Double statutory pay for parental leave, Lib Dems urge at party conference
The Lib Dems have used their autumn party conference in Bournemouth this weekend to call for double statutory pay for parental leave.
The party says it is making the call because ânot enough menâ are taking leave.
Education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said an extra month of use-it-or-lose-it time off could also help many fathers who âsimply canât affordâ to spend time with their babies.
Shared parental leave would also be increased to 46 weeks under plans being presented at the conference in Bournemouth, which is launching with a suite of proposals centred on education and childcare.
New parents are currently eligible for 37 weeks of shared paid leave, and the party also wants to extend to 46 weeks.
Statutory shared parental pay should also double from ÂŁ172.48 per week to ÂŁ350 per week to ease the financial burden for families, the Lib Dems said.
The party says it also wants to expand parental leave to include self-employed workers.
It argues that commitments on parental leave are central to its promise of a âfair deal,â which forms the blueprint of its policy pledges going into a general election expected next year.
Similar proposals featured in the partyâs 2019 election manifesto, which the party has diverged from on other issues like Brexit.
Unveiling the plans at conference, Ms Wilson said: âWe need to persuade more Kens in this world to take a short break from doing beach and head on back to the Mojo Dojo Casa House. But I know that many dads do want to spend more time with their kids, they just simply canât afford it.
âSo Liberal Democrats will turbocharge parental leave, doubling pay so that new parents donât have to rush back to work if they donât want to, extending it to cover the first full year of a childâs life.â
Small-group tutoring to help pupils who have fallen behind in class would also become a permanent fixture in Englandâs schools under Lib Dem proposals.
Schools, sixth forms and further education colleges would receive ÂŁ390 million a year to offer 12-week tailored support to around 1.75 million children under the plans, the party said.
The party is planning to use the conference, which it believes could be its last before a general election expected next year, to agree on policies to woo so-called âblue wallâ voters in southern England.
Among other proposals is a policy to give a new âblue flagâ statusâ to rivers in Britain to protect them from sewage dumping.
The designations would echo a similar international scheme that exists for beaches and marinas which requires a series of environmental standards to be met.
Sewage became a major political battleground during the May local elections in so-called âblue wallâ seats in southern England, where the Lib Dems are seeking to win over traditionally Tory voters.
Funding to enforce the scheme would be raised through a so-called âsewage taxâ on water companies, with additional fines levied on those who continue to pollute rivers with the special status, the party said.
Elsewhere, former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said the Illegal Migration Act would be âripped up on day oneâ of a Lib Dem government and hit out at Labour for being âtoo scaredâ to properly back those in need of sanctuary as he introduced the motion, which was unanimously voted through into policy.
The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP described the Lib Dems as a party not afraid to support those at risk of slipping into modern slavery âeven and especially if it is not always popular to do soâ.
He accused the Tories of being willing to put âvictims of modern slavery at even greater risk if they think it will give them shallow political advantageâ, adding: âWe will scrap the absolutely appalling Illegal Migration Act in full â no caveats, no excuses, no cowardly backtracking. That Act gets ripped up on day one of a Liberal Democrat administration.â
Mr Farron added: âAnd the Labour Party, slipping back into New Labour habits. Too scared of tabloids to risk being seen to be on the side of those in desperate need of sanctuary and liberation.â
It comes after a row broke out between the Lib Dems and Labour over by-election campaigning in the blue wall seat of Mid Bedfordshire, which both parties are vying to win.
Labour has threatened to contact police over what it claims amount to âsmearâ tactics and inflated representations of the partyâs performance in polls, while the Lib Dems have rubbished the accusations as âdirty tricksâ.
Meanwhile, leader Sir Ed Davey ruled out a pre-election pact with Sir Keir Starmerâs party, telling the BBC: âIâve said in every single by-election since Iâve been leader there will be no pacts, there will be no deals. And I donât think voters want parties to stitch things up.â
Additional reporting by Press Association.