Ian Swales welcomes major Lib Dem policies in Queen’s Speech

Newly elected Lib Dem MP for Redcar constituency, Ian Swales, has welcomed today’s Queen's Speech saying that many important Liberal Democrat policies will be implemented by the coalition Government in the next 18 months.

Mr Swales said:

“I am very pleased that so many Liberal Democrat priorities that I have campaigned on during the election campaign will now be put in place to make our country fairer.

“Policies like a fairer and simpler tax system, restoring the link between earnings and pensions, restoring freedom and civil liberties by scrapping ID cards and passing a Great Repeal Bill that we have long argued for, will now be put in practice.

“We all know that our public finances are in a very bad state and spending cuts will be inevitable. However, I will be making the case in Westminster that this area needs a helping hand after more than a decade of Labour neglect and failure. I will now concentrate on providing a strong voice for Redcar constituency and Teesside as a whole in Westminster.”

• Making the tax and benefits system fairer and simpler, including a significant increase in the personal allowance and an ambition to increase it to £10,000
• Restoring the earnings link to pensions
• Greater freedoms for teachers over the curriculum
• Measures to improve energy efficiency in homes and businesses
• Support for low carbon energy production
• Financial services regulation to learn the lessons of the financial crisis
• Fixed term parliaments of five years
• A referendum on the Alternative Vote
• The right to sack MPs guilty of serious misconduct
• Reform of party funding
• Moving towards a wholly or partly elected House of Lords, elected by proportional representation
• A Bill to restore freedoms and civil liberties, through the abolition of Identity Cards and repeal of unnecessary laws
• Giving greater powers to councils and giving neighbourhoods and communities more control over planning and housing decisions
• Ending child detention
• Fair compensation for Equitable Life victims
• Enabling the creation of a national high speed rail network
• The modernisation of the Royal Mail
• Flexible working and promotion of equal pay
• Strengthening the voices of patients and the role of doctors in the NHS
• A commission on long-term reform of social care
• Cutting Quangos and government bureaucracy
• Implementing the recommendations of the Calman Commission
• A referendum on further powers for the Welsh Assembly

A full list of Bills and other items from the Queen’s Speech is available here.