Liberal Democrats

From RationalWiki

The Liberal Democrats – often referred to as "Lib Dems", are the third biggest party in the United Kingdom.^[1]

They were formed from an alliance of the old Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party and they have 63 MPs in the House of Commons, and 78 Lords in the House of Lords. The Federal Party's leader is Nick Clegg – an atheist.^[2]

Most Lib Dems are liberals; the internal spectrum is mostly between social liberalism and economic liberalism. On the traditional left-right spectrum, most place the party in the centre or centre-left. Political Compass puts the party on the socially liberal side of their two-dimensional spectrum, with both the Labour party and the Conservatives on the socially authoritarian side.^[3]

They support things like civil liberties, reviewing the law on recreational drugs,^[4] anti-discrimination laws, same-sex marriages, abortion, and genetic research. They like progressive taxes, increased public service provision, fiscal rules, immigration, multi-lateralism, intervention in other countries only with UN backing,^[5] increasing aid spending, fighting global warming, disestablishing the Church of England, and electoral and government reform.^[6] They favour maintaining Britain's nuclear weapons in some form for the present time. ^[7]

The preamble to the party's constitution states:^[8]

The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience and their right to develop their talents to the full. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. We believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals, to contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions which affect their lives.