As the world grapples with a climate emergency, the Conservatives are turning their backs on communities most at risk by failing to provide adequate flood defences.

Following the flooding across northern England this week, we’ve announced that a over the lifetime of the next parliament, a Liberal Democrat government will create a £5bn flood prevention and adaptation fund. The fund will help the UK build resilience against future flooding, and ensure all communities can access the funds they need during periods of crisis.  

“The Liberal Democrats are committed to investing in our flood defences and protecting communities from the devastation we have seen in the last week.”

The Tory Brexit agenda risks the UK losing access to vital EU funds for improving flood defences and flood relief. This would starve local communities of a key revenue stream to tackle flooding and build resilience for the future.

It’s only by voting for a Liberal Democrat government that we can stop Brexit and stay in the EU, meaning that the UK will retain access to vital EU funds to deal with flooding. 

The floods in northern England should be declared a national emergency.

A Lib Dem government will create a £5bn flood prevention fund to help build resilience against future flooding & ensure communities can access the funds needed during these crises > https://t.co/n55H6rxEDy pic.twitter.com/mS9fkVDzOp

— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) November 12, 2019

We will also increase DEFRA’s budget by £1bn per year, ensuring that non-departmental bodies like the Environment Agency receive more funding. 
 
A Liberal Democrat government will stop Brexit and build a brighter future, tackling key issues like the climate emergency. 

Learn about our Plan for the Future here. 

Working hard should mean secure work and a decent income, but for too many people that’s not the case. In an ever changing workplace, people often need to develop new skills, but the cost of courses and qualifications shuts too many people out.
 
Neither the Conservatives or Labour have the answers to these challenges. They are stuck pursuing 20th-century policies that simply won’t work in our 21st-century economy. They would take our country backwards.

The Skills Wallet will empower people to develop new skills so that they can thrive in the technologies and industries that are key to the UK’s economic future and prosperity.

That’s why, as part of our Plan for the Future, the Liberal Democrats have set out our vision for a “new era of learning throughout life” with the creation of an ambitious Skills Wallet. This will give every adult £10,000 to spend on education and training throughout their lives.
 
A Liberal Democrat government will put £4,000 into people’s ‘Skills Wallet’ at 25, £3,000 at 40 and another £3,000 at 55. The grants have been designed to encourage saving towards the costs of education and training throughout adult life.

Individuals, their employers and local government will be able to make additional payments into the wallets. Access to free careers guidance will also be provided.

By stopping Brexit and investing in these Skills Wallets, the Liberal Democrats will empower people to develop new skills so that they can thrive in the technologies and industries that are key to the UK’s economic future and prosperity.

Learn more about our Plan for the Future here.

A lot of people have noticed something in our online ads… something about “skills wallets”.

So what is a “Skills Wallet”?

It’s a major, new, innovative policy and a key part of our Plan for the Future.

A Liberal Democrat government will provide every adult with £10,000 to spend on education and training throughout your lives. This “Skills Wallet” is meant to give every person the opportunity to retrain and upskill for jobs that we can’t even imagine yet.

It can be prohibitively expensive to develop new skills at various stages of your career. The cost of courses and qualifications shuts too many people out.

Not everyone has skills like Liam Neeson

Neither the Conservatives nor Labour have the answers to these challenges. They are stuck pursuing 20^th or even 19^th century policies that won’t work in our 21^st century economy.

So as part of our fight to build a fairer economy and a brighter future, we will create Skills Wallets!

How will it work? 

As we said, every adult will be entitled to £10,000 to use over their lifetime on upskilling courses and further education. That’ll be divided into £4,000 at 25 years old, £3,000 at 40, and another £3,000 at 55. 

On top of this, individuals, employers and local government will be able to pay into the wallets.

This will make the skills wallet a valuable resource for every adult for their whole life!  

You’ll get to choose how and when to spend the money yourself – as long as it’s a course from an approved provider.

Sorry Luke, you probably won’t be able to do that with your Skills Wallet

And of course, everyone will be able to access free guidance to help them to decide how to use their Skills Wallet.

That’s how we know our investment will help people to gain the skills they will find invaluable in the world of work.

This will never be a problem again with Skills Wallets.

How will we pay for it? 

A very reasonable question.

We expect this to cost £1.9 billion a year in total by 2024-25.

To pay for this, we will reverse the Conservatives’ unnecessary and expensive cuts to Corporation Tax. We’ll return the rate to 20%, where it stood in 2016.

This will raise £10 billion a year by 2024-25. That’s more than enough to pay for the Skills Wallets, with plenty left over to part-fund our expansion of free, high-quality childcare. 

So there you have it. Skills Wallets are a bold new initiative to give adults £10,000 to spend on education and training throughout their lives.

We think so too!

Think that’s a great idea? Why not be a part of our plan for a brighter future, and join the Liberal Democrats: 

Hard-working doctors and nurses from the EU are fundamental to the NHS. We all have loved ones whose lives have been saved through their skill and dedication.

But today, the full extent of the Tories’ contempt for our dedicated doctors and nurses was revealed. 

Even though the NHS is critically understaffed, the Tories have revealed that part of their nightmarish Brexit plan is to charge EU nurses and doctors £464 to come to the UK to save lives.

If this isn’t bad enough, the Tories also want EU workers to pay what they euphemistically call a ‘health immigration surcharge’. 

What does this actually mean?

It’s a £400-a-year tax they will charge all EU workers – including NHS nurses and doctors – to access basic health services.

And if hard-working, low-paid NHS staff can’t afford the Nurse Tax, the Tories will take it out of their wages.

To recap:

1. The NHS is critically under-funded and under-staffed due to chronic under-investment by the Tories.
2. In response, the Tories want to charge the EU nurses and doctors to come to the UK, then make them pay a huge tax to access the same services they deliver.

We cannot let this happen.

The Tories’ plans couldn’t be further from the fair and welcoming society that the Liberal Democrats are fighting to build.

On Day 1 of a Liberal Democrat government, we will stop Brexit and use the funds from the £50 billion Remain Bonus to invest in the critical frontline services the NHS desperately needs.

Our hard-working nurses and doctors should be celebrated, not charged to save lives. And what kind of government would charge sick nurses to use the same hospitals they work in round the clock?

We must stop the Nurse Tax. To do so, help us to stop Brexit and build a better future. 

For too many people, things are not working as they should.

Families are working harder than ever, but far too many are struggling to get by.

The Conservatives and Labour are taking our country backwards. Their plans don’t meet the demands of modern life. 

But the Liberal Democrats have a bold plan to build a brighter future. We want to create a fairer economy where it’s easier to be a parent, have a career, and provide for your family.

That’s why a Liberal Democrat government will provide free childcare for all children of working parents from 9 months old.