BBC News | UK POLITICS | Lib Dem pre-manifesto at a glance

The main policies of the Liberal Democrats pre-manifesto document, Freedom in a Liberal Society:

Health

Invest in the NHS by recruiting and beginning to train an extra 5,000 doctors and an extra 20,000 nurses over three years.

Cut prescription charges and tackle the postcode lottery in prescribing medicines by creating a new Pharmaceuticals Agency to work alongside the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to negotiate drug purchases.

Scrap charges for dental and eye check-ups, using funding from a 10p increase on cigarettes.

Education

Reduce class sizes for five to 11-year-olds a maximum average class size of 25 in primary schools.

Provide free nursery places for all three- and four-year-olds whose parents want them.

Abolish tuition fees for university students.

Pensions, wages and benefits

Increase the basic state pension and make extra payments to the over-75s and over-80s.

Reduce taxation for the lowest paid by abolishing the 10p starting rate of income tax.

Introduce a new top rate tax of 50p on those earning more than �100,000 a year.

Increase child benefit for the youngest child under five and scrap the Child Support Agency.

Law and order

Provide funding for an extra 6,000 police officers.

Give victims or their families greater rights to be heard in court.

Transport

Improve public transport with funding from urban congestion and workplace car parking charges.

Lower freight vehicle excise duty.

Economy

Strengthen the independence of the Bank of England.

Set out a positive timetable and policies for achieving a sustainable entry into the euro.

Business and innovation

Cut business rates for small businesses.

Promote a knowledge-based economy by boosting research and promoting links between universities and businesses.

Constitution

Work to introduce a form of proportional representation through the Single Transferrable Vote system.

Replace the House of Lords with a smaller directly elected Senate.

Lower the voting age to 16 and allow people to stand for office at the same age.

Civil liberties

Pass an Equality Act to tackle all discrimination and create a Human Rights Commission.

Retain the right to jury trials which is under threat from the government's Mode of Trial Bill.

Replace the voucher system for asylum seekers and ensure their applications are dealt with in a speedy, fair way.

Europe

Argue for a constitution for the European Union and strengthen anti-fraud measures.

Defence

Work for the elimination of all nuclear weapons and push for a new round of arms reduction talks.

End subsidies for arms sold to foreign regimes by ending the practice of the Export Credit Guarantee Department.


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