfortunately including the ultimate sacrifice to protect our nation and uphold our freedoms - in return, they should always be treated well and fairly by the government of the day. We will fully uphold the military covenant, ensuring the government listens to veterans and servicemen about the issues they face, and help them out - both during their time in the armed forces, and in life as a private citizen after the military.

Royal Air Force

Following the cancellation of the F-35 programme by the United States, our air force has been left in a state of limbo, unsure of which aircraft itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have for the defence of our islands. We believe that we must take action to ensure we are not left with a hole in our defensive capabilities - without a suitable replacement for the F-35 in the short term and without any VTOL aircraft for the aircraft carriers, we will reintroduce any Sea Harriers which are in an operational state, or can be returned to operational service with a reasonable amount of repairs to service, with the primary purpose of being used on the aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. In the long-term, we will move towards a British-produced fighter, instructing the Ministry of Defence to fully investigate the viability and potential costs of such a project, in order to produce a fighter which truly meets our needs, and to ensure we are not reliant on any other nation.

National Service

We fully oppose the concept of National Service - our armed forces should be made up of people who actually want to serve their country, not some kids who are only doing it because otherwise theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll go to prison. Therefore we will oppose all attempts to reintroduce National Service for British citizens.

Our Proposals We will support the renewal and replacement of our Trident nuclear deterrent, and we will vote against all attempts for unilateral disarmament, and all attempts for multilateral disarmament which could lead to only British or Western disarmament  We will continue to support British membership of NATO, and we will vote against all attempts to remove the United Kingdom from NATO, along with honouring the treaties, and coming to the aid of any NATO member should need be  We will maintain military funding at the NATO target of 2%, and ensure that funding does not shrink in real terms  We support the entrance of both aircraft carriers - HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales into service as soon as possible  We will reintroduce the Harrier to service for use on these new carriers, while instructing the Ministry of Defence to look into the feasibility of a new Britishmade fighter  We pledge that we will not allow any part of British territory to be occupied by a foreign nation, and we will do all we can to ensure that an attack does not happen in the first place, and in the unfortunate event it does, to liberate the land and the people from the invaders  We will fully honour the military covenant, listening to the concerns of servicemen and veterans, and doing all in our power to address these concerns  We will strongly oppose all attempts to reintroduce National Service

Business and Skills A strong economy is built around strong businesses, each providing services or goods to the market, according to the demand required, and then paying their workers and operating costs accordingly, taking the profit from whatever is left after these costs. Unlike the left, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe this to be a bad thing, but to be a good thing that benefits everybody involved - the consumer gets the goods or services at the price they are willing to pay - the employee gets paid the salary they are happy to work for, and the owners get to take what is left. Unfortunately, due to countless recent leftist governments, businesses and the free market have come under increasing attack, with bills such as the Trade Unions and Labour Relations Act giving unions undue and unneeded power which was rightfully removed by the Thatcher government, the Companies Act removing power from business owners and once again giving more power to the unions - while the left thrive from creating a narrative of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;us v themâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; businesses and workers suffer - we will restore Britain to free market capitalism, where businesses and workers can benefit.

TULRA

The Trade Unions and Labour Relations Act was a signature piece of legislation of a previous left-wing government which unbalanced the delicate relationship between trade unions and businesses to massively favour trade unions, much to the determent to the country. Under TULRA, secondary striking is legal, both devalues the actual right to strike as a last-resort response to severe disagreements with their employer as now employees can strike despite not being wronged in their line of work, in some attempt to show sympathy with the other strikers, which holds the real and significant risk of making the economy grind to a halt. The Trade Unions and Labour Relations Act is the key which would allow for another general strike, unseen in the United Kingdom for 90 years, which would grind our economy to a complete halt, doing untold economic damage to everybody in the country and making us all poorer. We believe that trade union and employer relations must be balanced, with neither having a disproportionate amount of power from the other, and with the current restrictions on employers, we believe that restrictions must be reimposed upon the unions, before they cause massive economic harm to the country.

Companies Act

Another piece of flagship left-wing legislation with incredibly harmful consequences is the Companies Act, which mandates that private companies must give up the right to decide how their own company is run, instead allow elections to the board - these elections are not free and fair however, but are set up in such a way to try to ensure that union candidates are the only ones who can actually say who they stand for, and to ensure that they are the only ones who will actually win the election. Additionally, provisions within the Companies Act make it so that small business are discouraged from expanding beyond 49 employees, as if they employ a 50th, they have to spend time to set up all the organisations and structure their business in such a way that is complaint with the Companies Act, instead of being able to use this time to continue to do business. That is not all, meetings of the Employee Representative Councils have absolutely no time limit meaning that they can go on until a new one is permitted to be called all while being paid for not doing anything. All these provisions and flaws in the Companies Act have lead us to the conclusion that a full and complete repeal is the only action we can support, and in the next Parliament, we will propose a full and complete repeal of the Companies Act.

Agency Workers

We believe that businesses should still be able to function in the event of a strike, and believe that it is up to them if they want to spend money to bring in agency workers to cover the gaps in employment created because of a strike. Therefore, we will introduce legislation to allow for Agency Workers to be used by businesses when their regular employees take industrial action.

Closed Shops

Closed Shops are inherently anti-liberty, and we will maintain their status as being illegal in the United Kingdom, as we feel that membership of a trade union should not be a requirement of anybody seeking a job, and that it should always be an optional choice, rather than something forced upon workers.

Union Political Involvement

We believe that everybody should have the choice on if their money is used to donate to political causes - that is why we will introduce legislation requiring unions to establish a political fund, separate from their general fund for workplace activities, and grant all members the right to not donate to the political fund, as well as ensuring they publish full details of every party and candidate the political fund is used for donations to, to ensure union members are fully informed and approve of the actions.

Sunday Trading

Britain is a secular nation, and as such, we do not believe that the state should be in the business of enforcing religious beliefs about ‘holy days’, and as such, we will continue to oppose any and all restrictions on Sunday trading, treating Sunday the same as any other day of the week, ensuring that shops can open according to their business needs and that shoppers can go around the shops on Sunday, a day when many of them have a greater amount of free time compared to weekdays, which will boost local economies all across the United Kingdom - we do however believe that the current “Rights in Commerce Act” goes far beyond a simple legalisation of Sunday trading, and we will repeal the Rights in Commerce Act and replace it with a simple legalisation of Sunday trading.

Our Proposals We will propose the ‘Trade Unions and Labour Relations (Repeal) Bill’ which will be a full and complete repeal of every part of the Trade Unions and Labour Relations Act.  We will also propose the ‘Companies (Repeal) Bill’, which will be a full and complete repeal of the entire Companies Act  We will introduce legislation to allow for businesses to hire agency workers during periods of industrial action  We will continue to oppose the legality of closed shops in the United Kingdom, voting against any and all legislation to legalise them in any industry  We will repeal the Rights in Commerce Act and replace it with a simple repeal of laws restricting Sunday Trading in the UK  We will introduce the ‘Trade Unions (Political Donations) Bill’, which will make it mandatory for trade unions to establish separate political funds for political donations, and allow for trade union members to opt-out of having their fees used for this purpose

Work and Welfare While we support a safety net, designed for temporary use by individuals who have fallen upon hard times and need a hand-up, we do believe that the first priority of this system should always be to get these people back into meaningful, paid employment as soon as is possible. We therefore believe that work should always be more rewarding than living off welfare, and we will seek to ensure that the structure of the safety net reflects these beliefs. We also recognise the importance of flexibility in employment, and that a one size fits all approach which is dictated from Westminster, which has been imposed upon leftist governments and tolerated by those on the right for too long. Under the Classical Liberals, Britons will once again have freedom in the job market.

Zero Hours Contracts

Minimum Wages

State Pensions

Increasing Employment

We recognise how important flexibility can be to many workers, and we believe that if a contract is acceptable to both the employee and employer, then the state should not intervene. Unfortunately, Zero Hours Contracts were banned by the leftwing, reducing the amount of freedom that ordinary workers have in their work. While we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t deny that there were issues with the previous system of Zero Hours Contracts, most notable the exclusivity clause in some of them, we believe that the full ban imposed upon them was a massively disproportionate response to these issues. We will therefore introduce legislation to reintroduce Zero Hours Contracts, although we will still keep the exclusivity clause banned. We believe that everybody deserves securing and safety in retirement after 40 years of working and contributing to our economy, and while we would like to see an increase in the amount of people who take up private pension plans in addition to those provided by the state, we believe that there should be a baseline state pension to provide our elderly with security in retirement. Therefore we will separate the state pension from the Negative Income Tax, creating a state pension for every elderly person who has a full National Insurance record at ÂŁ11,000 per annum, in addition to any private savings they may have.

When the minimum wage was introduced in 1999, it was done with all the right intentions, but the road to hell is often paved with good intentions. Since 1999, what has happened is that the minimum wage has effectively become the maximum wage in many occupations. We believe that without a minimum wage, employers would constantly have to improve their pay to keep up with their competitors and attract the best employees. Instead of continuing failing attempts to raise the minimum wage to increasingly high levels, we will abolish the minimum wage which will allow workers to negotiate with their employee for the wage they feel most suitable working for.

If we are to be successful in increasing employment, we must understand the reasons that many people find themselves unemployed, particularly for long periods of time. In a lot of cases, it boils down to a lack of educational qualifications holding them back, which is why the Classical Liberals will fund all course fees and examination entry courses for people without 5 A*-C grades at GCSE who are receiving up to ÂŁ4,500 per year in Negative Income Tax payments, in order to help them gain qualifications to boost their chances of employment.

Private Pensions

While our proposals for a new state pension are designed to give complete security in retirement to people who have worked for 40 years, we recognise that simple security is not the only thing that retirees seek - for many, their retirement is a chance to enjoy life, without the burdens of work holding them back. Therefore, we will encourage the use of private pension savings plans by making earnings, directly put into a pensions savings account, tax-exempt and not considered as part of the individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s income for taxation purposes.

Child Benefit

Having children is a monumental decision which many people think very carefully about, considering all things child-related - including if they can afford the additional expenses that a child brings. Unfortunately, many people have children either without considering the financial implications, or without caring - in both cases, the outcome is the state - big government will come and provide them with child benefit. We believe that this situation needs to end, and that at a time where the country needs to tighten our belts, we do not believe that child benefit should continue to be provided, and therefore we will phase out child benefit, aiming to have it completely abolished for all children born after 2022, ensuring that the taxpayer doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to pay for the choices of others.

Our Proposals Reintroduce Zero Hours Contracts and support their use for workers seeking greater flexibility in when they work, but continue to outlaw the use of the exclusivity clause in Zero Hours Contracts  We will abolish the minimum wage, allowing the market to set the rate for labour in each industry, and to allow employees to sell their labour at whatever price they feel is reasonable to an employer who is willing to pay that price  We will separate the State Pension from the Negative Income Tax, and guarantee every person above the age of 65 with a full National Insurance record a pension worth £11,000 per annum from central government, on top of any private pension savings they may have, and any pension programmes created by subnational government  We will fund the examination entry fees and waive any applicable course fees for GCSE qualifications (National 5 for those in Scotland) for any person who receives more than £4,500 in Negative Income Tax payments and who does not have 5 A*-C GCSEs (or 5 A-C National 5s)  We will ensure that all income immediately put into a recognised pension saving plan is not counted as taxable income, however we will not pay Negative Income Tax payments for people with an income above the threshold, but who through the use of putting money into savings accounts, have gone under the threshold  We will immediately limit child benefit to 2 children for all future claims, except in cases of triplets or any larger multiple birth in the first birth, or any multiple birth in the second birth, and reduce the amount of child benefit paid to future claims, setting it at £0 in the year 2022.

Transport A functioning transport system is something which every person in this country depends upon on a regular basis, be it driving on our roads to get food from the shops, hopping on the train or the tube as part of a daily commute to and from work, or getting a flight abroad to go on holiday. We recognise the utmost importance of the transport system in many peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives, and we will ensure that under our plans, the transport system will be more efficient, more consumer friendly, and better structured. Since the Railways Reform Act passed back in 2014, our railways have been nationalised, and ran by big government, much to the determent of railway users - it is undoubtable that if we allow the nationalised railway system to continue, it will end up as the same failure as British Rail before privatisation. When the railways were privatised in 1994, we saw lower rates of fee increases and more passengers compared to when they were nationalised - it is becoming apparent that if we do not reverse nationalisation, our railways will become increasingly disliked by their users.

Privatised Railways

Since 2014, the railways have been nationalised, with big government taking over from the free market and undoubtably well on the path to delivering worse outcomes for consumers as inevitably happens when it is the government, not the market, that determines how a service is run. As believers in the free market, the Classical Liberals completely oppose the nationalisation of most services, with the railways being no exception, and we would introduce legislation to put the railways back into private ownership, returning to the pre-2014 status quo, and by doing so, to give the users of the railways better quality services at a cost determined by the market, not the government.

Irish Road Connection

We believe that a road connection between Great Britain and the island of Ireland would be a boost to the relations between, and the economies of, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and we would establish a commission to review the ideal route for the connection to take, as well as if it should be a bridge or a tunnel, and to make recommendations on these matters, which a Classical Liberals government would follow, and build the connection between Great Britain and the island of Ireland accordingly.

Domestic Air Travel

There is no denying that geographically the United Kingdom is a small country, but that does not mean that domestic air travel isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t essential for many people. Despite the availability of railway services on the same route, the laws of physics make it so that an airplane will always beat a train when it comes to speed, which is very important for many individuals. Therefore, we will fight against all attempts to limit, outright ban, or excessively tax domestic air travel.

Speed Cameras

The sole purpose of speed cameras, and all other traffic monitoring cameras, such red light cameras and bus lane cameras, should be to increase road safety - and they most certainly should not be used as a way to make money out of motorists. However, it is abundantly clear that many current speed cameras are not set up in a way to increase safety, but simply to catch drivers and send them a fine. We will introduce new guidelines on the use of speed cameras, making sure that all of them are visible on the road, signposted on the road, and only introduced if all other methods to reduce dangerous speeds by motorists have failed.

Learner Drivers

For many, learning to drive is a rite of passage, and the driving license is the ultimate symbol of freedom, and with nearly 750,000 driving tests passed every year, it is imperative that we ensure our new drivers are fully equipped to drive in a modern manner, and are confident doing so. We attempted to make progress on this front last term, introducing legislation to allow learner drivers on motorways, but that has been trapped in committee - next term, we will introduce that bill, as well as introducing legislation to update the driving test, introducing a section on following directions from a Sat-Nav or similar system, and introducing more potential manoeuvres to the test, which will be based upon practical, everyday driving skills.

Speed Limits Obviously, speed limits are important and help to ensure that our road users stick to reasonable speeds. However, in many circumstances, the speed limits are not what are now appropriate for the roads. In some cases, these speed limits are too low, and in others, the speed limits are too high. In the next term, we will introduce legislation to adapt the speed limits to more reasonable speeds - this bill will set the speed limit on motorways and dual carriageway ‘A’ roads at 80mph, however, it will also reduce the speed limit on singe carriageway ‘B’ roads to 50mph, due to the prevalence of accidents on those kind of roads .

Positive Points System

We believe that the current system of points on driving licenses is not fit for purpose, and we would change the system to one where you start off with a positive number of points, which you can gain through completing additional driving qualifications, such as Pass Plus, and through driving without breaking any laws, and which you can lose through breaking driving laws. Under our system, all drivers would start with 10 points, with Pass Plus granting a further 5, and other driving qualifications granting a further number, depending on how difficult and useful the course is. Offences such as speeding would yield a minimum 4 point penalty, while offences such as driving without insurance a minimum 15 point penalty. In addition, for each year of driving without committing a motoring offence would grant 2 points, up to a maximum of 20 additional points gained this way.

Our Proposals We will repeal the Railways Reform Act 2014 and pass a legislation which would restore the railways to private ownership, ending the farce of nationalisation  We will strongly oppose all plans to outright ban, limit, or unduly increase taxation on domestic air travel, and we will seek to continue the daily morning flights between Edinburgh and London, and Cardiff and London  We support a road connection between Great Britain and the island of Ireland, and we will create a commission to review the best option for the ending locations of the connection on both side of the Irish Sea, along with if a bridge or tunnel would be more suitable  We will only install speed cameras where all other methods to improve road safety have been tried and resulted in no significant change in the number of accidents on the road, as well as ensuring that all speed cameras are visible and signposted  We will transition to a positive points system for driving licenses, where completing additional training will give drivers additional points, which will be lost when the driver is caught breaking motoring laws  We will reform and update the driving test to make it more relevant to modern driving, including more manoeuvres and sections on following a Sat-Nav for directions  We will reintroduce the “Learner Drivers (Motorways) Bill” which was trapped in committee at the end of the last Parliamentary session  We will reform speed limits completely, changing motorways and dual carriageway ‘A’ roads to 80mph, while reducing single carriageway ‘B’ roads to 50mph, and working with local authorities to identify major roads in towns and cities which should be upgraded to a 40mph limit

Trade and Aid We want our country to be an internationalist nation, one which trades with the world and gives a helping hand to developing economies, allowing them to develop their industries, which will in turn boost trade between the United Kingdom and the country in question. Despite the growing protectionist movement, we uphold our firm belief in free trade as the best way to boost our economy - much like how individuals were able to specialise with the Agricultural Revolution, free trade allows countries to specialise in different goods, rather than trying to make everything ourselves, and then trade their goods with each other in a system which will benefit both countries. As Britain leaves the European Union, we must work towards increasing free trade, not turning our back to it. We do also recognise that many nations are not as fortunate as us, and that it would be in our long term interests to give them aid, as a means of developing their economy and therefore boosting future trade, but also as a means of fostering good relations with the people of the country in question, ensuring that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll make friends, not enemies, out of the developing economies.

NAFTA Membership

While the North American Free Trade Association is currently under threat from a protectionist President of the United States, we have faith that the separation of powers and the American people will stop this destructive action by the President, and when they do, we will seek to join the North American Free Trade Association, giving us access to the markets of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and them access to our markets. This will further expand our ability to trade freely with all parts of the world, and eliminate the need for three sets of complex bilateral negotiations between the United Kingdom and the three current participating NAFTA states.

Commonwealth Free Trade We believe that a Commonwealth wide free trade area would be massively beneficial to the United Kingdom and all the other countries in the Commonwealth, freeing us from tariffs when we trade with each other, and in turn boosting our economies, helping the developing Commonwealth nations grow their economies, and helping the United Kingdom keep our place as a major economic powerhouse. We therefore propose that a Commonwealth Free Trade Association should be negotiated and created.

Aid Spending

We do not believe that Britain should be a country which backs down from our commitments to the international community, one of which is that we will spend 0.7 of our GNI on Foreign Aid, which is a target the Classical Liberals fully intend to meet, and we therefore pledge that we will spend 0.7% of our GNI on Foreign Aid every year we are in Government, showing that we mean our commitments to the world, and helping those in less fortunate countries

Fair and Humane Trade Act

Despite its title, the Fair and Humane Trade Act is anything but fair and humane. Free Trade is Fair Trade, nothing is fairer than paying the market price for what is being bought, as established by negotiations between the buyer and the seller, and free trade helps boost all economies. What the Fair and Humane Trade Act does is undermine trade deals with nations who do not allow trade unions to control their economy, and we will seek to repeal the Fair and Humane Trade Act completely.

Reducing WTO Tariffs

Despite the claims of the ‘no deal’ Brexiters, WTO rules are not the basis to build a free trading, internationalist, economy on - they are far from ideal, and should only be used between countries when a trade deal is nearly impossible to agree. While a proper free trade agreement is always better than relying on WTO rules for any country, we do recognise that for some trade between some countries, WTO rules are the only option. Therefore, we will work with the international community to reduce the maximum WTO tariffs on all imports and exports, ensuring that when tariffs are used, they are moderated so that they can’t damage the economies of the countries involved when compared to complete free trade.

Bilateral Trade Deals

As part of our commitment to expand British free trade as much as we can, we will seek to make bilateral trade deals with any country which seeks one and would not already be covered under our plans to join the EFTA and NAFTA - This will further expand the amount of nations we can trade freely with, which will in turn boost our economy.

Making Aid Work

There can be no doubt about the immense good that British Aid can make to many people in countries where the government neglects to provide essential services, and despite our opposition to the governments of these countries, we do not feel we can or should turn our backs on the people in these places. We fully support the Foreign Aid Reform Act, which ensures that all UK Aid is given to charitable organisations rather than dictatorial foreign governments, meaning we know the aid money we send it being directly spent on projects to help the people in these countries, rather than being squandered by dictators and tyrants.

Our Proposals Once the future of NAFTA is secured following recent actions by the United States, we will seek to join NAFTA, allowing us access to Canadian, American, and Mexican markets  We pledge that we will support spending 0.7% of our GNI on international aid, as per our international commitments   We will support the creation of a Commonwealth Free Trade Association, which will massively boost trade between Commonwealth nations  We will introduce legislation to repeal the Fair and Humane Trade Act  We will seek to open international negotiations on reducing the maximum World Trade Organisation tariffs  We will continue to support the Foreign Aid Reform Act and oppose the giving of aid directly to governments, believing that aid is best delivered close to the people who need it  We will seek to agree as many bilateral free trade deals as possible, opening our market to all sorts of economies after Brexit

Communities We recognise the importance of power being exercised close to the people, and we set out the general outline of our plan for County Assemblies and Governors in our Constitution section - however, below these, we continue to need well run councils to provide vital public services to the people in local communities in the United Kingdom. One of these public services provided by local government is the provision of council houses, and while we recognise the importance of keeping a small stock of council houses for those that truly need them, we do completely oppose the current system of council housing, and fully support giving those who can afford it the chance to own their own home.â&#x20AC;¨ â&#x20AC;¨ Years upon years of extensive housebuilding will have completely eradicated the housing crisis, and it is now time to scale back the extent of central-government mandated house building, giving the power to County Assemblies and the local councils as to how many homes should be built in their jurisdiction.

Local Government

Under our plans, all people in the United Kingdom shall have three layers of Government - their national government at Westminster, their county government, and then their local government. Under our plans, every local government will be a unitary authority, with a directly elected Mayor - these unitary authorities will be the current district councils of England, the Boroughs of London, the council areas in Scotland, the principal authorities in Wales, and the local government districts of Northern Ireland. These new Councils and Mayors will inherit all the powers previously held by District Councils in England, along with any powers currently held by any other form of sub-national government which could be devolved down.

House Building

For many years now, we have built and built houses, mandated by central government, in an attempt to get rid of the housing shortage. Now, we believe that with so many new houses built, the housing shortage has well and truly been dealt with, and continuing national housebuilding on the same level now poses a very real threat to investments in property, and local communities. We will reduce the number of houses built by central government decree every year, and instead allow County Assemblies and local Councils to build housing, according to the needs of their community.

Right to Buy

When Thatcher introduced the Right to Buy in the 1980s, it made the dream of home ownership viable for many people living in council housing, and it fundamentally transformed the way many people could live - instead of being at the mercy of the state, relying on the state to continue to provide their home, they now had the security of owning their own home. When the left passed the Right to Buy Repeal Act, they stamped on the aspirations and hopes of many of the working-class people they supposedly represent - the Classical Liberals fully pledge to restore Right to Buy, once again giving millions the chance to own their home.

Help to Buy

Another key program in the push to expand home ownership, help to buy is essential in helping first-time buyers to get on the property ladder. This particularly helps the young, often out of university and now looking for their own place to call home and to start a family in, and despite the left suspending funding for it in previous budgets, this restriction was removed in the most recent budget we promise aspiring homeowners that we will fight against all future attempts to scrap the Help to Buy scheme, and we will expand it to include people who have bought a house before but who do not currently own one, such as in cases of divorce.

Council Estates

We recognise that some people will need housing well below market rates for a short period of time while they get back on their feet. However, the previous system of council housing, specifically built for use as such, and often bundled together into one large estate has failed. It has led to a stigma about living in certain areas, and made it increasingly easy for individuals to identify council tenants. The Classical Liberals propose a different idea - regular, pre-existing properties in local communities, rich and poor, will be purchased by the council in small quantities in every area, and council tenants allocated them. Under this system, rather than having all the council tenants living together, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have them mixed into an existing local community, allowing them to integrate into that community, rather than having the community integrate into a new build council estate.

Fixed Term Tenancies

In line with our view that we should have a limited stock of council housing for those who are truly in need, and in response to many people who are perfectly capable of paying for private accommodation continuing to occupy council stock, we propose the introduction of fixed-term tenancies for council housing. Under this system, the property would be leased to the tenant for 5 years at a time, with the tenancy being reviewed, and if the tenant would still qualify for council housing if they were a new applicant, extended, and if not, they would be offered to chance to buy their house under Right to Buy, and if they refused, would be given advice on seeking the private accommodation they can afford.

Our Proposals We will reform local government across the United Kingdom, creating Local Councils below the County Assemblies, which will replace the District Councils and Unitary Authorities of England, the Councils in Scotland, the Principal Areas in Wales, and the Districts of Northern Ireland. These shall consist of a Council and a Mayor  We will support the reintroduction of the Right to Buy programme  We will support the continuation of the Help to Buy programme  We will scale back the level of central government house-building programmes, devolving the bulk of responsibility for house-building to the County Assemblies and the Councils, so that they can build the right amount of houses for their community  We oppose the current model of council housing, and rather than building large estates of council housing, we will buy local properties, spread out across a local neighbourhood, allowing the residents to integrate into the local community rather than the other way round  We will introduce fixed-term tenancies for council houses, reviewing the tenancy every five years to establish if the tenant still really needs a council house, or private accommodation would be affordable for them

Environment and Energy The British Environment is one of the most beautiful in the world, and we wish to uphold the outstanding beauty of our country, especially in a world which comes under threat from challenges such as climate change. It is time that the United Kingdom becomes a leader in dealing with the challenges of climate change and set an example to the rest of the world. Despite the conspiracy theory beliefs of some, climate change is happening, scientific evidence proves this, and it is now up to politicians to tackle it to secure the future of our planet. There are some things which we can do on our own - an expansion of the use of renewable energy being one which we should definitely work towards. However, we canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t solve the entire issue acting alone - this is a global issue with a global solution needed. We will remain committed to our international arrangements on fighting the issue of climate change, upholding the Paris Agreement and our other international commitments, and striving to make new ones as and when need arises.

Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy is the future providing us with the electricity we need for our society to continue to function, but without the huge emissions that are produced by fossil fuels. We are fortunate in the UK to have some many possible ways to produce renewable energy, from wind turbines, to solar, to hydro, we are able to generate electricity from all sorts of renewable sources, and that is what we should be pursuing as the future of energy in the UK. We will encourage private power companies to take advantage of our predisposition for renewables generation, through the construction of new wind-farms, but also through more innovative ideas, such as placing solar panels along the side of major roads. All of these ideas will help to boost the amount of renewable energy we produce, and lead us a long way towards our target of having the UK fossil fuel by 2050

Nuclear Power

While in the long term our outlook must be towards fully renewable energy, nuclear power has a very important place to play in the transitional period. We will support the construction of any new fission power plants in the UK by a private company, and we will continue our funding of all scientific research, including into nuclear fusion, which has the potential to be a world-changing revolution in energy production

Paris Agreement

Climate Change is not a problem that can be tackled by one person, village, town, city, county, or country acting alone. It is a problem which effects the entire world, and the entire world must work together to solve it and secure a future for our planet. The Paris Agreement is a great step forward in the fight against climate change, uniting the international community on a set of international guidelines and targets on greenhouse gas emissions, and we believe that it should be fully followed and the necessary measures taken to ensure that the United Kingdom will abide by it. We will completely oppose all attempts to withdraw from the Paris Agreement or to not abide by the provisions set out in it.

Mirco-generation

We fully acknowledge the need for, and support the existence of a national gird. However, we believe that large, national power stations are becoming history, and we seek a more localised generation of electricity in the future, which is why we support a small level of support for people seeking to install solar panels on their roof, as well as helping local Councils who wish to create a microgeneration system for a local community.

Fox Hunting

We believe that fox hunting is a barbaric practice, and that the right to do whatever you want with your time and money does not extend to killing animals for fun. While there are issues with the implementation and enforcement of the Hunting Act, it is, in principle, a good piece of legislation, and we will oppose all attempts to repeal the Hunting Act.

National Parks

Our national parks offer some of the best of Britain, from the mountainous Cairngorm national park in Northern Scotland, to the beautiful Lake District national park with many outstanding lakes and rivers, as well as England’s highest mountain in Cumbria, all the way down to the iconic white cliffs in South Downs National Park, our national parks truly do offer some of Britains most iconic and beautiful sights, and we believe that they should continue to be protected so that future generations will continue to be able to experience them.

Food Labelling

Part of a free market is giving consumers easy access to the information they need to make an informed choice about their purchases. While people must have the freedom to eat food which is bad for them, they should not do so ignorant of if it is bad for them. We believe that the current amount of labelling, displaying the ingredients and potential allergens, a breakdown of how much of each ‘recommended intake’ the food provides, as well as a symbol designating if it is Kosher, Halal, or other religiously slaughtered, giving our Jewish and Muslim community an easier time finding food that is in accordance with their faith.

Rural Internet

In our modern society, a decent connection to the internet is essential, and for those in the towns and cities, they can access this essential. However, those living in our rural communities often have been neglected when it comes to the provision of their internet services. In addition to contenting to support previous legislative actions, such as the “Cumbrian Mobile Signal Improvement Motion” we will work with internet providers to expand the provision, and the speed of internet in our rural communities.

Our Proposals We will fully support efforts to make the United Kingdom less dependent upon fossil fuels, aiming to have the UK completely fossil fuels independent by 2050.  We will continue to support the Paris Agreement and take the necessary measures to ensure that the United Kingdom will meet all of the provisions within it  We fully support the use of nuclear fission power in the period between the phasing out of fossil fuels, and the complete reliance on renewables  We will continue all of our current science funding, including funding into nuclear fusion research, which has the potential to revolutionise energy production  We will support smaller scale generation of power, such as through solar panels on the roofs of homes and other buildings, along with working with local councils to create energy generation projects in local communities  We will oppose any attempts to repeal the Hunting Act, or to otherwise legalise or make it easier to hunt foxes and other animals  We will continue to support all current provisions on the labelling of food, giving consumers the information they need to make an informed choice on the products they are buying  We will continue to protect our National Parks and Areas of Outstanding National Beauty from pollution and other threats to their landscapes  We will work with internet providers to ensure that all residents of the UK have access to an internet connection at home, and ensure that rural speeds are not unduly slow

Culture, Media, and Sport Culture, Media, and Sport are all very important in our country, with our sporting leagues being some of the best in the world, our media being renowned across the world, and our culture also famous around the world. However, that does not mean they are perfect, and improvements can still be made to all. Our culture is not one rigid idea, set in stone for eternity, but rather it is an every changing and evolving melting pot. The British culture of today is different from the British culture of our parents, and the British culture of our children will be different from the British culture of today. Despite the objections of some who fear change, we believe that this can only be a good thing for the future of our country. Our media needs reform - while the BBC has a place being a neutral, public service broadcaster, we believe that forcing TV owners to fund additional services is wrong, and therefore we will reform the TV licensing system, having a basic package and rate, which will include access to the BBC1, BBC News, and BBC Parliament, and adding additional channels for an additional rate.

British Football Team

In many different sports, the parts of the UK come together to compete as one at various international competitions - rugby has the famous Lions, and in Hockey, the British women compete as one at the Olympics - indeed, at London 2012, we had unified British football sides competing. Unfortunately, this was unable to be repeated for future games due to concerns over the potential for a UK football team for the World Cup and Euros as well. We believe that those concerns are unfounded, and we will seek to have a Men’s and Women’s UK football team at the 2020 games if one of the four constituent parts of the UK qualifies in their own right, and we will seek for a British and Irish Lions-esque tour and team if the UK is unable to partake in Olympic football in 2020

Football Reform Act

The Football Reform Act, passed in July 2015 was essentially a move to force private organisations to give up their ownership of their assets, as well as legalising the dangerous and oxymoronic ‘safe’ standing, and also introducing price caps, hurting the ability of the market to determine a fair price to watch a football match. It is for these reasons that we believe the Football Reform Act must be completely repealed, in order to allow the rightful owners the ownership of their assets again, and to once again allow the market to do its job, rather than pricecaps by the state.

BBC License Fee

We recognise the importance of having an impartial public service broadcaster, and we will oppose attempts at outright abolition of the BBC. The BBC rightly has British Melting Pot a place in producing the news and British culture is not one rigid, covering Parliamentary affairs, and we will unchanging idea which can be clearly offer a reduced base license fee for defined - rather, British culture is forever individuals who only wish to have access changing and evolving with new to BBC1, BBC News, and BBC Parliament. generations. We believe that British For other channels and content, we will culture should resemble a melting pot, move towards a subscription based where each new generation of immigrants model, where individuals can choose to add the best bits of their culture, subscribe to additional channels, such as continuing improving the overall British BBC2, BBC4, and the content produced culture. In return, these immigrants would by these channels will be profitbe expected to adopt the overarching orientated, allowing us to keep the vital British culture, and fit into the society, parts of the BBC, and privatise the bits through learning English, and becoming which are not essential. part of their local community.

2030 World Cup

Since the 1966 World Cup where the Three Lions were victorious, no part of the United Kingdom has hosted the FIFA World Cup. We believe that when bidding opens for the right to host the 2026 and 2030 World Cups, the United Kingdom should enter a combined bid to host the 2030 World Cup. While nations like Qatar and Brazil spend billions to construct brand new stadia and infrastructure, here in the United Kingdom, we have all the stadia, all of the infrastructure required, and the World Cup would be a massive boost for UK tourism, both directly with fans following their team from around the world, and indirectly, with the World Cup serving as a massive advert to visit the United Kingdom.

Competitive School Sports

We are great believers in the importance of exercise and physical activity for our young people, especially these days, where sitting on an iPad or laptop has replaced kicking a ball around the local park for many young people. We believe that our schools have a duty to encourage physical activity in our young people, beyond any mandatory PE time. Therefore, we will establish inter-school county sports leagues in Football, Rugby, Hockey, Basketball, Netball, and any other sports where there is demand, and encourage all schools to get involved and enter teams.

Grassroots Youth Sports

In addition to believing in sports in schools, we also are supporters of grassroots youth sports clubs. We believe that in addition to encouraging exercise and physical activity, grassroots sports clubs also can have an important social aspect, helping young people to expand their social circle and make new friends. We will therefore work with the County Assemblies and Local Councils we wish to establish to give a small level of funding to local sports clubs in need.

Our Proposals We will work with the Football Association, Scottish Football Association, Football Association of Wales, and the Irish Football Association to create a unified British football team who will compete at either the 2020 Olympic Games, or in a tour should we not qualify for the Olympics  We will completely repeal the Football Reform Act, and ensure that all standing and terraces remain illegal in all stadia in all parts of the United Kingdom  We will reform the BBC license fee, providing BBC1, BBC Parliament, and BBC News for a significantly reduced rate, and allowing members of the public to subscribe to the now for-profit other BBC channels  We promote the idea of British culture as a ‘melting pot’, and will encourage each generation of immigrants to contribute the best bits of their culture to British culture, while also making an effort to be active in their local community and speak English  We will submit a combined UK bid to host the 2030 World Cup  We will promote the establishment of, and school participation in county school sports leagues all across the United Kingdom in football, rugby, hockey, basketball, netball, and any other sports where there is a local or national demand  We will also work with the relevant local authorities to ensure that grassroots youth sports clubs have the support they need, and that council facilities such as pitches are not too expensive for the clubs to rent out

Equalities We believe that everybody, regardless of gender, regardless of sexuality, and regardless of race are born with certain inalienable rights - the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We believe that individuals should be free to do as they wish so long as they do not impact on the rights of others to do that as well. That is the bedrock of our Equalities policies, and indeed our the social aspect of our ideology. One of the justifiable roles of the state is to ensure that these inalienable rights of all people are upheld against attempts to infringe on them. However, the ability of the state to do this, and thus the very existence of these most basic of rights depends on the party in power at Westminster. It is imperative that a party who will stand up for these rights wins as many seats as possible in this election. It is imperative that the Classical Liberals win as many seats as possible to defend the rights of everybody from those who wish to oppress people again.

Civil Unions

We believe that marriage and the state should be completely separate, and that the state should offer the option of a civil union to any couple or group of people wishing to enter into one, provided they are all capable of consenting and understanding the contract they are entering into. We also believe that as private organisations, each religion should be able to make their own requirements for what they believe constitutes marriage in their faith. While these faiths will be able to hold marriage ceremonies, and issue their own certificates, their definition of marriage will have no legal standing and be purely a matter within their faith. We therefore fully support all of the provisions of the Separation of State and Marriage Act.

Hate Speech & Free Speech

One of the most important rights of all is the right to speak freely, as to begin to censor speech is to begin to outlaw ideas themselves. While the Classical Liberals absolutely abhor sexism, racism, transphobia, homophobia, and every other form of hate speech, we believe that people advocating for these ideas are still people, and still have their right to freedom of speech. As the old quote goes - “I disagree with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it” - we believe that if we give the state the power to censor speech and ideas, it will send us down a dark path, where too much power is given to whomever draws the line on what is illegal to say.

Polygamous Unions

Our belief that individuals should be free to engage in any action which does not adversely impact the rights of others to do the same also extends to polygamous relationships, provided that everybody involved in these relationships understand what is happening and are of the age of consent. While many on the right oppose polygamous relationships for no other reason than believing they aren’t normal, we believe that as their existence doesn’t harm anybody, they should be fully accepted, and therefore support the clause in the Separation of State and Marriage Act allowing for civil unions of polygamous relationships as well as bigamous relationships.

Equality of Opportunity

We believe that it is equality of opportunity that matters, rather than equality of outcome. Everybody should have the same chance at success in life, but everybody is also an individual, and should be free to pursue what interests them. What is important to us is breaking down barriers to people entering into a certain field, not ensuring that a certain field is entirely representative of the entire UK population.

LGBT+ in the Armed Forces

Any patriot who wishes to serve their country should have the opportunity to do so, provided they meet fitness, education, and any other relevant entry requirements. A soldiers gender identity has no bearing on their ability to fire a gun. Who a pilot sleeps with has no bearing on their ability to fly a jet aircraft, and therefore they should be welcome to serve their country in the armed forces. We will therefore resolutely all attempts to restrict the rights of LGBT+ individuals to serve in the Armed Forces, be it through policies such as “don’t ask, don’t tell” or an outright ban.

Adoption of Children

Children up for adoption are some of the most vulnerable in our society - they desperately need loving parents who will care for them - that is what matters most. The sexuality or gender identity of these parents does not matter, and should not play any role in the adoption process. We will continue to fully support the rights of LGBT+ individuals, couples, and polygamous groups to adopt children, and ensure that they are able to exercise this right, without preference being given to heterosexual individuals, couples, and polygamous groupings simply because they are heterosexual.

Anti-LGBT+ Bullying

Huge levels of progress have been made on combatting all forms of bullying inside schools and workplaces, but yet work still has to be done to eradicate all forms of bullying, including anti-LGBT+ bullying from society. Part of this takes the form of educating, as so often bullying and hostility is a reaction to the unknown ensuring our young people and indeed, everybody in our society knows that LGBT+ individuals are perfectly normal, and that myths about them are debunked. However, while we must combat the reasons for bullying, we must also take a firm line against the act itself. No individual should go to school worried about being bullied for something out of their control, and we will ensure that schools adopt a zero tolerance policy to all forms of bullying, including anti-LGBT bullying.

Cooperation with LGBT+ Charities and People

LGBT+ people know better than anybody else the issues which affect them - we believe that all governments should listen to the people being affected by an issue, and LGBT+ people and issues are no exception. Throughout our term, we will work with LGBT+ individuals, as well as LGBT+ charities such as Stonewall to identify issues which develop during our term, and work with these individuals and charities to find a solution to these issues.

Our Proposals We will oppose attempts to repeal the Separation of State and Marriage Act, and oppose all attempts to give religious marriages any legal standing  We will also oppose all attempts to amend the Separation of State and Marriage Act to repeal or otherwise limit the provisions permitting for polygamous civil unions  We will resolutely defend the right to freedom of speech, even in cases of ‘hate speech’, providing that the speech is not inciting direct violence against an individual or specific group of people. While some ideas may be evil, bigoted, and wrong, it is not the role of the state to decide who can and cannot speak  We will pursue equality of opportunity as the goal of our Equalities policies, rather than equality of outcome  We will defend the rights of LGBT+ patriots to serve in the UK Armed Forces, provided they can meet all of the standard entry requirements required of heterosexual people  We will take a firm stance against the bullying of LGBT+ individuals, and all bullying, ensuring that a zero-tolerance policy is adopted when cases are identified. We will also work to stamp out incidents of bullying before they happen by educating our young people about LGBT+ matters, and debunking anti-LGBT+ myths  We will continue to fully support the rights of LGBT+ individuals, couples, and polygamous unions to adopt children, and support these rights being equal to those of heterosexual individuals, couples, and polygamous unions   We will work with LGBT+ individuals and charities to identify future issues which will affect the LGBT+ community, and to find solutions to these issues.

Scotland Since the Act of Union in 1707, Scotland, England, and Wales have been united into one wonderful country. That country has had a huge impact on the world, from establishing the colonies which would one day become the United States of America, fighting against the Nazis and defeating fascism in the second World War, to the present day, where our country seeks to stand as beacon of free markets and prosperity to the world. Together our country has achieved so much more united than we ever could have divided. Despite these achievements and the obvious benefits to unity, secessionists are making new attempts to divide our nation - they must be met with an equally strong and passionate voice for unity. When the First Minister of Scotland is busy acting as if he is the President of the Scottish Socialist Republic rather than the head of a sub-national government, something is wrong with the devolution settlement, and changes are needed. This election is your chance to tell the First Minister and the Scottish Government that Scotland is as British as Kent, Northumbria, Surrey, or Devon, and tell them to get on with fixing the issues in Scotland, rather than playing at pretend President.

County Assemblies

Our plan for County Assemblies and Governors extends to Scotland as well as England, as our belief that local people are the best placed to make local decisions doesn’t stop at Hadrian's Wall. We will include County Assemblies and Governors for Highlands, Grampian, Tayside, Stirlingshire, Fife, Lothian, Strathclyde, and the Borders in our new devolution settlement, ensuring that the people of these areas are governed locally and they can have a government which represents their needs. Additionally, the County Assemblies in Scotland and the County Governors will have all the same powers and responsibilities as the standard Assembly and Governor in England.

Scottish Parliament

With the implementation of true devolution in the form of county assemblies, we do not believe that the Scottish Parliament should continue in its current form with its current powers however, we also recognise that outright abolition is not advisable at this time, and will therefore transform the Scottish Parliament into a Gubernatorial Assembly, where the Governors of each of the new devolved bodies in Scotland can meet and discuss common strategies on common problems.

Second Referendum

We oppose any referendum on Scottish secession on multiple grounds, the first being our general opposition to referenda. Our second reason is that Scotland has already voted on Independence, and it gave a loud and resounding No. When the first referendum was held back in 2014, we were told by the nationalists that it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” - we know for sure that if Scotland had seceded from the United Kingdom back then, we wouldn’t be having another referendum on reunification, so why should we appease them and grant them their second referendum on secession? The Classical Liberals will oppose all moves towards secession, fighting it in both the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament - while Classical Liberals legislation has kept the secessionist tendencies of the Scottish Government in check in Holyrood for the time being, we need Classical Liberals in Westminster to properly counteract their tendencies. We pledge that we will refuse to grant or recognise a second referendum on Scottish Independence, and will reintroduce the Direct Democracy (Provisions for Unity) Bill until the Direct Democracy Enhancement Act can be fully repealed.

Football Act

While the Scottish Parliament has endorsed a repeal of the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act in principle, there is still a long way to go in the legislative process until that bill can finally be repealed and thrown into the dustbin. Throughout that process, there are plenty of opportunities for authoritarian MSPs to weaken the bill or otherwise delay or halt the repeal. In line with our views that Freedom of Speech is an essential human right, and that the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act is a violation of that right, and our view that all governments must uphold human rights where they have the power to do so, we pledge that if authoritarians attempt to obstruct the repeal in Holyrood, the Classical Liberals will start the repeal process in Westminster, passing a simple repeal and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t replace bill, freeing Scotland from that authoritarian law and ensuring that authoritarian MSPs cannot abuse the powers of Holyrood.

Addressing Anglophobia

Anglophobia is a real issue in Scotland. The English are now the most hated minority in Scotland, and stories of racially aggravated attacks on English people are all too common - a segment of the Scottish population has been driven into fierce anglophobia due to dogwhistle racism from politicians, and it is time we deal with this disgrace head on. The Classical Liberals will ensure that all racially motivated attacks on the English in Scotland will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Named Person

Similar to the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act, we regard the right to privacy as a human right, and believe that the Named Person provisions breach that right. While the Scottish Parliament has endorsed the repeal of Named Person in principle, we are not completely satisfied it will be fully repealed and similar legislation wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just be introduced to replace it. We therefore make the same pledge we did for the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act: If Holyrood wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t act to uphold the rights of those living in Scotland, the Classical Liberals will, and we will fully repeal all the provisions of the Named Person scheme which violate the rights to privacy and a family life.

Scotland Abroad

As a core part of the United Kingdom, Scotland should be represented abroad by the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and the Secretary of State for Scotland - not the head of the subnational government. We believe that on recent international trips, the First Minister has embarrassed Scotland and the United Kingdom, and made himself seem more important and more powerful than he actually is. We therefore will bar the First Minister from any future official trips abroad unless sanctioned by the Prime Minister, Scotland Office, and Foreign Office, to ensure that foreign countries interact with the rightful government of the United Kingdom, rather than a subnational part of it.

Our Proposals We will resolutely oppose all moves for a second referendum on Scottish secession from the United Kingdom, and will refuse to grant a Section 30 order to allow the Scottish Parliament to hold one  We will reintroduce the Direct Democracy (Provisions for Unity) Bill as a temporary measure between the election and the full repeal of the Direct Democracy (Enhancement) Act  We will give Scotland a more localised devolution settlement, introducing devolved County Assemblies and Governors for the 8 regions of Scotland Highlands and Islands, Grampian, Tayside, Fife, Stirlingshire, Lothian, Strathclyde, and the Borders  We will transform the Scottish Parliament into a gubernatorial assembly, allowing the Governors of the 8 regions to discuss common solutions to common issues  We will support the repeal of the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act and the Named Person scheme in Holyrood - however, if either of these repeals does not pass due to obstructionist attempts from MSPs, we will use the powers of Westminster to repeal them and uphold the rights of Scottish people  We will ensure that all international relations pertaining to Scotland are handled by the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, and Scotland Secretary, as the representatives of the entire UK, including Scotland, rather than allowing the First Minister to use international relations as a way to push his agenda for division and separation  We pledge to prosecute incidents of anglophobic, racist attacks on English people to the fullest extent of the law, and ensuring that attacking somebody because they are English, or the attacker believed them to be English, is treated the same as attacking somebody because of their skin colour.

Wales We are great believers in the unity of the British nation, and as such, we highly value the important role Wales plays within the British nation and we will ensure that Wales continues to be a valued contributor to our nation. However, like the rest of the country, Wales faces serious problems - with the previous socialist budgets having just as negative an impact in Glamorgan, Gwent, and Powys as they do on Cumbria, Tayside, or Northumbria. It is time that the United Kingdom and Wales elect a government who will actually stand up to the failed policies of socialism and communism, and free Wales from the impact of decades of socialist policies. The Classical Liberals are the only party who are willing to stand up and tackle the issues facing Wales head-on - while the other parties will make meaningless commitments on matters like the Welsh language, they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make any commitments to free Wales from socialism. In Wales, this election is a choice between the Classical Liberals for change, or the old parties for more of the same.

County Assemblies

As in Scotland and England, we believe that local people are best placed to make local decisions. Anglesey has different needs and wants from Glamorgan, so it is not right that Glamorgan should rule over Anglesey. In order to ensure the the needs of all the people of Wales are met, we will introduce localised devolution to Wales, in the form of the County Assemblies and Governors for the preserved counties of Wales. This will give Glamorgan, Gwent, Powys, Dyfed, Clwyd, and Gwynedd each their own Assembly and Governor, ensuring that people in these places have true local devolution, and that solutions can be specifically tailored to the problems facing these local areas.

Tourism Wales has many sights worth seeing, and the Welsh tourist industry is worth around ÂŁ5.1 billion per year to the Welsh economy. From the hills of Snowdonia to the cities of Cardiff and Swansea, there is plenty for tourists to do in Wales, and the Welsh tourist industry is important for the local communities in Wales, Wales as a whole, and indeed, the entire the United Kingdom. We will ensure that the Welsh tourist industry is supported, through both supporting air travel to and from Wales, and also through ensuring that tourists are not excessively taxed on products they buy in Wales.

Welsh Assembly

As with all of the NUTS-1 proposed assemblies, we believe that a Welsh Assembly would be a too centralised body to have any notable benefits over direct rule from Westminster. Due to this and our policy of localised devolution, we feel that the establishment of a Welsh Assembly is unneeded and unnecessary, and therefore we will oppose all moves to establish a singular Welsh Assembly.

Welsh Language

While we recongise the rights of people to converse in whatever language they are most comfortable to use, we do not support the use of state power to encourage the use of the Welsh, or any other non-English language, and therefore we will revoke the status of Welsh as an official language, and cease all mandatory teaching of the Welsh language in state schools. We will however continue to welcome the rights of private schools to teach in whatever language they wish, and for parents to have their children study Welsh at home. Additionally, we will keep Welsh as one of the languages children can choose to learn at GCSE and A-Level, along with more modern languages, such as French, Spanish, and Mandarin.

Welsh Secession

We do not believe that there should be any referendum on Welsh Secession, and we also do not believe that Wales should be allowed to secede. We will continue to oppose all attempts to push for either a referendum on Welsh Secession, both due to our opposition to direct democracy and our preference for representative democracy, and also due to our desire to keep the United Kingdom united as one nation.

Transport Links

As with the rest of the UK, Wales has suffered with the inevitable consequences of rail nationalisation. There can be no denying that there is no incentive for the state-owned rail companies to improve transport links between North and South Wales, as profitability doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter, customer satisfaction doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter, because at the end of the day, big government will bail them out. The power of the free market to serve rural communities cannot be understated, the flexibility it brings cannot be undervalued. Under a Classical Liberals government, rail privatisation would once again introduce the profit motive, and encourage rail and other transport companies to innovate and to provide high quality transport links between North and South Wales

Our Proposals We will devolve power to local people and local areas in Wales through a County Assembly and a Governor for Glamorgan, Gwent, Powys, Dyfed, Clwyd, and Gwynedd, ensuring that local issues are addressed by local solutions  We will oppose the creation of a single Welsh Assembly, believing that such a body would be unable to address local issues any better than Westminster  We will remove the status of Welsh as an official language in Wales, and we will cease the mandatory teaching of Welsh in state schools, moving to a system where Welsh is an additional language that can be picked by pupils to study instead of a Modern Foreign Language  We will oppose moves for a referendum on the secession of Wales from the United Kingdom, and oppose all calls for Welsh secession through other means  Allow the free market to do what it does best and innovate to solve the issues with Welsh transport links, rather than relying on the state to fix these issues  We will support the Welsh tourist industry as a consequence of our proposals for cuts to the rate of VAT, ensuring that tourists and natives alike are not excessively charged for products in Wales or anywhere in the United Kingdom

Northern Ireland There can be no doubting that the history of Northern Ireland is a troubled one indeed, with decades of conflict taking their toll on the people of Northern Ireland. However, it is now time to look forward into the future, rather than backwards to the Troubles. When the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998, it signalled the end of change through the barrel of a gun, and marked the beginning of change through politics. We fully recognise the importance of the Good Friday Agreement in securing peace in Northern Ireland, and the importance of adhering to its provisions and supporting the institutions created by it. We believe that now is the time for us all to move forward as one and work together to create a modern, liberal Northern Ireland within a modern and liberal United Kingdom. While we acknowledge this is going to be challenging and hard for many of the people who lost friends and families in the troubles, we do not believe that more years of bitterness and division are an option anymore.

Good Friday Agreement

The Good Friday Agreement was a landmark document, bringing to an end decades of turmoil in Northern Ireland, and ensuring it would be the ballot box rather than guns and bullets which would determine the future of Northern Ireland. We fully recognise the importance of the Good Friday Agreement and fully support the continuation of its provisions in Northern Ireland, in order to ensure that the fragile peace is upheld in Northern Ireland, and ensure that there is not a return to para-militarism.

Parades We support the right of both the Nationalist and Loyalist communities to hold their own parades and marches, as it is their human right to peacefully assemble and march for their cause. Therefore, we will continue to permit marches by both communities, provided those marches are peaceful in nature, and we will ensure that the PSNI are able to do their job and keep the peace during inflammatory parades.

Cross-Community Cohesion

While great progress has been made in healing the divisions within Northern Ireland, work still has to be done to ensure that the communities in Northern Ireland are able to work together. We will work with the Northern Irish Assembly and representatives form each community in Northern Ireland to create a strategy on improving cross-community cohesion in Northern Ireland.

Northern Irish Assembly

As believers in the Good Friday Agreement, we support the continued existence of the Northern Irish Assembly with the powers it currently has. Government in Northern Ireland will not be affected by our proposed County Assemblies and Governors, as they will only occur in Great Britain. Following the implementation of County Assemblies in Great Britain, we will devolve any powers not currently devolved to the Northern Irish Assembly but which are devolved to the County Assemblies to the Northern Irish Assembly, subject to a consultation with the Northern Irish Assembly and subject to the devolution of those powers not being likely to inflame tensions in Northern Ireland.

Flags

For many, a flag is more than just a piece of cloth - it is a symbol which represents their history, heritage, identity, and their nation. To attempt to restrict their rights to fly their flag is to attempt to stop them from expressing their heritage and identity. Additionally, we believe that the owners of land should be free to display whatever they want on their land. Therefore, we will fully support the rights of landowners to display any flag of their choice on their property. However, we will not extend this to state owned buildings, where the status quo on flags will remain.

Unification

We believe that the needs of Northern Ireland are best met by being a part of the United Kingdom, and that membership of the United Kingdom makes Northern Ireland more prosperous and more secure. We therefore support the current status of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. However, as part and parcel of our support for the Good Friday Agreement, we do support a referendum on the future constitutional status of Northern Ireland should sufficient support for unification with the Republic of Ireland be displayed, as per the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

Secular Schooling

As with the rest of the United Kingdom, we do not believe that taxpayers money should be spent to provide religiously biased education in Northern Ireland. While we fully support the rights of parents to use their own money to send a child to a religiously biased school if they wish, we also respect the rights of the taxpayer not to fund these schools. We will ensure that no taxpayer money in Northern Ireland is used to provide religiously biased schools in the state sector, instead giving parents the choice between secular and unbiased schooling in the state sector at no cost, other than what they pay in taxes, and religiously biased schooling in the private sector at an additional cost.

Our Proposals We fully recognise the importance of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, and we will always work to ensure we respect its provisions and govern accordingly  We support the continued existence of the Northern Irish Assembly as per the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement, and will therefore not implement our proposals for County Assemblies and Governors in Northern Ireland  We support the rights of both communities to hold peaceful parades due to our belief in the rights of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly  We recognise the symbolism of a flag and what it represents, and will continue to defend the rights of land owners to display flags on their property. On state property, we will continue the status quo of flag flying  We will work with the Northern Irish Assembly and community leaders in Northern Ireland to formulate a stargety for improving cross community cohesion  We oppose the idea of unification with the Republic of Ireland, but will permit a referendum on the matter should adequate levels of public support for one be demonstrated  We will ensure that taxpayers money is not used to fund religiously biased schools in Northern Ireland and also ensure that all state run schools are secular in nature.

Classical Liberals Promoted by the Rt. Hon. Sir Duncs11 KCT KCB MP PC on behalf of the Classical Liberals, both of Sand Aire House, New Road, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4AY.â&#x20AC;¨ Printed by H&H Reeds Printers Ltd, Southend Rd, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 8JH.