Vote Liberal Democrat in the European Elections on June 4th

• Introduction
• Jobs
• The EU
• Crime
• Environment
• Defence and world trade

The recession is hurting businesses and families throughout Britain. Many people are losing their jobs, their livelihoods and their homes. The health of our economy is linked as never before to the health of those we trade with in Europe and beyond. We must work urgently with other European countries to help us all pull through recession.

More than 3 million jobs in the UK are dependent on trade with other EU countries. Working together with other European countries will help Britain beat recession and save jobs.

Liberal Democrats want to ensure that Britain comes out of recession in a better state than we went in. We would take this opportunity to help Britain’s economy and help combat climate change with investment in green jobs, green technology, energy efficient homes and offices and public transport we can be proud of.

Gordon Brown was arrogant and complacent about Britain’s economic performance. He lectured other countries about how he thought he had brought an end to “boom and bust” but he encouraged the unsustainable boom in debt which has led to this recession. Labour MEPs often fail to support British workers and businesses, for example by voting against their own government and backing damaging plans to scrap the UK's opt out of the 48 hour week limit in the Working Time Directive

Isolation under the Conservatives and UKIP would mean there would be nobody in Brussels to stand up for British jobs, British consumers and British businesses.

The EU can help to create lower and fair prices for things like energy and phone calls and stop companies ripping people off by price fixing. Liberal Democrat MEPs have helped to open up markets, increase competition, and protect consumers.

Liberal Democrats want to:

• Put money in people’s pockets with big, permanent tax cuts for ordinary people and families, funded by closing loopholes and unfair exemptions that benefit big business and the wealthy.
   
• Create more jobs. The Liberal Democrats will work with our European neighbours to create thousands of new jobs by breaking down trade barriers across Europe and boosting support for green jobs.
   
• Make banks work for us. The British banking system is inextricably bound up with banking systems across Europe. We must work together to keep an eye on how banks are operating across Europe and get a grip on the behaviour of credit institutions. We want more co-operation in Europe between national financial services authorities and the European Central Bank.
   
• A fair deal for shoppers and holidaymakers. We want to open markets in Europe and force down the costs of everything from medicines to mobile phone bills, meals and machinery. Liberal Democrats stood up for millions of British holidaymakers by slashing mobile phone roaming charges, blacklisting unsafe airlines, and introducing flight delay refunds. We will continue to fight for a better deal for Britain’s consumers.

More detail

There is more information on Liberal Democrat economic policies for Europe in our full manifesto.