Will Forster

Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg launched my party’s General Election campaign this week with honest pledges and a promise to bring real change to Britain. At the last General Election, the Lib Dems stood out as a very distinctive with plans for free personal care for the elderly and free university education by scrapping tuition fees - with my over £10,000 student debt in mind, I clearly think the latter is very important. However with the deep recession and huge deficit the Lib Dems are saying, very simply and honestly that those promises maybe unaffordable at the start of a Lib Dem Government. So my party is making 4 key pledges: 1) Fair taxes - a commitment to make the first £10,000 you earn tax-free. People earning less than £10,000 will pay no income tax, and everyone paying the basic rate will receive a £700 per year tax cut. This will be paid for with a mansion tax on homes worth above £2m, and by taxing income and capital gains at the same level. 2) A fair start for all our children - We will cut class sizes and introduce a “pupil premium” which will mean an extra £2.5bn to help improve discipline and provide extra tuition where needed. This will be paid for by stopping tax credits for higher-income earners. 3) A fair and sustainable economy that creates jobs. We will make Britain the world leader in the green economy. We will save £3.5bn on current expenditure and invest in public transport, home insulation and social housing. 4) Fair, transparent and more local politics. We will introduce a fair voting system to end “safe” seats. We will return powers to local communities and councils, and ensure that MPs can be sacked for breaking the rules. We will stop tax avoiders standing for Parliament, sitting in the Lords or donating to political parties. The party has also committed to recruit 3,000 more police officers, scrap university tuition fees within 6 years, increase pay for the armed forces and restore the link between pensions and earnings. We will pay for these things by scrapping ID cards, cutting back on Defence bureaucrats, and abolishing Government Offices in the regions. Sadly, the recession has meant that we have had to move away from some of the things we’d like to do - but Labour have failed in their 13 years, both the economy and politics are broken. The Tories can’t be trusted - they pretend to offer change, but all they do is offer more of the same that has failed us. That’s not change, that’s more of the same. I am proud to be a Lib Dem, we are the only party that can give Britain the fresh start it needs.