Freedom, Fairness, Trust

Written by Policy Unit and published in Pocket Guide to the Pre-Manifesto on Wed 5th Jan 2005

Liberal Democrats believe that freedom is a basic human right. Everybody should be able to make independent choices about how they live their life, provided those choices don't harm anyone else. Everybody should have the opportunity to make the most of their life in a diverse society that values individuals and their differences.

Freedom is underpinned by fairness. To give everyone a fair chance to make the most of their potential, we need a high quality National Health Service and excellent education, so they are not unnecessarily held back by ill health or a poor education, regardless of how much money they have.

At the same time, people need to be able to trust government. They need to trust that government will listen to them and be honest and open about what it is doing. People deserve a government that tells the truth and keeps its promises. Liberal Democrats want to make government more open, more democratic and closer to the people it is meant to serve.

But trust also works the other way - the government must trust the people of Britain. That means giving people as much freedom as possible, trusting local communities to make decisions about their own local services, and listening to the views of ordinary people about what their communities, jobs and families need most.