Constitution

Monarchy

  • We believe that there is no place in a Liberal society for any form of hereditary power, however notional. As the Monarchy possess’ residual power we would remove all remaining political power from the Monarchy including dissolving, proroguing, summoning and opening Parliament, assenting to Acts of Parliament, appointing the Prime Minister, presiding over the Privy Council, issuing pardons, signing treaties, and so on and so forth. 

  • It is a necessary part of creating a Liberal society for the Monarchy to retain a purely ceremonial role and for all members of the Royal Family to pay full UK tax, including inheritance tax. State funding of the Monarchy should be confined to the Monarch the consort and the heir to the throne, at the level necessary for them to fulfil their ceremonial duties. All members of the Royal Family should have the right to vote. 

Government 

  • Constituency Boundaries should be equalised in terms of population. (Reviewed every General Election)  

  • A written Constitution. 

  • If the Prime Minister resigns, make it mandatory for their successor to subsequently hold a general election within 6 weeks. 

  • Federalism to devolve power away from Westminster (Full Fiscal Autonomy for Scotland, Wales and NI):
    • Scrap the Barnett formula. 
    • All powers would be devolved including Immigration; however, Westminster would retain control over Monetary Policy, Foreign Affairs, Constitutional Policy and Defence. 

  • Abolish The House of Lords and replace it with a fully elected upper chamber (called the House of Nations and Regions) of approximately 300, representing all the Nations and Regions of the UK: 
    • Would act as a chamber of scrutiny, amendment and approval so that legislation would receive proper, careful consideration before finally becoming law. 
    • Would not be able to veto laws merely revise them. 
    • Elections will be held every 10 years. 
    • The D’Hondt Method will be used (5% threshold). 
    • Members of the upper chamber would be salaried at £100,250 (plus expenses).
    • All fully elected members of the upper chamber would be non-partisan and therefore would run as independents in an election.  

  • Re-introduce EVEL and ensure that MP’s from other constituent parts of the UK are not allowed to vote on English-only laws. 

  • Reintroduce The Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011. 

  • Separation between Church and State: 
    • Remove the constitutional recognition of the Church of England or indeed any other religious organisation as an official state religion.
    • The monarch should have the choice of leading the Church of England otherwise the church will be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

  • The House of Commons will be reformed so as to increase the power of individual MP’s in relation to the government. Select Committees will be given more power and there will be more free votes to reduce the stranglehold of the whips. 

  • New Legislation Committee to scrutinise drafting of all proposed Bills before they go before Parliament.

MP’s 

  • Reduce the number of MP’s from 650 to 600 MP’s: 
    • Raise the basic rate of salary for an MP from £84,144 to £100,250 (plus expenses) 
    • Make the expenses, benefits, and gifts system a professional and accountable system for the primary benefit of the office of the MP rather than the MP personally.

  • 60 Scottish MP’s / 40 Welsh MP’s / 20 Northern Ireland’s MP’s. 

  • Ban MP’s from having ‘second jobs’ specifically, when that job is a clear and unequivocal conflict of interest with regards to their role as an MP. 

  • If an MP defects to another party, make it mandatory for them to hold a By-Election. 

  • Mandate the provision of televised leaders’ debates in every general election, based on rules produced by Ofcom.

  • A system of recall for MPs – 10% of constituents (also applicable to local councillors and mayors).

Civil Service

  • One Central HR Department with unified pay scales and agreements across the board.

  • A Separate Investigations and Compliance department for the whole of the Civil Service.

  • Limit the number of outsourcing going to private companies by at least 50% i.e. Consultants.

Voting 

  • Introduce proportional representation through the Single Transferable Vote for electing MPs, Local Councillors and Mayors in England. (5% threshold) 

  • On every election ballot paper have a ‘None of The Above’ as an option for voters. 

  • Lower the voting age to 16. 

  • Automatic voter registration: 
    • Insist that students must be registered to vote at their parental home rather than in the constituency where they are temporarily resident for educational purposes. If it is impractical to return home to vote, they should be allowed a postal vote. 

  • The Liberal Party will end postal voting fraud by restricting postal votes to those with a valid reason for needing one: 
    • Disabled, proven inability to travel to a designated polling place, travelling abroad and students would all constitute a valid reason for having a postal vote. 

  • Introduce digital voting by 2030.

Citizen’s 

  • Enable all UK citizens living abroad to vote for MPs in separate overseas constituencies, and to participate in UK referendums (50%+1 of possible turnout voting in favour). 

  • Establish UK and local citizens’ assemblies to ensure that the public are fully engaged in finding solutions to the greatest challenges we face, such as tackling the climate emergency. 

Political Donations 

  • Overhaul all UK political donations – strict limits to be applied to individuals, companies and trade unions:  
    • It would be linked to inflation and we would only allow individuals, companies and trade unions to donate a maximum of £10,000 each to a political party per year.
    • During election campaigns political parties would only be allowed to spend a maximum of 10 million pounds each.

Access to Information and Accountability 

  • The establishment of a National Regulatory Office, directly answerable to a House of Commons Select Committee on Regulatory Regimes. 

  • A change in Parliamentary procedures to allow members of the public to make formal complaints about the maladministration by official bodies and government departments directly to the Commissioner for Administration, without the complaint having to be referred by an MP. 

  • The role of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration to be widened to include all units of the state, including QUANGOS, non-departmental public bodies and local government.