Using the source evaluate the view that the Liberal democrats offer a clear alternative to voters from the Labour and Conservative parties (30 marks)

P1: ECONOMY: One argument to state that the Liberal Democrats offer a clear alternative from the Labour and Conservative parties is that 

In recent years party has offered a "blend fiscal responsibility and social welfare" this can be seen as a more moderate approach to the new right conservative Thatcherite position and the old labour left wing more socialist approach. In coalition Clegg emphasised the party's traditional committment to the freedom of the individual alongside classical liberal support of the free market.

Promised to borrow less than Labour, cut less than the Tories 

In the 2017 general election, the Liberal democrats were committed to increasing the levels of income tax by 1p and increasing corporation tax by 20% - emphasising the importance of social justice

Help people with the cost of living and their energy bills by implementing a proper, one off windfall tax on the super profits of oil and gas producers and traders- Beveridge group leaning

HOWEVER, the Liberal democrats have not put forward a distinctive policy agenda in relation to the economy in more recent years, in paticular this has been evidenced by their position in the 2010 coalition government which as the source notes "indirectly harmed their long term electoral chances".

• The party pledged prior to their election a committment to abolishing tuition fees, aligning with a modern liberal view of equality of opportunity, they also pledged in their 2005 manifesto to use £1.5 billion to decrease class sizes in schools. Yet this was seen at odds with their support for austerity in 2015. And their major policy committment of abolishing  tuition fees was scrapped

• In government they introduced a policy to which the conservatives signed up, of progressively raising the basic income tax threshold so that more LI people were relieved of paying tax

• In 2017 both liberal democrats and labour proposed increasing income tax

   

   

P2: A weak argument as noted in the source is that the liberal democrats have offered a clear alternative to voters from the Labour and Conservative parties by offering their "most distinctive proposal, electoral reform". The liberal democrats strongly advocated for the use of more proportional electoral systems, in contrast to the labour and conservative parties who have consistently advocated for the use of the FPTP system, marking them out

In 2011 Clegg secured a referendum on electoral reform to the AV system

 

The party has also supported the use of the STV

 

Committed to reform of the House of Lords a written constitution and a federal UK these arguably mark them out from the Labour and Conservative parties which haven't pushed for such change

 

In the coalition some constitutional reform under the Lib Dems policies were successful including MP recall and changes to the line of succession 

HOWEVER as the source notes "Under FPTP voters have to consider how to maximise the chance of their vote having an impact on government" , importantly noting the FPTP system remains dominant and the liberal democrats did not achieve their main aims of PR. Furthermore, liberal democrats following their time in government suffered heavy losses in the 2015 g.e reducing them to 8 seats suggesting that they did not offer a distinctive enough position for voters to see them as worthwhile to vote for.

• The AV referendum in 2011 failed miserably, the party had also supported the STV but the leadership felt that the AV was the maximum they could hope to achieve in their circumstances a sign of their limited bargaining power within the coalition partnership.

• in the coalition constitutional reform was limited the public rejected the AV system in a referendum House of Lords reform failed after a Tory backbench rebellion and the fixed term parliaments act though passed was later appealed

P3: - A further weak argument as presented in the source is that the liberal democrats have in recent years distinguished themselves in terms of environmental policy, committed to far more reform in relation to this area than the Labour and Conservative parties

Generate 80% of electricity from renewables: achieve this target by 2030 to reduce carbon emissions

 

Tax frequent flyers: Those who take the most international flights face a tax rise, while costs would come down for people who take one or two international return flights a year

 

Pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045- (labour has backtracked on this policy)- the independent climate change committee warns that the government's current strategy will not deliver net zero

HOWEVER on the whole it is clear that the liberal democrats have not distinguished themselves entirely from the two main parties in terms of environmental policies..

Furthermore they have as noted in the source "lost the policy which made them stand out" this notably included their strategy towards Brexit, the party has always been the most enthusiastic of all the UK parties for British membership of the EU. Perhaps the party's most distinctive policy position in opposition was this reluctance to accept the result of the Brexit Referendum this contrasted with the views of both May and Corbyn.

Labour's current environmental strategy focuses on renewable energy at an industrial level as a way to cut bills and provide energy security. Labour are still committed to net zero but have ditched a £28 billion climate pledge

 

Conservatives- committed to net zero by 2050