Everyone deserves to feel safe in their own homes and walking down their own streets. For too many people in the UK, however, that is simply not the reality today. 

Under this Conservative Government, police resources have not been used effectively, leaving frontline policing over-stretched and under-resourced. Over half of people now say they never see police on foot patrols in their neighbourhoods, up from a third in 2015.

Money is wasted on expensive, ineffective Police and Crime Commissioners, while thousands of PCSOs are taken off the streets and just 12% of officers are assigned to frontline neighbourhood teams. 

As a result, our communities are plagued by violent crime, burglaries, fraud and anti-social behaviour. High rates of unsolved crime embolden criminals, making them feel like they can get away with it. 

Every day last year, an average of 5,700 crimes went unsolved across England and Wales. Only 1 in 20 crimes led to a suspect being charged or summoned.

Public trust in the police is essential for policing by consent. Building that trust requires confidence that the police will respond to and properly investigate local crime.

The damning revelations in the Casey Report, authoritarian anti-protest laws and disproportionate Stop and Search tactics against minority communities have all added to the erosion of public trust in the police. 

We can fix our policing – and rebuild confidence in our communities.

Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing – a plan which actually works to tackle crime and restore trust. Today, Liberal Democrat members have passed a comprehensive, credible plan to deliver this.

Returning to community policing

• Free up existing officers’ time to focus on local crime, through measures like the creation of an Online Crime Agency and streamlining tasks which take up a disproportionate amount of officers’ time;
   
• Draw up a national recruitment, training and retention strategy to tackle the shortage of detectives;
   
• Scrap Police and Crime Commissioners and invest the savings in frontline policing instead. 
   

Rebuilding public trust in the police

• Implement recommendations from the Casey report on vetting and misconduct procedures;
   
• End the disproportionate use of Stop and Search;
   
• Introduce mandatory police training on the impact of trauma on victims of violence against women and girls;
   
• Repeal the draconic and unworkable Public Order Act 2023.

Liberal Democrats want to see a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible and trusted, with the time and resources to focus on solving and preventing local crime. 

Daisy Cooper addresses Autumn Conference, issuing a rallying call to party activists to take on the Conservatives in the Blue Wall and deliver a brighter future.

Daisy said: 

“We have a huge opportunity. Right across the Blue Wall and right across the country – people are furious with the Conservatives. They’re angry that nothing works – everything’s broken and all the things we cherish – our NHS, our precious environment, our standing in the world – have been trashed.

“What’s more: they know who did it. This appalling Conservative government – too busy fighting each other to do anything useful.

“It’s not just that they’ve blown a hole in our economy, driven our NHS into the ground, and allowed water companies to pour sewage into our rivers and onto our beaches with impunity. The most unforgivable thing about this Conservative government is that they’ve broken people’s hope.

“Whilst we are ashamed of this government – we are so proud of our country and of our NHS. We know that there are millions of people across the UK who share our vision and want to live in a liberal Britain. Between now and the next General Election, it’s up to us to show them a brighter future is possible.”

Watch the speech in full: 

In very tough times, the British people have shown remarkable decency and strength. Everywhere I go across our great United Kingdom, I see people from all backgrounds and all walks of life, working hard, raising families, helping others and playing by the rules – but finding it harder and harder to make ends meet.

Now more than ever, people deserve a fair deal.

Everyone should be able to afford a decent home in a safe, clean neighbourhood – with a comfortable retirement when the time comes. Every child should be able to go to a good school and have real opportunities to fulfil their potential. If anyone in your family is ill, frail or disabled, they should get the high-quality healthcare they need.

But that’s not the reality for too many people in the UK today, because this out-of-touch Conservative Government is letting us all down and taking everyone for granted.

Soaring energy bills, food prices and housing costs are overwhelming millions of families and pensioners. We need a Government with a plan to tackle this cost-of-living crisis, but instead the Conservatives have made it so much worse because they just don’t care.

They have let the NHS crisis spiral out of control, failing to deliver the new hospitals they promised and making people wait hours for an ambulance, weeks to see a GP or months for urgent cancer treatment. They are allowing water companies to pump filthy sewage into our rivers, damaging our precious local environment.

All that must change.

More and more people are turning to the Liberal Democrats to put an end to this terrible Conservative Government. They know that every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to elect a strong local champion who will fight for a fair deal for you and your community.

A fair deal that gives everyone the opportunity to get on in life, wherever they start.

A fair deal that puts power in your hands, so you can do your bit – for your children, your community, your business and your environment.

A fair deal that holds the powerful to account, to make sure they do their bit too. Where everyone plays by the same rules.

That is the fair deal the Liberal Democrats are fighting for. I know we can achieve it.

Our Fair Deal

Today Liberal Democrat members have backed our plan for a fair deal, setting out our priorities ahead of the next generation:

Every child, no matter their background, deserves the opportunity to achieve greatness.

It’s a principle we hold dear in the Liberal Democrats. We believe that every child should have the best possible start in life. They deserve good local schools and colleges that help them to achieve their full potential and grow up into happy, healthy and confident adults.

Education is an investment, not just in the present, but in our country’s future.

Yet this Conservative Government has consistently let down children, parents and teachers. Our schools and colleges have been neglected. Meanwhile, the Government has failed to grasp the pandemic’s impact on children’s learning and mental health.

Since 2019, at least 39 schools have fully or partly closed because they were unsafe.  It’s time to end the scandal of crumbling schools. 

The number of children with mental health needs has skyrocketed during the pandemic, yet children are waiting months for help.

Conservative cuts and teacher shortages continue to undermine the quality of education. They have driven tens of thousands of young teachers out of the profession. 

The Pupil Premium – targeted support for the most disadvantaged pupils – has been cut in real-terms. Meanwhile, 800,000 children in poverty go without a free school meal.

That’s why today Liberal Democrat members have passed a new policy which reflects our commitment to give every child a great start:

• Increasing Funding for Schools: boosting schools funding, investing in new buildings and repairing facilities, and undoing the Conservatives’ damaging cuts to the Pupil Premium.
• Extending Free School Meals: extending free school meals to every child in primary school and to secondary school pupils whose families receive Universal Credit.
• Dedicated Mental Health Support: a dedicated, qualified mental health professional in every school.
• Supporting Our Teachers: tackling the crisis in teacher recruitment and retention with a workforce strategy that ensures every secondary school pupil is taught by an expert in their field.
• A Modern Curriculum: building a consensus across parties and teachers to revamp the curriculum and make qualifications at 16 and 18 fit for the 21st century.
• Reforming Ofsted Inspections: giving parents a clear picture of the true strengths and weaknesses of each school, and giving schools the guidance and support they need to improve.
• Enriching Extra-Curricular Activities: expanding access to sports, music, drama, debating coding, and other activities, starting with a new free entitlement for disadvantaged children.
• Keeping Parents Informed: improving communication and engagement with parents, with regular surveys and accessible information on what their children are learning.

It’s time for a new era in education: one where every child’s potential is nurtured and celebrated. The Liberal Democrats are committed to creating a fair and equitable education system that truly invests in our children’s future.

Under this Conservative Government the UK has only become sicker and is lagging far behind its international peers. Instead of taking action they have allowed our health to decline, particularly that of children. 

To make matters worse, more than 7 million people are currently waiting for NHS treatment, cancer wait times targets continue to be missed across the board, and demand for GPs services continues to outstrip supply.

50% of the health burden across the country is lifestyle induced. We must tackle this head on, to ensure that people have good physical health, mental health, and social health, and to protect our NHS for the future.  

The Liberal Democrats want a healthier and brighter future for all. That’s why today, our members have passed new policy to transform the nation’s health:

1. Focus on Prevention and People’s Health: Make the improvement of the nation’s health a key priority for government, emphasising prevention, addressing inequalities, and adopting an ‘invest to save’ funding model.

2. Empowering Communities: Progressively restore the Public Health Grant to 2015 levels, with a proportion of these funds set aside for local communities experiencing the worst health inequalities to co-produce plans on how the money should be spent in their area.

3. Children’s Health: Ban energy drink sales to under 16s, only allowing junk-food advertising after 9pm, and grant local authorities powers to restrict junk-food advertising and unhealthy food outlets near schools.

4. Promoting Movement: Launch a government-backed nationwide campaign to encourage exercise and healthier habits, dedicating an existing bank holiday for wellness events.

5. Schools and Hospitals: Implement higher food standards in schools and hospitals to ensure every child and patient receives a healthy balanced diet.

6. Vaping: Tackle vaping and smoking among children with standardised packaging, advertising restrictions and banning disposable vapes. Reduce vaping among non-smokers, while recognising the important role vaping plays in helping adults quit smoking.

7. Blood Pressure Checks: Widen access to blood pressure tests in community spaces like pharmacies and libraries to reach underserved populations.

8. Social Prescribing: Invest in community projects that counter loneliness and share best practice across local authorities, the NHS, GPs, and primary care services.

9. Digital Health: Introduce a new kite-mark for clinically proven health apps, enabling individuals to manage their own health.10. Critical Health Infrastructure: Consider a new national designation to safeguard local health facilities in times of crisis.

Liberal Democrats believe that investing in prevention through public health initiatives and primary care is the most effective way to enhance well-being and reduce the burden on NHS services.

These new policies will set us on the path to a healthier future for our country.