Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has pitched his party as another perfect coalition partner, stating that neither of its main party rivals will win a majority next month “so what really matters is who they will have by their side”.
The deputy prime minister launched the Lib Dems manifesto by pointing out that either David Cameron or Ed Miliband will be prime minister, as he set out a ‘middle ground’ policy agenda to “add a heart to a Conservative government and... add a brain to a Labour one”.
“Someone is going to hold the balance of power on the 8 of May and it won’t be David Cameron or Ed Miliband. But it could be Nigel Farage. It could be Alex Salmond. Or it could be me and the Liberal Democrats.
“The Liberal Democrats will add a heart to a Conservative government and we will add a brain to a Labour one. We won’t allow the Conservatives to cut too much and jeopardise our schools and hospitals and we won’t allow Labour to borrow too much and risk our economy again.”
As for the Lib Dem’s policy promises, the most prominent was a £400 tax cut for every voter, paid for by raising the personal allowance to £12,500.
This is the same as pledged by the Tories yesterday, though it is in truth an extension of a coalition policy to raise the lowest income tax threshold which was a concession wrought by the Lib Dems that was included in their 2010 manifesto.
The party also backed a clampdown on tax avoidance, using taxes on the wealthiest, on banks and big business, to limit the impact of deficit reduction on public services. This will include a ‘mansion tax’ on residential properties worth over £2m.
On pensions, the party committed itself to completing the coalition’s reforms and writing the triple lock into law so that pensioners are no longer faced with “desultory increases” such as the 75p increase once offered under Labour.
They pledged to tackle unfair pension charges and get behind pension minister Steve Webb’s plans for auto-escalation of pension contributions for those who have been auto-enrolled into workplace schemes.
In terms of housing, the Lib Dems set the goal of building 300,000 homes a year, including in 10 new ‘garden cities’ in areas where homes are needed most. They also promised new ‘rent to own’ homes where monthly payments steadily buy a stake in the property, along with a ‘help to rent’ tenancy deposit loan to help young people get into their first place.
As for the wider economy, Mr Clegg promised to eradicate the current structural budget deficit by 2017/18 and have debt falling as a percentage of national income, which is broadly in line with the Conservatives, who have conversely pledged to achieve the same through cuts alone.
He also committed to continuing the banking levy and introducing a time-limited supplementary corporation tax charge on the banking sector.
Following Labour’s pledge to scrap the tax relief offered to non-domiciled individuals, the Liberals said they would restrict access to non-dom status by ending the right to inherit it.
Ukip pledges independent advice for all
Meanwhile, the UK Independence Party also published its manifesto this morning (15 April), with Nigel Farage predictably taking aim at Europe. In his launch speech he stated that the party wants a good relationship with Europe, but it must be free and there is no prospect of a renegotiation of any value.
This accords with comments made by an aide to European Commission president to the Times and is a direct attack on the Conservative policy to put a renegotiated relationship to a public referendum.
Mr Farage touted a “low-tax revolution”, raising the basic rate tax threshold to £13,000 and it lifting the 40p threshold to £55,000. He would also introduce a 30p tax rate for people earning between £35,000 and £55,000.
In terms of pensions, the manifesto stated that UKIP would fund a higher standard of independent advice available to all pensioners. “We will double the budget for guidance in 2015/16 from £30 to £60m and treble the 2016/17 budget from £10 to £30m.
Previously promoted policies include an increase personal allowance to the level of full-time minimum wage earnings and the abolition of inheritance tax.
peter.walker@ft.com
