Lib Dems: Give parents Covid catch-up vouchers to spend

The Liberal Democrats are calling for parents to be given a £200 voucher per child to spend on activities such as extra tutoring, music or sports clubs.

The party says the £5bn scheme would help pupils catch up after the pandemic.

It comes as leader Sir Ed Davey prepares to address delegates at the party's autumn conference later.

He says the Lib Dems can deprive Boris Johnson of a majority at the next election.

Mr Davey's conference speech will be his first to a live audience since becoming party leader last year.

He will address a small audience of about 100 delegates at London's Canary Wharf - although the majority of the conference will be held online due to the pandemic.

He will point to success in June's Chesham and Amersham by-election - where the Lib Dems overturned a a 16,000 Tory majority to win by more than 8,000 votes - as evidence that "the Tories can be beaten" in traditional, so-called "blue wall" seats.

On education, Mr Davey will say a "massive" catch-up plan is "urgent" as the UK emerges from the pandemic.

Announcing the £5bn proposed scheme, he will say giving the money direct to families would be "the most radical empowering of parents ever".

They could chose what to spend the vouchers on "as long as it was supporting the education and well-being of their child", he will say.

That extra support "would be doubled and in some cases tripled" for children in care, disadvantaged children and those will special educational needs.

Mr Davey will also use his speech to say: "Your children should be able to go to a good school, get a good job, and have real opportunities to fulfil their potential.

"You should be able to know that if anyone in your family is ill, frail or disabled, they will get the high-quality health and social care they need."

On climate action he will say the UK should be leading the world by banning new oil, gas and coal companies from the London Stock Exchange.

This would stop "the flow of money from your pension funds into the dirty industries of the past" he will add.

Catch-up vouchers are a clear pitch to parents who the Lib Dems are keen to attract.

Post-pandemic the party believes it can capitalise on what many said was the government's mishandling of the impact on education.

And it fits with their broader appeal to those they say have been taken for granted or left behind by Boris Johnson's government.

But there's a danger it's seen as an expensive giveaway which would put some cautious Conservative voters off.

And competence when it comes to the economy will be crucial if the Lib Dem's are to present themselves as a credible alternative.

In a pre-speech interview on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Davey was asked about the party's attitude to trans rights after an activist, Natalie Bird, was banned from standing as an MP for wearing a T-shirt featuring the words "woman adult human female".

He said all spaces should be open to everyone, regardless of their gender, because the issue was one of human rights.

"A trans woman is a woman, a trans man is a man" he added.

Mr Davey added that transgender people are "some of the most discriminated against" and he accused the prime minister of toxifying the debate around rights.