Today’s release of the Liberal Democrat’s 2010 Election Manifesto saw Party Leader Nick Clegg place “fairness” and “honesty” at the centre of his Party’s election platform. He attempted to create a distinction between the Liberal Democrats and its Tory and Labour rivals, whom he accused of ”fobbing off” the British public with promises that were impossible to uphold. 

 

In his comparatively short speech, Clegg repeatedly emphasised the legitimacy and transparency of the Liberal Democrats proposals.   The manifesto was largely a restatement of previously espoused commitments to provide the voters with a simplistic, easily accessible and above all credible manifesto, placing four issues at the heart of their manifesto which were identified as:

 

•             A fairer taxation system

•             A fair chance for every child

•             A fair future and greener economy

•             A fair deal by cleaning up politics.

 

Amongst the most eye-catching measures was the promise of recruiting 3000 additional police officers and an additional £2.5bn for state education to reduce class sizes across all age groups. These ambitious pledges were underpinned by a host of longstanding policies, such as the promise to scrap the Government’s ID Card and Trident Submarine programmes while the party also reaffirmed their promise to impose a “mansions tax” of 1% on properties with a value of £2million and over.

 

Electioneering was undeniably present in their manifesto, with taxation measures such as the promise to increase the state pension annually in line with average earnings or inflation and also pledging the largest single tax cut of any party in abrogating income tax on the first £10,000 of earnings. Other populist measures included a raft of proposals designed to “clean up politics” including a cap on political donations of £10,000 per head, an elected House of Lords and a guarantee to have all UK Parliamentarians pay taxes in full. There were also a series of measures promising to drastically increase regulation of the banks, including the contentious bankers tax.

 

Yet despite the undeniably popular proposals inherent within their manifesto, many commentators such as The Times noted that the Liberal Democrats have broken “a massive taboo” in pledging tax rises - an unprecedented decision within an election manifesto of any major political party, recognized as part of the plan to be the most ‘candid’ Party. 

 

Set out by Vince Cable, no doubt exploiting his unrivalled popularity amongst voters to deliver the difficult party messages, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor accepted the need to discuss “the elephant in the room”. He outlined the party pledges of raising the tax-free personal allowance from £6,475 to £10,000 and also promised the “equalization” of pension tax relief rates and capital gains tax rates, tantamount to tax rises. These announcements were accompanied by Mr Cable’s reiteration of his party’s policy of refusing to ring fence any Government department from cuts while also outlining the most ambitious Departmental efficiency savings of any major party, resting at £15bn in cuts.

 

The Liberal Democrats also took the unique decision to publish in full the costing processes of their manifesto pledges, a move that is undoubtedly intended to provide credibility to the party’s pledges and draw a contrast with the Labour and Conservative parties, who failed to produce fully-costed manifestos. This is something the Lib Dems have done in previous elections and part of the party’s rebuttal to criticisms from the two main parties that their ‘sums do not add up’. The decision sought to provide the Lib Dem plans with credibility, allowing leader Nick Clegg to state that "there isn't a line in this book that we haven't accounted for by savings elsewhere.” The decision could also trigger a heightened level of scrutiny from the other parties and the media.