Over the years there have been many changes in legislation that have made the UK more liberal country and a safer place to be. Equal marriage is a recent example, a proposal that would have been inconceivable 50 years ago when homosexual acts between men were still a crime.

In my lifetime we have seen anti-discrimination policies enshrined in law in terms of race, gender, disability and sexuality; we have laws that protect children and that give women control over their own bodies. But all of these were only possible because of cultural shifts that had occurred in the decades that preceded them.

It is possible to bring about culture change, through political action and education, but it is always going to be a long term project.

I wanted to share with you some memories of my younger life. Don’t worry – this is not going to be a nostalgic look at how much better things were when I was young; quite the reverse in fact.

• Parents and teachers were permitted to beat children with sticks.
• Racism was endemic and casual. All children learnt the rhyme “Eeny, meeny, miny, mo, catch a n***** by the toe”. At primary school we were taught about “poor little black children who lived in mud huts”. The British Empire was extolled as evidence of white superiority.
• Two options were available to working pregnant women: 6 weeks maternity leave after the birth before returning to a full-time post, or resign.
• Abortions were illegal; women risked their lives with back street abortionists.
• Disabled people were rarely seen in public apart from those who were able to drive the flimsy three wheeled invalid cars issued by the Government.
• Homosexual acts between men were illegal, lesbians ‘didn’t exist’ and all LGBT+ groups were described as deviants.
• Women were only granted mortgages in their own right if they had a male guarantor. Banks and building societies would only correspond with the husband on a joint account held by a married couple.
• Family Planning Clinics only offered advice on contraception to married women or within 3 months of the wedding. Some GPs refused to prescribe oral contraceptives to anyone on moral grounds.
• Only 10% of the places at Oxford, Cambridge and medical schools were open to women.
• Abortions were illegal, and women resorted to dodgy back street abortionists.
• Acts of violence acts against women in the home were dismissed as ‘domestic incidents’ and rarely investigated. There was no such thing as marital rape; it was assumed that the marriage contract gave ongoing permission for sex.
• Smoking was considered sophisticated and was normal in cinemas, on planes, in restaurants. New parents and pregnant women smoked.
• Sexual abuse of children was not really recognised, and penalties were minimal. (I have commented before about the secondary school head who was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting one of his pupils).
• Children with learning difficulties were described as educationally sub-normal or mentally retarded. Those with severe difficulties were denied an education and almost always placed in an institution.

You see? Things have changed for the better through the work of pressure groups, political organisations and inspirational individuals over many years. These give me reason for hope.  If attitudes can be changed so radically in my lifetime, then new generations can also strive for a better future.

But which comes first, cultural shifts or legislation? There  has to be a critical mass of opinion before the Government will act. MPs will always be keeping an eye on electoral prospects, so will be reluctant to go against the views of their constituents. Once they have seized the moment and brought in a liberalising law, work still has to be done to win round the rest of public opinion.

As Liberal Democrats we must not lose sight of our role in this kind of long-term change over the years – being in Government is not the only way to extend liberal democracy within our country.

In a few days I will be suggesting some of the things that need fixing in the UK. These will be ideas for campaigns that Liberal Democrats can get behind, with a view to changing public opinion over a long period of time, and an eye on eventual changes in legislation. What would be your priorities?

* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.