Difference between revisions of "Liberal Democrats"
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The party is poorly funded in comparison to its main rivals, leading to them accepting money from almost any source. | The party is poorly funded in comparison to its main rivals, leading to them accepting money from almost any source. | ||
| − | Their largest ever donor is convicted fraudster Michael Brown<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4424450.ece Arrest warrant issued after Liberal Democrat donor Michael Brown skips bail], TimesOnline, July 30, 2008</ref>, a former bonds dealer who was convicted of stealing £30 million from his clients, who donated £2.4 million to the party.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5252726.ece Lib Dems face repaying £2.4m after Michael Brown, party's biggest donor, convicted], TimeOnline, November 29, 2008</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7754234.stm Top Lib Dem donor stole millions], BBC, November 28 2008</ref>. They managed to avoid repaying the money after | + | Their largest ever donor is convicted fraudster Michael Brown<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4424450.ece Arrest warrant issued after Liberal Democrat donor Michael Brown skips bail], TimesOnline, July 30, 2008</ref>, a former bonds dealer who was convicted of stealing £30 million from his clients, who donated £2.4 million to the party.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5252726.ece Lib Dems face repaying £2.4m after Michael Brown, party's biggest donor, convicted], TimeOnline, November 29, 2008</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7754234.stm Top Lib Dem donor stole millions], BBC, November 28 2008</ref>. They managed to avoid repaying the money after the Electoral Commission judged the permissible donor requirements were met.<ref>[http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/news-and-media/news-releases/electoral-commission-media-centre/news-releases-donations/donations-by-5th-avenue-partners-limited-to-the-liberal-democrats-statementreindex1 Donations by 5th Avenue Partners Limited to the Liberal Democrats: statement], November 20, 2009</ref> |
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 19:33, January 8, 2012
The Liberal Democrats, often known as the "Lib Dems", are a political party in the United Kingdom. They have traditionally occupied the center of the political spectrum, between the Labour Party on the left and the Conservative Party on the right ("liberal" in British political parlance means "centrist" or "moderate" rather than "left-wing", as it does in the United States). At the present time, the party is seen as being moderately left-leaning.
Along with the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats currently make up the ruling coalition in the UK, with party leader Nick Clegg [1] serving as deputy Prime Minister under David Cameron.
The Liberal Democrats were formed in 1988 by a merger between the centrist British Liberal Party and the moderately left-wing Social Democratic Party, which had split off from the Labour Party in the early 1980s when the latter became too strongly socialist. The Liberal Party was one of the oldest political parties in the world, tracing its roots back to the Whigs of the era of William of Orange.
History
Since its foundation, the party has steadily increased its presence in the House of Commons at each successive election. The party won 62 seats in the 2005 general election[2] - the most that the party or its predecessors had won since the election of 1923.
Policies
Their policies can be broadly described as social-democratic, with a libertarian bent. They are in favor of legalization and government regulation of marijuana, and decriminalizing the possession (but not supply) of other illegal recreational drugs, believing that medical treatment for drug addicts is more helpful than prosecution or imprisonment. They also argue for a rationalization of the currently confused status of the various components of the United Kingdom, such as simplifying the benefits system for disabled people[3].
They support laws against discrimination based on race, gender, disability, religion and sexuality.[4] The party traditionally advocated higher spending funded from higher taxes, but from 2007 onwards have advocated replacing or cutting some taxes, particularly Council Tax, which takes a higher proportion from the poor than the rich.[5] They opposed the Iraq War, but were in favour of the Bosnian and Kosovo wars. They are the most pro-European Union party in British politics, and support an amnesty for illegal migrants that have lived in the UK for a decade without a criminal record,[6] however, they wish to tighten control on immigration, especially illegal immigration, through reforms of immigration law and the creation of an integrated border police force, returning the UK to a policy of entry and exit controls, to monitor movement in and out of the UK[3]. Lib Dems, like most other parties in the UK, want the UK and the EU to take the lead in combating Global Warming. The Lib Dems want to stop global temperatures rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above the 1990 average, by making the UK a zero-carbon economy by 2050, and having more efficient buildings and transport.[7] The party's terms for a coalition have always included introducing proportional representation for elections, and their terms for the 2009/10 election include: to reform government by capping private donations, reducing the number of MPs, having a 100% elected House of Lords (it is currently made of bishops, party appointees, and hereditary peers), and having a written constitution and a Bill of Rights, as current UK constitutional law is confusingly spread out over parts of several legal documents.[8]
Funding
The party is poorly funded in comparison to its main rivals, leading to them accepting money from almost any source.
Their largest ever donor is convicted fraudster Michael Brown[9], a former bonds dealer who was convicted of stealing £30 million from his clients, who donated £2.4 million to the party.[10][11]. They managed to avoid repaying the money after the Electoral Commission judged the permissible donor requirements were met.[12]
References
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/7148179.stm Clegg nicks it
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ukfs_news/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/ Election 2005
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.libdems.org.uk/what_we_stand_for.aspx Liberal Democrat policies
- ↑ http://www.libdems.org.uk/media/documents/policies/11CivilLiberties.pdf Protecting Civil Liberties
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3130988.stm Lib Dems vote to axe council tax
- ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/18/nlibdem718.xml Lib Dems want amnesty for illegal immigrants
- ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/aug/29/uk.greenpolitics Lib Dems see zero-carbon Britain setting the global green agenda
- ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/10/liberaldemocrats.nickclegg Clegg's terms for deal in hung parliament
- ↑ Arrest warrant issued after Liberal Democrat donor Michael Brown skips bail, TimesOnline, July 30, 2008
- ↑ Lib Dems face repaying £2.4m after Michael Brown, party's biggest donor, convicted, TimeOnline, November 29, 2008
- ↑ Top Lib Dem donor stole millions, BBC, November 28 2008
- ↑ Donations by 5th Avenue Partners Limited to the Liberal Democrats: statement, November 20, 2009
