Liberal Democrats this week called on their leadership to keep child benefits universal, seek to scrap tuition fees and take a more socially reponsible approach to cutting the deficit. The Lib Dem conference in Liverpool voted overwhelmingly to support a motion on “ensuring fairness in a time of austerity”.
The motion, which will now form part of the party’s policy, demands that the Tory-created Office for Budget Responsibility expand its role from checking the affordability of public spending to “assessing the socio-economic impact of Treasury policy”.
One activist called it “sticking a rocket where it needs to go”.
Tribune understands that Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander sought to have a line, which calls for the OBR chief to be appointed by Parliament instead of the Chancellor, removed from the motion. David Hall-Matthews of the left-leaning Social Liberal Forum, told the debate: “We accept the need for cuts, but the Conservatives don’t need us to tell them to do it – some of them positively enjoy it – but they do need us to tell them how to do it”.
The motion also says Lib Dem ministers should have the freedom to plan increases in taxation on wealth, with a view to campaigning on this at the next general election.
