Excellent healthcare is at the heart of our vision for Britain. As a leading liberal democracy, our public services should – and can be – the envy of the world. The Lib Dems are committed to making this vision a reality.

Last weekend, Tim Farron and I announced our five point NHS and care recovery plan, which laid out our health strategy for the next parliament – generating an extra £6bn funding boost.

Today, we are proud to announce that £1bn of this money will be ring-fenced and dedicated to 12 key priorities in mental health.

These priorities include improving waiting time standards for mental health care on the NHS, providing support for pregnant women, and trebling the number of people accessing psychological therapies.

You can read the full report here.

Why are we doing this? Because services have been stretched to breaking point under the Conservatives, and promises made under the coalition have been broken. Now people’s lives are at stake.

The Lib Dems believe that every progressive, future-facing country should prioritise the mental health of its people.

If you share this vision, support us today:

I passionately believe that the British people are open, tolerant and progressive. That’s what I love about us. But lately I’ve felt the country slide into a Britain I don’t recognise – a Britain that’s closed, insular and suspicious.

The Conservatives are largely to blame.

Their treatment of refugees – especially child refugees – is despicable and shameful. Faced with the biggest global trauma since the Second World War, Theresa May has torn up her promises and turned her back on the most vulnerable people in the world.

How will future Britons judge us?

The Liberal Democrats believe that as an advanced liberal democracy we must have compassion for those in need. The world looks to Britain as a leader in global business and a guardian of progressive values. We are proud of that.

That’s why, while visiting a refugee charity in Cheltenham today, I announced our plan to fly in the face of Theresa May’s callousness: we will take 10,000 refugees from Syria every year in the next parliament, and help find homes for asylum seeking children stranded in Europe.

This will ease some of the suffering caused by Conservative cold-bloodedness – going some way to redress the injustice of Theresa May’s repeated U-turns and broken promises on refugees. It’s the decent thing to do. It’s the right thing to do. And it’s the patriotic thing to do.

We want Britain to be an open-hearted and forward-looking world leader, not a provincial and miserly island on the fringes of Europe.

If you share this vision, support our refugee plan and vote Lib Dem on 8th June.

The leaked version of the Labour manifesto has confirmed Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour won’t give the people the final say on the Brexit deal.

This comes after Jeremy Corbyn made clear that Labour believes Britain must leave the EU whatever the agreement reached, in an interview with BBC Look North yesterday.

Former Liberal Democrat party president Simon Hughes said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour has waved the white flag and given Theresa May a blank cheque to pursue a divisive Brexit.

“Now this leaked manifesto confirms they are refusing to give the British people the final say over the Brexit deal, no matter how bad it is.

“A better future is available. The Liberal Democrats will stand up to Theresa May’s cold, mean-spirited Britain and against a bad Brexit deal that will cost jobs and put up prices.

“We will give you the final say on Brexit – with the option to stay in if you don’t like the deal on offer.”

The Liberal Democrats have announced they will invest nearly £7bn more in schools and colleges over the next parliament.

The funding would reverse cuts to frontline school and college budgets, protect per pupil funding in real terms and ensure no school loses out from the National Funding Formula.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary Sarah Olney said: “Children are being taught in overcrowded classes by overworked teachers – but Theresa May doesn’t care.

“While funding per pupil is set to see the biggest cuts in a generation, billions of pounds are being spent on divisive plans to expand grammars and free schools.

“This extra £7 billion of funding would ensure no school and no child loses out.

“We will reverse crippling Conservative cuts to school budgets and invest to ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed.”

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said: “A landslide for the Conservatives would allow Theresa May to take parents across the country for granted and cut our schools to the bone.

“Only the Liberal Democrats can provide the strong opposition Britain needs to stand up for your community.

“Vote for the Liberal Democrats and you can change Britain’s future.”

The Liberal Democrats will invest £6.9bn more in our schools and colleges over the next parliament, to ensure no school and no child loses out. This goes further than Labour’s commitment to reverse £3bn of cuts to school budgets by 2020.

Over the course of the parliament, we will:
• Protect per pupil funding in real terms in schools (£3.3bn)
• Protect further education per pupil funding in real terms (£660m)
• Ensure no school loses out from the National Funding Formula (£1.26bn)
• Protect the pupil premium in real terms (£415m)
• Invest in continuous professional development for teachers (£165m)

The £6.9bn includes £1.1bn of Barnett consequentials for devolved nations. 

These plans will be fully costed in the Liberal Democrat manifesto, which will be launched in due course and set all our spending plans out in more detail. This will include reversing the Government’s proposed funding for new grammar schools.

Today, we at the Lib Dems are proud to announce our plan to introduce mandatory reporting on the ethnicity pay gap for organisations with 250 employees or more.

Why? Because we think it’s shocking that racial inequality still exists in 21st century Britain, and because practical measures are needed if we want to combat it.

Employee ethnicity data is currently patchy at best and there is no uniform way to collect it, making monitoring and analysis difficult.

My colleague and friend Jo Swinson, our former Business Minister, commented: ‘the country is failing to make the most of talent in the workplace. Information is powerful, and while organisations are allowed to get away with keeping patchy records, we’ll never know the full extent of the gap.’

She continued: ‘Transparent data on the Black and Middle Eastern pay gap will help employers focus on what they need to do to ensure equal opportunities at work for people of all ethnic backgrounds.’

The Liberal Democrats believe that every person, regardless of their ethnicity, should be allowed to reach their full potential in the workplace. We also know that equal pay makes good business sense. In fact, a report from McGregor-Smith conducted in the last Parliament said that ending ethnic minority inequality at work in Britain would boost the economy by £24 billion a year.

My party and I will keep campaigning for equality and keep holding the government to account for its inaction.

Vote Liberal Democrats this General Election.