---
election_year: 1970
party_id: liberal
party_name: Liberal Party
party_leader: Jeremy Thorpe
political_spectrum: centre
victory: false
government_outcome: opposition
sections:
  - economy
  - taxation
  - education
  - housing
  - defence
  - foreign-policy
  - law-and-order
  - welfare
  - democracy-and-constitution
  - agriculture
---

# Liberal Democrats Manifesto 1970

**Liberal / SDP / Libdem Manifestos**

---

## What a Life! Show 'em you care! Vote Liberal

There must surely be a better way to run a country than the one we have used for the last
twenty-five years. No wonder people are fed up with thirteen years of Tory rule and twelve
years under Labour.

What have we achieved? What sort of society have we turned ourselves into materially and
culturally?

The purchasing power of the pound today is only worth about 7/- compared with its value in
1945.

Wages keep going up but, owing to rising prices, many people are worse off.

Over 600,000 people are out of work and no one seems to mind. Up to half a million people are
without a proper home. In the so-called Welfare State many thousands of disabled people get no
help.

Parliament has become a slanging shop.

The precious right of free speech is in peril from hooligan anarchists.

Legitimate protests are regrettably too often the prelude to violence.

Strikes, official and unofficial, by a few, paralyse whole sectors of industry and make it
daily more difficult to pay our way in the world.

The big labour unions use their power to take the biggest slice of the national wealth they
can. The less powerful and the unorganised are left at the tail end of the pay claim queue.
Inefficient monopolies pass on their price increases to the consumer.

The Hospital service is grossly overstrained because junior doctors and nurses are so badly
paid.

We are only just waking up to the dangers of pollution and the damage we have done to the
environment and the quality of life.

Crime increases at a dangerous rate, too often violent, and the forces of law and order are
set an impossible and unnecessary task.

The election system bolsters up "bigness". The Big parties have totally unfair
advantages against minorities. But the system is unfair even between the major parties.

The whole "System" conspires against the individual, the unrepresented and the weak,
in favour of the well-organised big battalions, and no one seems to care.

But unless someone does care and does something about it the "System" will go on and
on. It can only be broken by supporting something different and that something is the Liberal
Party.

It may be true that Liberals cannot expect under the present system to jump overnight from a
party of thirteen M.P.s and three million supporters to become the government of the day, but
we can break the power of the big battalions if we can get a substantial increase in the
number of Liberal M.P.s in the next House of Commons and show that enough people care and want
to protest at the present political farce.

Politics is about power. It is about the sort of society we want to build and it must be a
better one than we have now. Man has political power when he exercises a vote. A party has
political power whether in government or opposition in so far as it influences and changes
policy. Minority parties have political power when they influence policy or public opinion or
successfully stand up against injustices or change the climate of politics.

**The Liberal Party is the Party of power for the ordinary people. It is the Party for people
who care.**

The Liberal Party has political power but it needs more members in Parliament and a massive
Liberal vote outside to strengthen and broaden that power and to use it to break the
Tory/Labour stranglehold and create a really satisfying and worthwhile society to live in.

It is an old adage that he who pays the piper calls the tune. Who pays the Tory piper? In
1968/69 £752,086 was contributed to Tory funds by some 470 companies Who pays the
Labour piper? In March the TRADE UNIONS paid £350,000 to Labour's election fund.
Big business tycoons and trade union bosses have a powerful say in British politics. We
believe that millions of ordinary British people do not want our national politics to be
dominated to the exclusion of all else by these two giant interests. Someone must speak for
those whom big business and the big trade unions overlook. The Liberal election pledge is this:
we will stand up to the big battalions on behalf of these people, where justice so demands. In
what follows we show some of the ways in which we will do so.

## The Individual Worker

The individual worker must have a say and a stake in the place where he works. In large-scale
industry he is entitled to similar rights to those enjoyed by the shareholder. Industry must
become a partnership between capital and labour, with management responsible to the
partnership. Workers should participate in the election of directors. Works Councils should
be established in every plant. This will facilitate plant-bargaining and productivity deals.
It will enable the aim of the Donovan Commission on Trade Unions to be realised by providing
the proper machinery for negotiations at plant level between people who know, and are involved
in, the local conditions. In this way industrial relations can be greatly improved and the
causes of many strikes removed. This state of affairs cannot be brought about by using the
power of the law as the Conservatives wish, and as the Labour Government at one time intended.
Liberal plans for partnership in industry will give increased opportunities for
profit-sharing. This will help to remove the suspicions entertained by labour about capital.
Management and labour have to be moulded into one team, not a wrestling match.

## The Shopper faced by rising prices

The Liberals are not dominated by any sectional interest of producers. We are in a
particularly strong position to defend the consumer. Stronger measures are needed to deal
with monopoly conditions. All mergers over a certain size must go automatically to the
Commission for Manpower and Industry. The linking of earnings to productivity is the way to
deal with rising prices. Liberal industrial policy is designed to curb inflation. The
Commission for Manpower and Industry should devote particular attention to the nationalised
industries.

## Those living in parts remote from London

Too much power is concentrated in Whitehall and Westminster. Genuine regional government must
be established. Liberals propose twelve regional Assemblies in England, exercising many of
the powers now exercised at the centre. This will allow the people of a region to have much
more control over their own affairs than they have today. Labour has not put forward any
proposals for regional government. They have, however, adopted a modified version of the
Maud proposals for local government reform. These take local decisions further away from the
individual than they are now.

Scotland and Wales are distinct national entities within the United Kingdom. We want them to
have their own Parliaments for Scottish and Welsh affairs, united with England by a Federal
Parliament. In Northern Ireland Liberals have introduced civil rights legislation only to be
defeated by the forces of reaction.

## Taxation Reform

The tax system must be reformed and simplified so that it can be easily understood. There
should be a permanent Parliamentary Committee on taxation, equipped to consult with experts,
and able to assess foreign systems. We must have a more effective tax on transfers of wealth,
through a progressive Gifts and Inheritance Tax. Selective employment tax should be replaced
by a regionally variable pay-roll tax.

## The Small Business

Very heavy burdens have been placed on the small businesses of this country. In the first
three months of 1970, 1,039 companies failed. The equivalent figure for 1969 was 926, and
for 1968 it was 762. Bureaucratic chores, selective employment tax, high interest rates,
credit squeeze and taxation policies generally are taking their toll of small companies. Yet
the smaller businesses are very important. They employ 50 per cent of the total manufacturing
labour force and produce at least 42 per cent of the Gross National Product. Twenty-five per
cent of all United Kingdom exports are made by several thousand companies in the medium-to
small-size categories. It has often been the small firm which has been prepared to take the
risks. The Chairman of the British National Council recently said, "we are minimising
the rewards and maximising the risks for small-scale enterprise". Liberals want to
reverse this trend. It is in the national interest to do so.

## The Farmer and Grower

Agriculture is a major import saver. Yet over the last ten years real incomes have increased
by 46 per cent while farmers' real incomes have increased by only 7 per cent. Constant
under-recoupment at successive price reviews has brought this situation about. Liberals
support the farmers' claim for more generous treatment, We want the present system of
deficiency payments continued for all products except beef and cereals. For these we support
the import levy system, which will be required if we join the Common Market, Small farmers
and growers, who are efficient and whose holdings are viable, deserve to survive. Agricultural
policy. must be modified to give agriculture an assured future, and capital for improvements
and expansion. Liberals call for the establishment of a Land Bank to provide capital at cheap
rates of interest.

## The Independent Trader

Even in these days of supermarkets and multiple stores there is still an important role for
the independent trader with his tradition of personal service. We do not ask for any
privileged position for him but we do demand that he is not discriminated against. Much of what
we have already said about the small business also applies to him. In addition we believe it
essential that the independent trader should have the same opportunities to secure sites in
new development areas as his larger competitor.

## The Old

Pensioners have not the same organised power as those who are still working. The pension is
inadequate. An adequate flat-rate pension for today's pensioner is much more important
than elaborate schemes, like Mr. Crossman's to provide earnings-related pensions in 1992!
We want to move in stages to the position where the pension for a married couple is half
average national earnings with a corresponding increase for the single person. Over and above
the increased flat-rate pension we want to see special opportunity provided for those without
a pension scheme where they work to save for their retirement with assistance from a Central
Account financed by a levy on all employers without an adequate occupational scheme. We stand
by our support for the principle of parity in public service pensions.

## The Young

Children are not a pressure group either. Everyone is agreed that they deserve the best
possible start in life. The emphasis should be on the improvement of primary schools and the
provision of nursery schools. Secondary education should be non-selective. Age eleven to
eighteen comprehensive schools have an important part to play in this. But they are not the
only means to a non-selective system. They should not be hastily imposed where the buildings,
staff and facilities are not suitable. There should be greater opportunities for further
education outside the Universities.

## The Low-Income Families

Five hundred thousand low-income families suffer severe poverty in this country. The system of
family benefits must be altered to include one child families. A minimum statutory earnings
level is essential.

## The Homeless and the Slum-dweller

The shortage of homes causes misery for many. The continuing existence of city slums is a
national disgrace. There must be a very great speed-up in the renovation of whole areas. The
housing problem must be tackled on a regional basis. Talk of a surplus of homes in a few years
time is nonsense. How many of these "surplus" homes will be fit to live in?

## Those paying rent

It is unfair that those who pay rent in the private sector should receive no help from the
Government or local authority, whereas those who are buying a house through a mortgage or
living in a council house do. Those in private rented accommodation should also be eligible
for help.

## The Owner Occupier

The percentage of the population owning their own homes is steadily increasing and Liberals
welcome this. We want to see mortgage funds available for older, sound property as well as
modern houses, at reasonable rates of interest. Every encouragement must be given to housing
associations. Tax on building societies surpluses should be abolished. The obsolete rating
system should be entirely reformed.

## The Voter

In order that all the votes cast at an election shall count we wish to reform the voting
system by the introduction of proportional representation by the single transferable vote.
This system would mean that Parties were represented in the House of Commons in proportion to
the votes cast for them in the country. Nearly all voters could point to at least one M.P.
whom they had helped to elect. The power of the Party Whips would be diminished. An important
result of this reform would be that electors could choose between candidates representing
different strands of opinion within the same Party, pro-Powell or anti-Powell Tories, for
example, or pro-Common Market or anti-Common Market Labour candidates. Liberals were the first
to advocate votes at eighteen.

## The Citizen against the Bureaucrat

We have presented to the House of Commons a Bill of Rights which would safeguard the rights of
the individual against the State. We shall continue to press for its adoption.

## The Citizen and Crime

The upholding of civil rights is one side of the question of law and order. The other is the
prevention of crime. We believe that the two basic causes of the increase in crime are the low
detection rate and the fact that for many criminals crime pays. It is essential therefore to
strengthen the police. Improvements in pay and conditions are required. Traffic control should
be entrusted to a new Traffic Corps. The Courts should be able to adjudicate a convicted
person bankrupt. The assets of a criminal could then be made available to repay his
"creditors"; those he has injured or robbed. Shotguns must be controlled as are
other weapons.

## The United Kingdom and the World

Liberals are determined to stand up for the individual against the big battalions. The need to
check the powerful is the theme of Liberal policy at home. World co-operation is the theme of
Liberal policy abroad.

The power and influence of the United Nations must be strengthened. The Middle Cast crisis
should be settled along the lines of the Security Council resolution of November 1967. The
continuance of NATO is essential until a genuine European security agreement takes its place.
We look forward to the earliest possible withdrawal of United States forces from Vietnam and
we regret the U.S. invasion of Cambodia.

In Western Europe we want the closest possible political unity. We see Britain's joining
the Common Market as a part of this unity. The Common Market is an exciting experiment in the
pooling of national sovereignty in the economic sphere. It can be the forerunner of a similar
unity in foreign policy and defence. Liberals advocated Britain's applying to join at a
time when it would have been very much easier than now. The Labour and Conservative Parties
would not listen though they both subsequently came round to this point of view when in
office. Liberals continue to believe that satisfactory terms can be obtained for British
entry. In any event we wish to see the breaking down of barriers to international trade.

Greater freedom in international trade will assist the underdeveloped countries who need
markets for their products. We support the principle that in accordance with the Pearson
Report Britain and other countries should contribute 1 per cent of Gross National Product of
official aid to developing countries as soon as possible.

We are totally opposed to all forms of racial and religious discrimination.

Liberals care! We care for those the big battalions forget. We care for the poor and the
oppressed. We care for those whose only crime is that they are not as big or as powerful as
their competitors. We care for the citizen at the mercy of the bureaucratic machine. We care
for those who feel that government is remote and hostile. We care for those struggling to make
ends meet in the face of rising prices. We care for those who have no satisfactory place to
live. We care for the old and the young who have no organisation to defend them. We care for
those discriminated against on grounds of colour and religion. We care for those striving to
raise their countries out of poverty. We care for co-operation between the nations. We care
because we are Liberals and because the basic principle of Liberalism is a belief in the
supreme value of individual human personality.

**We appeal to Liberals to vote Liberal** whenever there is a Liberal candidate. We appeal
to others who sympathise with our views. We appeal to those who are disenchanted with the way
things are run by Tories and Labour.

**We appeal to voters not to waste their vote** by piling up majorities behind Conservative
and Labour candidates but use the vote positively and usefully to show how many millions of
people in this country really care. You can do this by voting Liberal on June the 18th.

**Liberal / SDP / Libdem Manifestos**