Introduction

There are many good things about Cambridge. Its people are, on average, relatively well off; it has some of the most beautiful buildings in Europe; it is a centre of technological innovation and academic excellence; it has a world famous teaching hospital; and it has a lively cultural life.

But all is not well. The City's environment is threatened by pollution and strangled by traffic. There is homelessness and there are pockets of real poverty. There is also a general malaise, a feeling that the City is not fulfilling its potential. This is coupled with a feeling that people have little say in what is done in their name and that the city is run for the benefit of others.

This programme sketches out some ways in which Liberal Democrats believe that local government in Cambridge can help to build on the best things about Cambridge and to tackle some of the problems.

Local government can only do so much. The change in government at national level has done nothing to reverse the enormous centralisation of power that Britain suffers from. Indeed the present prime minister seems even more hostile to local autonomy than his predecessor. But local government can help itself by making sure that local administration sets high standards of service and efficiency.

The Liberal Democrat Approach

Liberal Democrats are committed to local government. We believe in decentralisation, in local people making as many of the decisions that affect their lives as possible. We believe in local community action and local democracy. We want to create a new sense of community in which people work together for the common benefit.

But our commitment to community is built on an even more fundamental commitment to individual rights - most of all the right to participate as an equal in decision-making and the right to equal concern and respect as an individual. We utterly oppose discrimination, as we reject all ideologies that treat people as members of groups or categories and not as individuals. The community spirit we want to see is one based on tolerance, inclusion and mutual respect.

We see the role of the local politician as bringing people together so that they can work out solutions to their problems for themselves. This often means compromise and forbearance. It always means hard work by local representatives to find out what people want to do and to create an atmosphere of tolerant and rational debate.

Liberal Democrats are committed to environmental sustainability, to prosperity through enterprise and innovation, to universal access to high quality education and health care, to effective and efficient public services, to decent housing and to a general sense of public safety and security.

It is a set of policies and values that makes sense nationally. And it also makes sense locally. Local government has an important role to play in environmental protection, economic development, education, health and policing, along with the other services, such as housing, which it delivers directly.

"Because our vision is of a Britain of self-reliant individuals, living in strong communities, backed by active government ...

"Because we believe that Britain’s problems cannot be solved by Westminster ...[but by] our ability to release the power commitment and skill which lie within our communities ...

"Because we like [government] as close to the people as possible...

"Because we believe that government’s first role is not to help people but to help people help themselves"