"If you change your mind, I'm the first in line: Honey, I'm still free, take a chance on me!" The words of the Abba song boomed out at the north London launch of the Liberal DemocratsAlso known as the Lib Dems, a liberal political party in the UK. ' manifesto. The party is tipped to take many more than the 11 seats it won in 2019: perhaps 50. But its only real hope of taking power is as part of a coalitionTwo sides working together officially. government.

"For a fair deal" is the Lib Dems' election slogan: "A fair deal where everyone can afford a decent home...where every child can go to a good school and have real opportunities... where everyone can get the high-quality healthcare they need."¹

In the headlines. The manifesto was accompanied by a document setting out the party's costings - something the other parties have not provided. It plans, for instance, to raise an extra £5.2bn for the NHSThe National Health Service, the publicly funded healthcare system in the UK. The NHS was founded in 1948. by increasing Capital Gains TaxTaxes people pay when they sell an asset such as stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, jewellery and real estate. . Some of this would be used to introduce free social care for everyone in England.   

Economy. No increase in income tax, national insuranceIn the UK, a tax on money you earn, either from your job or by being self-employed. or VATShort for value added tax. It is payable to the government by a business that sells an item. Essential items like food are zero-rated. Children's clothes are also exceptions., but new taxes on banks, fossil fuel companies and aviation. Government spending to increase by nearly £27bn a year by 2029. The benefit cap - the limit to how much one household can claim - to be removed.  

Education. Free school meals for all primary-school pupils. Extra tutoring for children from poor families. Spending on each student to increase by more than inflationAn increase in the price of goods in an economy. .  

Immigration. No aim to cut numbers. The RwandaA country in the centre of Africa. At least 500,000 people were killed in the appalling genocide of 1994. scheme would be scrapped and "safe and legal routes" provided for asylum seekersPeople who have left their countries due to danger and are seeking refuge elsewhere. .

Health and social care. 8,000 more GPsGeneral Practitioners, a British term for doctors who work in the community to treat patients with minor illnesses and refer seriously ill people to hospital specialists. in England, free social care and more mental health support. Most cancer patients to begin treatment within 62 days. Access to an NHS dentist for anyone who needs it urgently.

Society. Introduce a written constitutionA document that sets out the fundamental rules according to which a country is governed, which are usually difficult to change. and reform the House of LordsIn the UK, the upper chamber of the UK Parliament. It is made up of hereditary peers, the Lords Spiritual (bishops) and life peers. . Bring in proportional representationA voting system in which the winning party gets a proportion of parliamentary seats equal to its proportion of the vote. and give a vote to 16 and 17-year-olds. Remove recently introduced limits on the right to protest.

"Perhaps the most instructive takeaway from today's manifesto is to note that it is far, far less ambitious than the one that preceded it," wrote Sky's Ed Conway. Instead of promising to rejoin the EUEuropean Union. An economic and political union of 27 countries. as soon as possible, the initial aim is to rejoin the single marketAlso known as a common market. When a group of countries agree to remove trade barriers, so border regulations do not apply to goods travelling between the countries. , with the EU as a "longer-term objective".

A promise to put tackling climate change "at the heart of a new industrial strategy" replaces one to put it "at the centre of all our policies". The Lib Dems do, however, aim to achieve net zeroWhen the gases going into the atmosphere are balanced by those being taken out of it. carbon emissions by 2045 - five years sooner than Labour and the Conservatives.

According to The Economist, "Most of their policies (less sewage, more nurses) are hard to dislike... but even if you are extremely animated by sewage, it is not all that clear why you should vote for them - or even how hungry the party is for success."

Writing in The Guardian, John Crace argues that the manifesto could have been much shorter: "The real reason most people voting Lib Dem in just over three weeks' time will be doing so is that they aren't the Tories. That is enough."

Do you agree?

Yes: An opinion poll about the most popular election policies found that the top three were Lib Dem ones. They understand the things people really care about, and are prepared to spend money on them.  

No: Although they have provided costings, they are not realistic ones. They hope to raise at least £7bn by cracking down on tax avoidanceWhen a person finds legal loopholes to avoid taxes/pay less tax. It is different to tax evasion, which is when someone does not pay taxes in an illegal way. - £2bn more than their rivals - which is madly optimistic.  

Or... Even if they do not end up in government, the Lib Dems could play a vital part in the general election by drawing votes away from other parties - particularly the Conservatives.