Earlier this month the Liberal Democrats launched its BAME Manifesto. It spells out how we will continue to protect the rights and opportunities of Britain’s ethnic minorities – the right to live in peace, to receive an education, to get a job, to raise a family free from fear, and, above all, the right to be treated fairly without reference to race, colour, national or ethnic origins.
There are many policies in the BAME Manifesto which promote equal opportunities in our society and commit us to tackling discrimination wherever we see it. The fact we are the only Party to stipulate our commitment to outlaw caste discrimination is an illustration of that.
With our policies, we will be taking a pro-active approach towards combating racism and discrimination, tackling inequality in all aspects of our society and positively valuing the contribution of different cultures and perspectives, and treating them with respect.
We have shown this in practice in government over the last five years. The Liberal Democrats have stopped many of the Conservatives’ policies that would not help the majority of people in the UK, from inheritance tax cuts for millionaires, to profit-making in schools and even firing workers at will.
Yet, last week, the Conservatives announced their “Vision 2020 for BAME communities”.
In my opinion, this puts paper over the cracks of their plans for Britain’s ethnic minorities.
A Conservative government, led by David Cameron and held hostage by UKIP partners and the right wing of his party, would be detrimental to Britain’s ethnic minorities and would be an ideological lurch to the right
A Conservative Party acting in its callow self-interest, promising a devastating level of cuts (£12 billion in welfare alone) and leaving themselves vulnerable to an angry mob of right wingers from UKIP, the DUP and their own backbenches is a real possibility.
A Government that will lurch away to the extremes of the right because David Cameron is held to ransom by hard right ideologues that will threaten Black, Asian or minority ethnic communities and our shared values of each other is a real possibility.
Liberal Democrats ended the broken two-party system that saw power handed back and forth between the blue team and the red team in a depressing game of pass the parcel.
But I never imagined that what would follow would be the sort of threat that faces us today. Make no mistake, there is a clear and present danger that a coalition involving BLUKIP or the SNP– party’s that want to rip apart, will hold the balance of power after May 7.
If you want a stable government that will stand up for equality and diversity and won't lurch to the extremes of left or right, you have to vote for it.
The era of the single party government is over, and it is only the Liberal Democrats who will add a heart to a Conservative government and a brain to a Labour one.
