Kennedy Sets Out Real Alternative

12.00.00am GMT Sat 5th Mar 2005

In his speech to the Spring Conference in Harrogate, Liberal Democrat Leader, Charles Kennedy MP, unveiled the Party's slogan for the General Election - "The Real Alternative".

He said:

"The British public see in us a real alternative. A real alternative that's on their side where the big issues are concerned.

"Axing the council tax. Abolishing student tuition fees. Guaranteeing free personal care for the elderly. Tackling pension unfairness - especially for women. Pursuing positive engagement in Europe - and the wider world. With real action to promote the environment."

On the General Election, Mr Kennedy said:

"We Liberal Democrats are ready for a General Election. And we are looking forward to it.

"People want a credible, principled political party which offers a different vision of what Britain can be.

"In so many ways the story of this parliament, now coming to an end, has been the way the Liberal Democrats have emerged as the real opposition to Tony Blair's Labour Government.

"In recent weeks, much of the political debate has centred on what the parties plan to put in their election manifestos - and rightly so. But if you take the big issues of this Parliament - Iraq, the Hutton and Butler inquiries, anti-terrorist legislation, top up fees, foundation hospitals - these were scarcely mentioned during the campaign four years ago.

"Manifestos will obviously matter, but voters will simultaneously be making a more fundamental judgement; They will be assessing how the different parties might deal with those events in the next four years; And seeking solutions which reflect their personal hopes and fears.

Mr Kennedy also said:

"So far this campaign has had all the hallmarks of the kind of spin that turns people off. Take the latest row over cancelled hospital operations. The slanging match between Labour and the Conservatives - as they both scrabble for headlines - demeans our politics.

"What people want are positive solutions to sustain and strengthen our National Health Service. What they seek is good schools and hospitals - run efficiently. They want proper public provision for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society.

"They want straight talk from politicians and fairness. They don't want to be patronised with token promises. And they don't want politicians always interfering. People want to get on with their own lives. They want to take their own decisions in and about their own neighbourhoods and communities."

Mr Kennedy concluded:

"We enter this election as a truly independent political party. We will campaign through this election as an independent political party. And we will emerge in the next House of Commons as an independent political party.

"That way we will do best - by ourselves and by the country. More votes, more seats - beyond that no glass ceilings to our ambitions. Now that's the real alternative in this election. And it's called the Liberal Democrats."