Kennedy to set out stall with 10 pledges

Tuesday, 22 March 2005 12:00 AM

Charles Kennedy will unveil today ten key pledges spelling out what the Liberal Democrats would and would not do if elected.

Accompanying him in London will be his Deputy Leader Sir Menzies Campbell and Baroness Shirley Williams.

The Lib Dems have taken out adverts in The Daily Mail, The Times and The Independent and produced a new poster as part of their election campaign drive to raise the stakes and the party's profile.

Although the Government has yet to name the date for the general election, May 5 is widely expected to be the day when the nation goes to the polls.

The Lib Dems will fight a "positive" election campaign claiming to be the "real alternative" to Labour.

In its "10 good reasons to vote Liberal Democrat" ad campaign, Mr Kennedy's party will pledge to axe council tax and student fees, employ 10,000 new police officers rather than roll out ID cards and raise income tax for earners above £100,000 a year.

Other issues in the ten pledges include personal care for the elderly, the environment, Iraq, class sizes, means testing and stealth taxes.

The cost of today's campaign stood at £100,000, a spokesman said, the most the party had ever spent in a single day.

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