Lib Dems on the offensive in May polls
Menzies Campbell launches Lib Dem local election manifesto
Monday, 03, Apr 2006 12:00
Menzies Campbell today promised to fight Labour in the cities and the Conservatives in the shires as he launched the Liberal Democrat local election manifesto.
The environment, crime and scrapping council tax would be the focus of the party's national campaign for the May 4th polls, the new leader said, although he admitted local activists would vary this based on local requirements.
Although he refused to give a target for how many seats the Lib Dems wanted to win, Sir Menzies promised the Lib Dems would be winning "more votes, more councillors and taking control of more councils".
Speaking at a press conference this morning, local government spokesman Andrew Stunnell added that he expected the party's share of the vote to "exceed" that achieved in last year's general election.
There are currently 4,300 Lib Dem councillors across England and Wales, with control over 34 local authorities, and at next month's elections the party will be targeting both Conservative and Labour seats to raise their share.
"We're challenging Labour in the big cities, where the Conservatives have long since disappeared from view. We're fighting the Conservatives in the shires and the suburbs, and gaining ground in spite of their attempts to reinvent themselves," Sir Menzies said.
Particular targets in London are the leafy borough of Richmond, currently held by the Tories, and the Labour-controlled inner city borough of Haringey. The Lib Dems also hope to take control of Southwark, which is in Simon Hughes' constituency.
Sir Menzies admitted that there would be "differences of emphasis" in Lib Dem campaigns depending on where they were, but, rejecting the charge of inconsistency, said all candidates would base their manifestos on the party's national priorities.
These priorities included "placing a premium on protecting the improving the environment", he said, and a pledge to improve community safety, tackle crime and clamp down on anti-social behaviour.
The Lib Dems will also be campaigning on their promise to end council tax, which will be helped by yet another increase announced last week, and by Gordon Brown's scrapping of the £200 rebate for pensioners in last month's Budget.
In its place the party proposes a local income tax, and although this is being re-examined by a tax commission after it turned out that middle-income families would end up paying more than they currently do, Sir Menzies insisted the policy still stands.
"We're not arguing for an increase in the overall tax burden – I think it's about right – but within that we think those who had done best out of the British economy should pay more," he said.
"These are the principles we will be expecting to emerge from the commission and that we will be taking to the doorsteps at the next election."
Given the current turmoil in the Labour party about loans for peerages and Tony Blair's future, the Liberal Democrats can expect to do well in May's polls, and Sir Menzies today warned the government that it must sort out its affairs.
He also made clear his party "had nothing to hide" with regard to loans, saying its books were being made available for scrutiny to the Electoral Commission, and also insisting that it had never received loans nor donations from foreign contributors.