Principles
The best known statement of the principles that underpin the Liberal Democrat approach to politics comes from the preamble to the party's constitution. This opens with the following words:
"The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity."The current official statement of Liberal Democrat principles, "It's About Freedom", builds on this. It describes our core values thus:
"The core of the Liberal Democrat intellectual inheritance is Liberalism. We start from the autonomy and worth of the individual. Any interference with the freedom of the individual to live as he or she chooses requires to be justified, if it can be, by reference to a system of values drawn from that primary recognition of individual freedom."Going further:
"If, metaphorically, you scratch the surface of a Liberal Democrat, you should find a commitment to freedom, a zeal to ensure that no-one is deprived of freedom, a desire to create a society in which people can enjoy freedom, and a recognition that our first political duty - particularly if we are ourselves in power - is to ensure that the mechanisms to protect freedom are in good order, and power is as widely shared as possible. It is even more important to be sure of these things than it is to be impressed by some aspect of current party policy, however valuable it may be."