Lib Dems unveil anti-poverty plan

9.10.08am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 28th Jul 2007

Liberal Democrats promise to lift five million out of relative poverty says David Laws MP

The Liberal Democrats have unveiled plans which they say would lift five million people out of "relative poverty" and end "dependency culture". The party plans to introduce incentives for working, saving and studying. It also wants to remove higher earners from the Tax Credits system and cut the number claiming means-tested benefits by 10 million by 2020. The party promised to tackle "causes", rather than "symptoms", of the UK's "massive inequalities".

Labour's "spread of mass means-testing undermines incentives to work, save and even form stable families", Lib Dem children, schools and families spokesman David Laws said.

'National disgrace' "Under Gordon Brown, Britain remains a society of massive inequalities of both income and opportunity. It is a national disgrace that Britain is the developed country where your chances in life are most dependent on your family background rather than your own abilities and hard work." He also criticised the Conservatives under David Cameron for a "great leap backwards to the failed policies of Victorian Britain".

Mr Laws added: "The Liberal Democrat vision is of a society of genuine opportunity where, instead of treating the symptoms of inequality, we treat its causes - poor educational opportunities, unemployment, bad housing and unstable families." The anti-poverty proposals included a "pupil premium" where £1.5bn extra would be targeted at children with the greatest need from the poorest backgrounds.

Tax credit reform

The Lib Dems also promised to reform tax credits, and raise Child Benefit by about £5 per family per week, which they said would take 150,000 children out of poverty.

Job Centre Plus would be replaced with a new agency, called First Steps, which the Lib Dems said would be a "single one-stop-shop for all benefit and tax credit claims".

Other proposals are for employment support to be outsourced to the private and voluntary sectors and for a single working-age benefit to be introduced.

The Lib Dems say they would also immediately restore the earnings link to the basic state pension and eventually introduce a citizens' pension.

An Independent Commission on Public Sector Pensions would be established "to ensure that they are fair and affordable," the party added.