Health and care at heart of Lib Dem manifesto, says Ed Davey

The party leader said ‘caring has been in the shadows for loo long’.

Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey during the party’s General Election manifesto launch (Lucy North/PA) (PA Wire)

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said health and care are at the heart of his party’s General Election manifesto.

The document, titled For A Fair Deal, sets out that the Lib Dems would fund a £9.4 billion package for the NHS and social care in England by increasing taxes for banks and closing loopholes used by the super-rich.

Speaking at its launch in central London on Monday, Sir Ed said: “Caring has been in the shadows for too long, and I’m proud that, as a party, we have brought it into the light.

I’m so proud the Liberal Democrats have put health and care at the heart of our campaign in this General Election

Sir Ed Davey

Pointing to his own experiences as a carer, he said: “The truth is, unless we properly value care, unless we properly support carers, we will never be able to fix the crisis in our NHS or get our economy back on track.

“And that’s why I’m so proud the Liberal Democrats have put health and care at the heart of our campaign in this General Election, and at the heart of our manifesto too.”

The manifesto is 116 pages long and features 22 chapters, including on political reform, defence and economy.

In the international section, the Lib Dems say they will seek to take the UK back into the European Union single market.

“Once ties of trust and friendship have been renewed, and the damage the Conservatives have caused to trade between the UK and EU has begun to be repaired, we would aim to place the UK-EU relationship on a more formal and stable footing by seeking to join the Single Market,” the document says.

On taxes, the party promises to raise the money needed for its investment plans by:

– Reversing Tory tax cuts for the big banks, restoring Bank Surcharge and Bank Levy revenues to 2016 levels in real terms.

– Increasing the Digital Services Tax on social media firms and other tech giants from 2% to 6%.

– Fairly reforming capital gains tax to close loopholes exploited by the super wealthy.

– Introducing a 4% tax on the share buyback schemes of FTSE-100 listed companies, to incentivise productive investment, job creation and economic growth.

On political reform, Sir Ed told the launch his party would end the first-past-the-post voting system in favour of “fair votes with proportional representation”.

He said this would also involve “getting big money out of politics with a cap on donations to political parties, shifting power out of the centre”.

The Conservatives, the Green Party and Labour are also expected to set out their election pledges this week.