Liberal Democrats want to build an economy that is based on innovation and sustainability, where the infrastructure the country needs is in place for individuals and businesses to thrive. Our aim is to deliver growth that lasts and is environmentally sustainable.
opportunities for all in a fair, green economy
Decades of Labour and Conservative rule have created an unsustainable economy, preoccupied with the artificial wealth of inflated property prices rather than productive work and invention. They have been obsessed by the “Square Mile” – the City of London – instead of supporting all 100,000 square miles of Britain.
sustainable finance for business growth
We have learned an important lesson from the credit crunch and the recession: we cannot build an economy on financial gambling. Radical reform of our financial infrastructure is needed to create and sustain jobs and move towards a sustainable and balanced economy where businesses in every town, city and region can grow.
That starts with banking reform. Banks must be made to behave responsibly. And we need to support and develop new ways of financing growing businesses, with equity rather than debt, and without relying too heavily on the financial centre of the City of London. More diverse sources of finance will provide the funding needed to develop innovative new products and reverse the decline in the UK’s manufacturing base.
In order to put the economy on a new footing, we will:
Break up the banks, to ensure taxpayers are never again expected to underwrite high-risk banking. We will establish a clear separation between low-risk retail banking and high-risk investment banking, and encourage the development of local and regional banks. We want to see the Bank of Scotland re-established in Scotland.
Get the banks lending responsibly again. There are taxpayers’ representatives on the boards of the banks the public own or part-own. They should insist banks lend to viable businesses on fair terms again.
Ensure that the bonus system can never again encourage banks to behave in a way that puts the financial system at risk or offers rewards for failure.
creating a dynamic environment for science and innovation
Britain’s future depends on a vibrant research base and the ability of our innovators to exploit this country’s intellectual capital to generate new homegrown high tech industries.
Despite government rhetoric, overall public funding of science is in real terms no higher than it was two decades ago. Britain’s Research and Development spend as a proportion of GDP remains near the bottom of the G8. There is no room for complacency.
These are just some of our proposals.
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