The Liberal Party exists to build a Liberal Society in which every citizen shall possess liberty, property and security, and none shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. Its chief care is for the rights and opportunities of the individual and in all spheres it sets freedom first.
It believes that each generation is responsible for the fate of the Earth and the balance of nature. It works to ensure that people and institutions accept these responsibilities.
It looks forward to a world in which all peoples live together in peace under an effective and democratically constituted World Authority; in which all peoples are able to enjoy continuous access to the Earth’s environment and natural resources; in which the various cultures of mankind can develop freely without being warped by nationalist, racial or religious antagonism; and in which the free movement of ideas, of people and of goods is guaranteed to the benefit of all. To these ends it sees this country as committed to supporting and strengthening the United Nations, to working steadfastly for the eventual abolition of national armies and armaments, to co-operating with other countries to build a United Europe and to making a special effort together with richer nations towards assisting that part of mankind whose essential freedoms are denied by poverty and hunger. It welcomes the establishment of links with other countries insofar as such groupings advance these Liberal aims.
At home its goal is a country in which the powers of the state will be used to establish social justice, to wage war against poverty, to spread wealth and power, to ensure that the country’s resources are conserved for future generations whilst being wisely developed for the benefit of the whole community and to create the positive conditions which will make a full and free life possible for all regardless of colour, creed, race, sex or sexual orientation; a country in which, under the protection of law, all citizens shall have the right to think freely, to speak freely, to write freely and to vote freely; power through a just electoral system to shape the laws which they are called upon to obey; autonomous institutions ensuring genuine self-government; an effective voice in deciding the conditions in which they live and work; liberty to buy, sell and produce in circumstances which secure for the consumer real freedom of choice; guarantees against the abuse of monopoly, whether private or public; opportunity to work at a fair wage; decent homes in a varied and attractive environment; good education and facilities for the full cultivation of the human personality; an assurance that the community shall enjoy the benefits of publicly-created land values; and, as a safeguard of independence, the personal ownership of property by all citizens. These are the conditions of liberty, which it is the function of the State to protect and enlarge.
The Liberal Party consists of men and women working together for the achievement of these aims.