the liberal think tank

Julian Astle, David Laws, Paul Marshall and Alasdair Murray
September 2006

Britain after Blair combines an objective audit of New Labour’s decade in power with a collection of essays by Liberal Democrat MPs which offer fresh, liberal thinking on the challenges facing Britain today. It demonstrates how economic and social liberalism can be fused into a coherent agenda for government.

Key proposals include:

• A new constitutional settlement to re-invigorate British democracy, restore trust in the political system and return power to citizens.
• A concerted effort to make Britain an opportunity society and reduce dependency by tackling educational failure, increasing housing supply and reforming welfare.
• Building on Labour’s success with the economy, including matching fiscal with monetary stability, making taxes simpler, boosting free trade and facing up to tough choices on public spending.
• Replacing warm words on the environment with action, by setting up a home energy efficiency programme, curbing car emissions, increasing renewable energy, improving public transport and introducing road pricing.
• A coherent and principled foreign policy, which restores Britain’s reputation as an independent force committed to upholding international law, reforming international institutions and helping the poorest developing countries by reducing trade barriers.
• A new approach to domestic security – at the national and local levels – to combat terrorism, violent crime and anti-social behaviour.

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