Lib Dems promise 35 hours of free childcare from nine months old

Exclusive: Jo Swinson to announce dramatic increase as parties battle for female voters

Working parents would receive 35 hours a week free childcare from the day their baby turns nine months old under plans to be announced by the Lib Dem leader, Jo Swinson, as the opposition parties battle to win over female voters.

The Lib Dems will make a dramatic increase in the availability of free childcare the centrepiece of the party’s manifesto, saying it would boost the economy by enabling more parents to return to the workforce earlier.

Under the first-past-the-post voting system, tactical voting is when you vote for a party that you would not normally support in order to stop another party from winning. For example, in a constituency where the result is usually tight between a party you dislike and a party you somewhat dislike, and the party you support usually comes a distant third and has no chance of winning, you might choose to lend your vote to the party you somewhat dislike. This avoids ‘“wasting” your vote on a party that cannot win the seat, and boosting the chances that the party you dislike most will lose.

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Q0RJgN