The Liberal Democrats opened the door to US-style cannabis shops in Britain today as the party launched an election manifesto that also seeks to get the UK back into the EU.

Under the party’s health plans it would seek to tackle the spread of high-strength ‘skunk’ via criminal gangs by allowing ‘licensed retailers’ to sell less-potent weed to over-18s.

It would also treat harder drug use as a medical rather than criminal matter, diverting those arrested for carrying small amounts for personal use into treatment rather than the court system.

Sir Ed Davey took time off from an election campaign billed by Lib Dem frontbencher Munira Wilson as an ‘adrenaline-fuelled extreme sports tour of the UK’ to launch the manifesto in London today – before announcing he was off to ride a rollercoaster.  

He admitted the party’s ‘long-term’ goal was returning the UK to ‘the heart of Europe’ as he unveiled a programme of proposals that focusses on health and social care closer to home. 

Also among the proposals briefly mentioned were removing the requirement for medical reports before changing gender, something cricis said opened the door to self-identification. 

The 116-page manifesto – entitled For A Fair Deal – includes a £9.4 billion capital gains tax raid on banks and the super-rich to help fund free care in England.

But buried four pages from the end of the document was a pledge to start work on rejoining the EU Single Market – which includes freedom of movement for EU citizens.

Under the party’s health plans it would seek to tackle the spread of high-strength ‘skunk’ via criminal gangs by allowing ‘licensed retailers’ to sell less-potent weed to over-18s.

The 116-page manifesto includes a £9.4 billion capital gains tax raid on banks and the super-rich to help fund free care in England. 

He was introduced by Lib Dem health and education spokeswoman Munira Wilson as having taken time off from his from ‘adrenaline-fuelled extreme sports tour of the UK’ to do the launch, after a campaign marked by stunts.

Buried four pages from the end of the document was a pledge to seek to rejoin the EU Single Market – which includes freedom of movement for EU citizens.

Under the party’s health plans it would seek to tackle the spread of high-strength ‘skunk’ via criminal gangs by allowing ‘licensed retailers’ to sell less-potent weed to over-18s.

It also suggests the party would allow transgender people to legally change their sex without it being signed off by a doctor.

Facing the cameras at the launch today Sir Ed said: ‘We are not going to pretend that this is going to be easy. The Conservative Party has so poisoned our relationships with our closest allies, it has undermined trust.’ 

The Liberal Democrats’ manifesto vows to repair the UK’s ‘broken relationship with Europe’ as part of a series of measures aimed at improving economic stability and providing growth.

On taxes, the party promises to raise the money needed for its investment plans by:

• Reversing Tory tax cuts for the big banks, restoring Bank Surcharge and Bank Levy revenues to 2016 levels in real terms.
• Increasing the Digital Services Tax on social media firms and other tech giants from 2% to 6%.
• Fairly reforming capital gains tax to close loopholes exploited by the super wealthy.
• Introducing a 4% tax on the share buyback schemes of FTSE-100 listed companies, to incentivise productive investment, job creation and economic growth.

On political reform, Sir Ed told the launch his party would end the first-past-the-post voting system in favour of ‘fair votes with proportional representation’.

He said this would also involve ‘getting big money out of politics with a cap on donations to political parties, shifting power out of the centre’.

Sir Ed set out plan to also close loopholes to improve cancer care, repair hospitals and invest in public health.

But its position on gender ID is likely to provoke a backlash. 

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at human-rights charity Sex Matters, said: ‘Making it even easier for men to get government-issued certificates declaring themselves to be women, as the Liberal Democrats want to do, would be disastrous for women’s rights. 

‘This policy pledge is based on the fringe ideological belief that being male or female comes down to feeling masculine or feminine – that ”women” are bundles of regressive stereotypes rather than living, breathing human beings.

‘This policy, which amounts to legal gender self-ID, would put single-sex services in jeopardy. It would also make it harder to judge all other public policies according to how well they serve women’s needs.

‘Granting legal recognition to ”non-binary” identities is about as sensible as granting legal status to star signs. It would drive a coach and horses through decades of legal provisions to protect women’s rights, which are based on recognising that everyone is either male or female.’

The party is the first out of the blocks at the start of a week where the Tories, the Green Party and Labour are also expected to set out their election pledges.

The Lib Dem plan would include a right to see a GP within seven days, improving access to NHS dental care and wider availability of mental health services.

Sir Ed Davey’s party has focused its campaign on Tory-held seats in the so-called blue wall and sought to reassure voters by ruling out increases to income tax, VAT and national insurance contributions.

Instead it will fund its plan through tightening capital gains tax rules to squeeze an extra £5 billion out of the wealthiest 0.1 per cent in the country and a £4 billion tax hike for banks.

By 2028-29 a Liberal Democrat government would provide an extra £3.7 billion a year for day-to-day spending, helping to recruit 4,000 GPs and retain a further 4,000 within the profession.

The party plans to boost cancer survival rates and introduce a guarantee for 100 per cent of patients to start treatment for cancer within 62 days from urgent referral.

Some £1 billion a year would be earmarked for capital investment in hospitals, equipment and other health infrastructure.

Another £1 billion would go to public health, with the aim of helping people spend five more years of their life in good health.

And there would be £3.7 billion for social care – a subject close to Sir Ed’s heart.

The Lib Dem leader has spoken of his experience caring for his disabled son and, as a child, looking after his terminally ill mother.

His party would introduce free personal care so that provision is based on need, not ability to pay, and a higher care workers’ minimum wage, set £2 above the minimum wage.

Speaking at its launch in central London on Monday, Sir Ed said: ‘Caring has been in the shadows for loo long, and I’m proud that, as a party, we have brought it into the light.

‘Like so many people, my caring story started young. I was nine when my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, my dad had died when I was four, taken from us just a few months after being diagnosed with a cancer called Hodgkin lymphoma.’

He added: ‘I never called myself a young carer, I never thought of myself that way. I was just looking after my mum, because she needed it and I loved her.’

Sir Ed said he understands how carers feel, adding: ‘The truth is, unless we properly value care, unless we properly support carers, we will never be able to fix the crisis in our NHS or get our economy back on track.

‘And that’s why I’m so proud the Liberal Democrats have put health and care at the heart of our campaign in this General Election, and at the heart of our manifesto too.’

He said ‘the most touching messages of all have come from other carers’ as he reflected on the General Election campaign so far.

The manifesto will also set out plans to overhaul the water industry and tackle sewage pollution, a key theme of the Lib Dem campaign.

It would also include a policy of putting a dedicated mental health professional in every primary and secondary school.

And it will promise a new burglary response guarantee to tackle unsolved crimes.

Among the economic measures the party also pledges to enact is ‘long-term help with the cost of living by cutting energy bills through an emergency Home Energy Upgrade programme, tackling rising food prices through a National Food Strategy, and getting mortgage rates under control through careful economic management’.

The Lib Dems have vowed to maintain the triple lock on the state pension, in a similar move to Labour and the Conservatives, and also pledged to ensure women born in the 1950s who have been affected by pension age changes are ‘treated fairly and properly compensated’.

On political reform, Sir Ed told the launch his party would end the first-past-the-post voting system in favour of ‘fair votes with proportional representation’.

He said this would also involve ‘getting big money out of politics with a cap on donations to political parties, shifting power out of the centre’.