The Social Market Foundation has reacted to the overall manifesto, as well as specific policies – including those on housing, raising taxes, net zero and employment.
Overall review from Social Market Foundation – a cross-party think tank:
- Ambition – 7/10 – Their ambition is bold on net zero and unlike Labour and the Tories, they are committed to scrapping the two child limit, which is keeping families in poverty.
- Originality – 7/10 – This is a uniquely Liberal Democrat manifesto, with commitments on constitutional reform – pledging both proportional representation and Lords reform within 5 years – and a liberal approach to tackling drugs; there are also some distinct ideas on tackling the gig economy.
- Affordability – 5/10 – a long shopping list of spending commitments and a shorter list of optimistic tax rises, mostly focused on banks, water and tech companies, as well as a 500% increase on council tax for second homes.
- Workability – 5/10 – There is a generous dose of wishful thinking, especially on tax, where they claim billions more than Labour or the Tories through unspecified steps on tax avoidance.
- Detail – 4/10 – There is not a huge amount of detail but the Lib Dems deserve some credit for bravely putting out a list of spending commitments and tax increases – will the other parties do the same?
On the overall manifesto, SMF Director Theo Bertram said:
“This is definitely a Liberal Democrat manifesto: positive on net zero, bold on constitutional reform, liberal on drugs policy but like all the other parties, it is vague and thinking wishfully on tax and spending. We don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun but more time on policy and less spent on watersports and rollercoasters might have been advisable.”
Specific policies
On housing, Gideon Salutin, Senior Researcher at SMF said:
“The Liberal Democrats’ are going further than the other parties by promising 40% of new builds will be social homes. SMF has previously found building social and affordable housing is essential to improving housing affordability at the scale required, and council homes can pay for themselves over the long term.
On tax reform, Sam Robinson, Senior Researcher at SMF said:
“There is scope to ease taxes on working households by rebalancing the tax system to put more emphasis on taxes on wealth. But a better approach would be to continue the focus on bringing down National Insurance, which is focused more specifically on income from work than Income Tax. On the other side of the ledger, the Liberal Democrats could be bolder on Capital Gains Tax, for example by scrapping Principal Private Residence Relief and introducing a Property Capital Gains Tax to raise revenue from housing wealth in a fairer way than our present system.”
On productivity and employment, Jake Shepherd, Senior Researcher at SMF said:
“Developing green infrastructure and boosting regional productivity is the kind of ambition a new government should strive for. However, the plan is vague. The SMF would recommend a job guarantee programme, where the state provides jobs and training to unemployed people for building sustainable infrastructure and fighting the climate crisis.
On decarbonising transport, Gideon Salutin, Senior Researcher at SMF said:
“Liberal Democrats’ proposals go one step further than Labour by banning all non-zero emission car sales, meaning hybrids would no longer be sold. They have thrown down a gauntlet – we’ll see if Labour picks it up.”
On buses, Gideon Salutin, Senior Researcher at SMF said:
“England has lost more than half its bus routes since 2010, and giving local authorities the right to determine where buses should run will allow them to serve those most in need while saving money for drivers. But new regulatory powers and simplified funding is not enough. By failing to announce any new money for operators to expand their routes, the party will likely be left with councils ready and willing to bring in new lines but lacking the resources to do so.”
On tackling drugs-related harms, Jake Shepherd, Senior Researcher at SMF said:
“Given the clear link between deprivation and drug misuse, an overdose crisis in Scotland, and an ever-developing potential synthetic opioid epidemic, the Liberal Democrats’ call to shift from prohibition and punishment to a more compassionate public health approach is welcome. The devil is in the detail, however, and cannabis liberalisation in particular must be carefully designed to avoid new concerns.”
On home heating, Niamh O Regan, Researcher at SMF said:
“It is welcome that the Lib Dems propose decoupling electricity prices from gas, which will help to make running costs closer to par with a gas boiler. For any upgrade scheme to have impact however it needs to be done well, and recognise that cost isn’t the only barrier.”
On farmed animal welfare, Aveek Bhattacharya, Research Director at SMF said:
“The Liberal Democrats’ manifesto contains welcome steps to improve farmed animal welfare, particularly by pledging to end the unnecessary cruelty of caging hens. It also promises to block imports of lower welfare products, which is good in theory but raises potential legal and diplomatic challenges with trading partners.”
On social tariffs, Sam Robinson, Senior Researcher at SMF said:
“We’re not out of the woods yet on the cost of living crisis and this winter will be an early test for a new government. This year, better support could be delivered by reforming the Warm Home Discount so that it offers tiered levels of support that better reflects different households’ energy costs. This could be funded by phasing out the Winter Fuel Payment, which is an untargeted and inefficient scheme.”
On measures to tackle fraud, Richard Hyde, Senior Researcher at SMF said:
“Fraud accounts for 4 in 10 crimes committed against people in the UK. It is the most common crime people are likely to fall victim too. Yet, the response to fraud by successive governments has been inadequate. The Liberal Democrats’ plans fall far short of the kinds of ambitious steps that are needed, which include prioritising fraud at the top of government, ensuring the banks, tech and telecoms companies make a more serious and sustained effort to squeeze out fraudsters and to overhaul the poor law enforcement response with greater resourcing and a reorganisation of how economic crime is policed.”
Notes
- The SMF reaction is published on 10th June 2024.
- The SMF will be reacting to all major parties’ manifestos.
Contact
For media enquiries, please contact Impact Officer Richa Kapoor, at richa@smf.co.uk
