By James Trowbridge.

This article is part of a series of manifestos released for the RGS 2024 Mock General Election. James Trowbridge, leader of the Liberal Democrats, outlines their plans for the future of the country.

“Strong. Fair. Sustainable” – James Trowbridge, leader of the RGS Lib Dems.

At this year’s Mock Election, the choice is becoming increasingly clear.

The Liberal Democrats are the only party that offers a clear, calculated, and fair alternative to the inevitable Labour government which, let’s face it, is barely any different to the current Conservative one.

Fairness is at the core of the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto. We pledge to strengthen democracy and rights in the UK, by extending the vote to 16 year-olds, and remaining in the European Court of Human Rights, which the UK was a founding member of.

A Lib Dem government would invest properly in the NHS. Urgent cancer referral times aren’t being hit by the current government, an issue that a Lib Dem government would remedy as a priority. To further solve pressure on the NHS, we would hire 8,000 GPs, and improve working conditions for existing GPs to encourage them to stay on.

The Lib Dems will raise additional funds for investment by giving HMRC £1billion, which is expected to create £7billion through combatting tax evasion. We will also penalise frequent flyers who damage the environment, by introducing a specific frequent flyer tax.

Unfairness in the UK can be summed up no better than by the sewage crisis. Water company bosses are taking unjustifiable bonuses, whilst dumping tones of sewage in the country’s waterways. The Liberal Democrats will pursue criminal convictions for such bosses, ensuring that the nation doesn’t pay for their actions.

The alternatives to a Lib Dem government aren’t fair:

· Labour wants to introduce VAT onto private school fees, which will cause increased pressure on the state sector and on hard-working parents, and will only serve to make private schools more elitist. Such a policy of jealousy has no place in UK politics: the Lib Dems pledge to oppose this change.

· The Conservatives pledge to withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights, so that they can deport asylum seekers to Rwanda without delay. Ignoring the obvious issues with this policy, such a drastic change would see the rights of UK citizens put at risk. The Lib Dems oppose this policy.

· The Greens want to throw away the UK’s nuclear deterrent. Not only would this put the UK at risk, it would also threaten the security of our allies. Somehow they manage to come to the conclusion that aggressors like Putin are rational. The Lib Dems will, unsurprisingly, secure the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

· So finally, Reform. Where to begin? Firstly, in making immigrants the scapegoats for the UK’s problems, they promote hatred and neglect to offer real solutions that will see tangible impacts for the population.

Since January, Reform have been forced to drop 110 candidates for scandals, including but not limited to: Nazism, cannibalism, homophobia, antisemitism, Islamophobia.

The fallout from Brexit and the calamitous mini-budget of Liz Truss, both of which were supported by Farage, has show that he cannot be trusted to deliver a fair future for the UK. As with all populist parties, Reform is all talk, no clear plan.

This election is a two-horse race. Realistically, the only two parties with any chance of winning are the Lib Dems and Reform. A vote for Labour, Conservatives, or Greens is a wasted vote.

Vote to keep the right-wing at bay. Vote Liberal Democrats.