By Ian Dunt
Nick Clegg has launched the Liberal Democrat’s European election campaign with a call for voters to reject the Conservatives, who will make “your family less safe”.
“Labour is finished,” he said. “He [Gordon Brown] can’t even make friends with his own Cabinet colleagues.
“And the Conservatives? The Conservatives want to pull the draw-bridge back and retreat to the fanatical fringes [of Europe].
“A vote for the Conservatives this summer is a wasted vote. A vote for the Conservatives this summer means you and your family will be less safe.”
The Lib Dem leader went on to explain how the Tories had opposed schemes which allowed people traffickers and terrorists to be caught.
In an impassioned defence of the European project, Mr Clegg sold himself as unashamedly pro-European, citing his background in Brussels.
“In an unsafe world the EU offers us safety in numbers,” he said.
“I should know. I used to work in Europe.”
The Tories reacted angrily to the attack, with shadow foreign secretary William Hague saying: “It is now clear that the Lib Dems will not stand up for Britain in Europe.
“The Lib Dems’ centralised, undemocratic vision of Europe belongs to the past.”
The Liberal Democrats received a boost in a Populus poll for the Times this morning, although this is thought to be related to the expenses scandal around Westminster and will not necessarily translate in to European success.
