MERITOCRACY

A Legislative Manifesto For The Liberal Party In Coalition Government

Meritocracy is a manifesto for the Liberal Party's time as part of the Coalition Government of the United Kingdom. Having concluded our divorce with social democracy, it is time for a new and exciting raft of radical proposals to re-energize the liberal movement nationwide. These workable suggestions shall act as our legislative agenda for the next three years they range from our areas of Cabinet competence such as education and health, to power distribution and business and beyond. Liberalism's lifeforce, we contend, is in rewarding the deserving and championing liberty.

Foreword

An Inclusive Outlook On Distribution Of Powers

1. Give considerable attention to Scotland, Wales and less prosperous areas of the UK in the push for the enterprise zones scheme to be extended, if its effectiveness can be evidenced. 2. Evaluate a British bid for the 1992 Olympics with Glasgow as potential host city, allowing for mass regeneration and new hope for a whole region. 3. Push for referendums on devolution for all regions of the country, in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It's the people who should decide!. 4. Greater focus on local history, language and culture as part of the new national curriculum. The Liberal Party is simultaneously proud to be British, and proud of our local areas too. 5. Revive the ailing tourism industry, with special focus on the Welsh and Scottish offerings. 6. If appropriate, devolve more powers to Local Government, with the principle of subsidiarity in mind. 7. Look into the option of fixed-term Parliaments to replace a situation where Prime Ministers can arbitrarily call snap elections and destabilize the political system. 8. Energize the national debate about electoral reform, making the case for a mixed system of representation which maintains a constituency link while giving people a fair vote and an equal voice at a national level. This, at a time when the usual suspects have no interest in change. 9. Seek reform of the EEC's increasingly protectionist Common Agricultural Policy.

11 Progressive Moves For Education & Culture

The Liberals shall spend our time in Government wisely, and pledge to utilize our Education & Culture remit to its maximum effect, including the following:
1. New exam framework to replace O- and A-Levels, with a points quota for flexible individual focus and percentages rather than grades to reward good achievement more openly. 2. National curriculum which places emphasis on workplace readiness and practical skills. 3. Business-approved back-to-work vocational qualification to provide sound adult education, as well as opportunity for jobless aspirers and expanding employers alike. Offer incentives to businesses which take on apprentices who have just left school. 4. Free school meals for children whose parents are on low incomes and free school milk for all stateschooled children: keeping our future generations' minds active, studious and engaged. 5. More and better school inspections, with headteachers required to provide an ambitious annual plan for progress. 6. Self-financing School Olympics to promote healthy living and friendly competition. 7. Community focus: local history, culture and language to be treated with due respect in the education system. 8. More Government help for aspring students and academics from underprivileged backgrounds. 9. Abolition of corporal punishment which still blights private schooling for many children. Full report into whether the unlawful practice is still ongoing in state schools. 10. Redirect surplus teaching assistants in order to cut class sizes and give children more individual focus in class. 11. 50+1 fan ownership model and supporters' right to buy for sports clubs to improve wider satisfaction and simultaneously lower prices.

A Strong & Fair Economy Of Prosperous Businesses

1. Assess the virtues of a land value tax, potentially bringing in over 100bn per annum, allowing for the abolition of VAT, and other reductions to ordinary people's tax bill while taxing progressively. 2. Corporation tax incentives for business who take on apprentices at school-leaving age. 3. Emphasis on mutualizing with workers at the heart of the presently state-run industries, and/or breaking up relevant assets into fair, competitive units rather than allow a singular sell-off to corporate interests. 4. Create a Small Business Fund administered by a relevant Agency to provide credit to ambitious companies whose expansion will be able to create sustainable jobs. 5. Legislate to promote profit sharing among all employees rather than unfair directorial bonuses. 6. Have local councils buy up and rent out smallholdings which can be used by local people as a labour-intensive form of work, in stark contrast to unworkable and pricey urban works schemes. 7. Legally treat employees as individual members of their company with new rights to vote in their board of directors, know the company's strategic planning, and participate in works councils. 8. Launch a 'red tape challenge' to repeal bureaucratic barriers to the growth of British firms. 9. A stronger Office of Fair Trading to defend small businesses from predatory monopolization threats. 10. Seek simplification of the British tax burden : create a Commission to assess the way forward for bringing in revenue in a clear and non-bureaucratic fashion. 11. Less regulation for the small community banks which should be a key asset of all local areas. 12. Support and improve existing plans for a national community service scheme to be introduced for young people.

Further Areas For Legislative Action

1. Save money and improve care for recovering NHS patients with a review into the creation of hospital hotels which will free up beds for those who most need them. 2. Lead the charge for a welfare society rather than a welfare state, providing options for co-operative societies to flourish all over the United Kingdom and provide a volunteer spirit of mutual aid. 3. Work with policing experts to implement new training for riot control and crowd management, which avoid the sometimes confrontational tactics of recent years. 4. More cultural exchanges and twinning projects to promote internationalism and an inclusive, farreaching world outlook for future generations. 5. Recognize and set out the case that Britain is already more than capable of defending itself a bigger nuclear arsenal and higher defence budget are threatening signals at a time when the Iron Curtain is slowly but surely retracting. 6. Set aside a fund for agri-businesses looking to go organic, and thereby reduce the damaging dependency on pesticides and chemicals.

Meritocracy: The Facts

- According to a recent CBI survey, 90% of managers said greater worker involvement in business is beneficial for A) productivity, B) energy usage, and C) technology. - Nearly 80% of Britons support a scheme of compulsory youth community service. - Latest MORI and Gallup polling data shows 61% of people back higher public spending and taxes if necessary to maintain services only 17% disagree. - 500,000 acres of farmable land lies derelict in our inner cities, according to a recent report. - According to Newsweek figures, a 20.4bn public works scheme would only create 173,000 jobs, whereas The Open University claim a UK agricultural self-sufficiency scheme would create 1,750,000 positions. - Only 120,000 Britons currently work on the land a lower proportion than any other European nation. - Around 70% of the UK's land is owned by less than 1% of the population mainly the aristocracy.