Lib Dems promise to REVERSE Brexit in General Election manifesto
The Liberal Democrats have promised to reverse Brexit in their General Election manifesto.
The party says it would "aim to place the UK-EU relationship on a more formal and stable footing by seeking to join the Single Market."
Ed Davey launched the Liberal Democrats manifesto in North London today.
This year’s manifesto, titled For A Fair Deal, put the NHS at its heart. It is 116 pages long and features 22 chapters, including one called Our Fair Deal and another named Political Reform.
The Liberal Democrats have promised to reverse Brexit in their General Election manifesto
PA
In the foreword, Davey said: "The Conservatives have got to go. And in so many parts of the country, we have shown that it is the Liberal Democrats who can get them out."
Setting out the Liberal Democrats’ policy plans, Davey said: “There’s so much I’m proud of in our manifesto: our clear plan to end the scandal of raw sewage being dumped into our waters and on to our beaches, and to hold the water companies to account for the damage they have done.
“Our policies to solve the cost-of-living crisis for the long-term, from an emergency home energy upgrade programme to cut people’s energy bills, to a national strategy including free school meals.
“Our commitment to restoring proper community policing, and guarantee that every burglary will be attended by the police and investigated, so that everyone can feel safe in their own homes and walking down their own streets.
“Fixing our broken relationship with Europe, re-building the ties of trade and friendship, boosting our economy, and restoring Britain’s role on the world stage.”
Speaking at the launch, the Lib Dem leader said: "Caring has been in the shadows for far too long, and I’m proud that as a party we have brought it into the light.
"Like so many people my caring story started young, I was nine when my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, my dad had died when I was four, taken from us just a few months after being diagnosed with a cancer called Hodgkin Lymphoma."
He added: "I never called myself a young carer, I never thought of myself that way, I was just looking after my mum, because she needed it and I loved her."
Davey said he understood how carers feel, adding: "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."
Reflecting on the General Election campaign so far, Davey said: "The most touching messages of all have come from other carers. Your messages mean so much to me."
The party leader said his experience and the experiences of other carers are "exhausting sometimes" but also "full of love".
He added: “I hear the same thing from them – all of their stories are very different yet in so many ways they are also the same.
"How much of a difference just a little extra support can make."
The Liberal Democrat manifesto sets out a plan to “save the NHS”, Davey said.
He explained: "We are putting forward a bold, ambitious and fully-costed plan to tackle the health crisis from top to bottom, this is a manifesto to save the NHS."
On care, Davey added: “We have an equally bold plan to make sure everyone gets the support they need. People who need care, the amazing care workers who provide it and the unpaid family carers who provide it too.”
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He went on to say: “We can make sure everyone can see a doctor or dentist locally when they need one, ending these appallingly long waiting times, taking the pressure off the rest of the NHS.
“We can get people off waiting lists and into work, getting our economy growing strongly again too. We can save our NHS, we can fix the care crisis, we can give people a fair deal.
“I know when you look at the state of the NHS and care today, this might all seem a long way off, and there’s no doubt that it will take a lot of time and a lot of hard work to repair the terrible damage the Conservatives have done over so many years. But our manifesto sets out how it can be achieved.”