Kennedy vows “no stitch-ups” at next election
Liberal Democract leader Charles Kennedy today promised there would be no pre-election deal with the Labour Party on parliamentary support in the event of a hung-parliament.
There would be “no nods, no winks, no deals, no stitch ups”, he said, and added: “If, on polling day at next general election, more people vote Liberal Democrat, then the next day and in the next parliament what you will get are more Liberal Democrats . not something else.”
Making his keynote speech to the party’s annual conference in Bournemouth, Mr Kennedy said the Lib Dems were better off in “a position of principled party independence – not one distracted by noises off”.
They would work with other on issues of principle – such as membership of the European Union – but would not “surrender our essential political independence along the way”.
Turning to the war in Iraq, he attacked Prime Minister Tony Blair for failing to answer allegations that he gave US President George W Bush an assurance, a year before the war began, that Britain would give unconditional support to any invasion of Iraq.
And he called on the Prime Minister to give a “cast iron” guarantee that Britain would not support unilateral military action against Iran.
Mr Kennedy went on to tell delegates the Lib Dems were “moving from a party of protest to a party of power”, and insisted that “three-party politics” were here to stay.
He also launched a scathing attack on the Conservatives, calling them “scarcely a national UK political party any longer”.
“In huge swathes of the country it’s the Conservatives who are now firmly established – as the third party . They belong to the past,” he said.
In the upcoming Hartlepool by-election, the Conservatives had conceded they weren’t in the race, and that was true “in most of urban Britain”.
Mr Kennedy said the public were right to question what the Lib Dems stood for, but insisted that their slogan – freedom, fairness, trust – reflected the “increasingly liberal instincts” of 21st century Britain.
It was now a country of “many faiths, many colours, many languages”, featuring a variety of family structures and working patterns that previous generations would not recognised. Openness and tolerance were prevalent.
He said: “It’s our task now to turn these instinctively liberal attitudes into positive votes [for the Lib Dems].”
Mr Kennedy gave a broad outline of the policies on which the party will fight the next general election. He reiterated the promise to stop tuition fees and axe top-up fees, which he called “one of the most socially retrograde acts of this government”.
On asylum, the Lib Dems would not pander to the “lowest common denominator” but would reform the system to make it fairer and faster. Pensioners would benefit from axing the council tax, free long-term care and a more generous pension.
On crime, he promised to open up the courts to victims so they could confront offenders and speed up the system of compensation as well.
The environment should count “at every level of Government”, he said, including shifting taxes on aviation away from the passenger and onto the plane itself.
Mr Kennedy insisted the policies were “watertight” and could be funded by cutting government waste and charging the top one per cent of income earners a marginal rate of 50 per cent for income over £100,000.
