The Liberal Democrats have published their 2024 manifesto, with highlights including a pledge to replace Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) with police boards made up of councillors and representatives, introduce vape regulations and a ban single-use devices, as well as introduce a new levy on tobacco company profits.
The party also said they will extend the soft drinks levy to juice- and milk-based drinks that are high in added sugar and administrate the deposit return scheme consistently across the UK.
Crime
The manifesto stated that far ‘too many people’, feeling safe in their community is ‘not the reality today’.
‘The Conservatives have talked tough on crime, but failed even to get the basics right,’ it continued. ‘Their unnecessary cuts and ineffective use of resources have contributed to the rise in unsolved crimes as police forces are left overstretched and under-resourced.’
Among the policies laid out by the Lib Dems are: restoring community policing, creating a new statutory guarantee that all burglaries will be attended and investigated, investing in the criminal justice system, and strengthening the supervision of offenders in the community.
The manifesto also stating that the party promises to scrap PCCs and replace them with local Police Boards made up of councillors and representatives from relevant local groups, while investing the savings in frontline policing.
Tobacco and vapes
The 117-page document included a promise to introduce regulations to halt the ‘dangerous use’ of vapes by children, while recognising the devices’ role in smoking cessation for adults. It also said it would push forward with banning the sale of single-use vapes, a pledge published by the Conservatives in March.
In addition to this, the Lib Dems will introduce a new levy on tobacco company profits to help fund healthcare and smoking cessation services. This could result in the price of tobacco increasing for retailers.
Drinks levy
The Lib Dem’s manifesto could make certain drinks categories more expensive, as the party have announced a promise to extend the soft drinks levy to juice-based and milk-based drinks that are high in added sugar.
This could include drinks such as flavoured milk, bottled milkshakes, ready-to-drink coffees, and orange juice.
At present, the soft drinks levy is 18p per litre paid to HMRC by the packager for drinks in the UK or importer of the drinks produced overseas. There is no levy on soft drinks containing less than 5g of sugar per 100ml 18p per litre on soft drinks containing between 5g and 8g of sugar per 100ml.
Deposit return scheme
The party added that it wishes to introduce a deposit return scheme (DRS) for food and drink bottles and containers, working with the devolved administrations to ensure consistency across the UK, ‘learning the lessons from the difficulties’ with the Scottish scheme.
Under the Conservative party, speculation is currently rife that the UK’s upcoming DRS is set to be delayed once again until 2028. No official announcement has been made yet, but it is understood the go-live date of 2025 is no longer accurate.
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