Lib-Dem leader outlines how we will Make it Happen. (Warwick & Leamington Liberal Democrats)

Warwick & Leamington Liberal Democrats <info@warwick-leamington-libdems.org.uk>

Lib-Dem leader outlines how we will Make it Happen.

September 17, 2008 1:54 PM

Nick Clegg at Bournemouth The Liberal Democrats are now the only party that can deliver social justice, and the only choice for anyone who wants a fairer Britain, Nick Clegg said today in his conference speech.

Alan Beddow, the local Lib-Dem parliamentary candidate who was at the annual conference in Bournemouth said, "Nick's speech drew together all the policies we had been discussing over the past few days. It is a clear narrative that can not only lift Britain out of its current difficulties, it will build a Britain fit for the future."

The Liberal Democrat leader also set out the party's Fairer Future economic recovery plan - four steps to a better economic future.

Nick began his speech by focusing on the current economic difficulties, which he described as 'a firestorm', "raging through our financial system, ignited by reckless bankers and fuelled by complacent politicians."

Nick said the Liberal Democrats were the party with the ideas that can get Britain out of this mess. He set out the party's Fairer Future economic recovery plan - four steps to a better economic future.

"One. Action to stop unjust repossessions before tens of thousands of families find themselves on the streets."

"Two. The free-wheeling, bonus-driven, short termism of the City must come to an end. We must stop the amoral culture that sees speculators betting on banks to fail, knowing the taxpayer will pay out in the end. And the madness of bonuses awarded no matter what.

"Three. We will put in place the building blocks for future economic stability. Interest rates that take house price changes into account. And independent monitoring of our fiscal rules.

"And finally - but most importantly. Tax cuts for families who are struggling. To help them make ends meet. And keep the wheels of the economy turning."

Nick identified some of the areas where the government is wasting money, before turning to his aim of making Britain the first truly green economy in the world. Liberal Democrats, said Nick, "believe ministers should spend money as carefully as if they'd borrowed it from a friend.

On domestic policy, Nick set out his aim of making government 'people shaped', with benefits shaped around the needs of people and families, not bureaucrats.

He encouraged those people who had been drawn to Labour in the 1990s, because they believed in a better future, to turn to the Liberal Democrats as the only people who could now make it happen.