Vince Cable Visits Spelthorne

Yesterday our campaign got the support of Vince Cable, who came to Sunbury to talk to voters. Local people were very surprised to find him on their doorstep, and we got a fantastic response. With a small army of Lib Dems knocking on doors asking people what they thought they would do when they reached the ballot box on Thursday, many people are now supporting us, on top of the many voters who have already supported us over the last few years. Vince was impressed with the momentum we have built up here, and he recognised that we have excellent prospects at this election in Spelthorne. The sight of us all marching down the road caused quite a stir, including Sarah pushing our daughter Evie down the road complete with golden rosette! Everyone had a great time, and the response of local people confirmed that more and more people are switching to us at this election.

Is It That Time Already?

Already we have reached the end of the first week proper of the campaign. We have been out in every part of Spelthorne, and have found support right across the constituency. On the national campaign trail, the Lib Dems have been getting better coverage now that the election has been called. This week I have had many positive comments from people about Nick Clegg. With the leaders' debates to come, there is a real sense that we will get a significant boost from these, as we did when Vince Cable appeared on the C4 Chancellors' debate. With our priorities like fairer taxes which raise the income tax threshold to £10,000 before you pay anything, smaller class sizes for primary schools and investment in pupils, a sustainable economy, and clearing up the political system from top to bottom, we have a distinct message. The full manifesto is out this week. One week in, and it feels like we have continued our momentum in Spelthorne from the last two local elections, where we made gains on the borough council and the county council. With the Labour vote collapsed locally, we are enjoying being the challengers to the Tories this time. Week two here we come!

Cable Clear Winner Tonight

Vince Cable had a great evening tonight in the chancellor's debate on Channel 4. He clearly won with the studio audience judging by their reaction to his arguments. Also, he won in the online vote on the channel's website, with Osborne last. I know I am biased as a Lib Dem Candidate in the General Election, but I know that we have the best man on the economy leading our economic policy. The public think so too. Several polls have put Vince up front as the best person to be chancellor after the election. I think Vince has demonstrated tonight who should be in No 11 Downing Street in June. The way to get him there is to vote Lib Dem at the election. There is a chance of change at this election. You can vote for a change for the better, not for worse.

Channel 4 Tonight - Live Election Debate

Channel 4 have the 3 would be Chancellors in a live TV debate tonight at 8pm. Having failed to get a leaders debate, the channel have set up this fascinating event for a different angle. Some angle too. Vince Cable for the Lib Dems has warmed up for tonights verbal sparring with this comment on Tory proposals on tax:

"Unless they can say how they will realise these savings, the Tory proposals aren't worth the paper that they are written on"

said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor. Commenting on George Osborne's plans to block some of next year's planned National Insurance tax rises, Vince Cable said:

"This is school boy economics. When you have a £70bn permanent hole in the Government's finances you simply can't propose cutting tax revenue unless you spell out exactly how you are going to pay for it. The Tories say they are going to pay for a cut in National Insurance through 'efficiency savings', but haven't a first clue about how these savings are going to be realised. Unless they can say how they will realise these savings, the Tory proposals aren't worth the paper that they are written on. George Osborne has taken the Government's highly dubious efficiency plans and made them even less credible. Today's announcement is all about low politics not sound economics. If George Osborne seriously wants to be Chancellor it is time he put away childish things and produced a credible plan of how he would restore the health of the nation's finances."

I get the feeling this could be quite spicy tonight....

Budget Response

Today, after rent-a-car ministers, we had the budget. With much of this already anounced in the pre budget report before Christmas, today saw a failed Government eeking out the last few spoonfuls of gruel it had to offer.
Vince Cable has responded to today's budget by saying "Today's budget wasn't honest.
The Chancellor is incapable of coming clean about where spending cuts will have to fall. Rather than being honest with people about what the Government can and cannot afford, the Chancellor would rather let others indiscriminately shave departmental budgets.
And the Budget did nothing to make Britain a fairer society.
We're campaigning for fair taxes, lifting millions of people out of income tax altogether. But today's Budget, by confirming the freeze in personal allowances, means everyone will see a real increase in their income tax bill.
Rather than forcing the nationalised banks to lend to good British businesses, Labour have chosen to create a feeble quango to arbitrate between bullying banks and their small business clients.
Today's Budget shows even more clearly that Britain needs real change."

See Vince's response on video here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/LibDem#p/u/6/qML-FOOAYYo

Debt Reduction

Most of us know about debt, and the impact it has on us. And most of us would like to reduce our debt. The government has no choice. Whoever is in power after the election is going to have to make tough choices. We have already set out £15billion in cuts that we would start with, but crucially we would not cut this year, as we believe this will jeopardise the recovery. The Tories say they will give more detail after the budget, but have said they will cut now. Doing that risks sending the British economy into another deep recession. Listening to Vince Cable at the weekend, I am once again struck by the way he grasps the detail, but sees the bigger picture. The Tories have a shadow chancellor who seems to leave all the thinking to other people, and pops up with the soundbite. I know who I would trust with our economy.

Thanks Birmingham

We have had a great conference in Birmingham, and the folks here have looked after us really well. Lib Dems are leaving the conference with a sense of purpose, and some fire in our bellies, as we prepare for the rest of the campaign. The great thing about these events is you are reminded of the unity of purpose in our party. The other parties are riven with internal politics, and whilst I won't pretend there aren't fierce debates in our party, we work collectively and with a passion to make Britain better. That is why we leave invigourated and ready for the fight. With people like Nick and Vince leading us, we know we have an excellent team taking us forward.

Cable On The Growth Figures

Vince Cable has given his verdict on the revised growth figures for the economy:
"With the Government stimulus largely coming to an end last December it is highly likely growth will continue to be weak for some time," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor.
Responding to the news that the UK economy grew by 0.3% in the final three months of last year, faster than had been previously estimated, Vince Cable said:“While it is welcome news that the economy has grown by more than had been previously estimated, the British economy is still weak. “This news underlines again the folly of rushing into rapid cuts which could push the economy back into recession and inflict further structural damage on the UK, making it harder to sustain our credit rating and creating an even larger budget deficit. “Decisions about the speed and timing of tackling the deficit should be based on the state of the economy, not political dogma. “If the public and markets are to have confidence in the political parties, Labour and the Tories must follow the Liberal Democrat lead and demonstrate a credible plan for when and how the deficit will be tackled and where the cuts will come from.”

5 Years

Today we were told that it may take 5 years to get our money back from the bailout of the banks. UKFI, who look after our interests in the banks on behalf of the Government, play their cards close to their chest (i.e. tattooed on), and then come out with that figure. This organisation needs to be opened up to proper scrutiny, as they are managing billions of pounds of our investment. They have offered to talk to MP's about what they do twice a year. As a concession. This is absurd. UKFI shoud be fully answerable to taxpayers, and MP's should have access to what they are up to. To offer ana occasional update as if it was up to them how they conduct themselves inspires no confidence at all. Vince Cable warned today that it may take a decade to realise our investment, as has been seen elsewhere in the past. So we need honest, clear answers from UKFI, and a proper say in what they, and our banks are doing with our money.

Bankers Petition

We had a really good morning on Staines High Street with our new bankers petition. We are calling on the Chancellor to put a 10% levy on bank profits, break up banks to separate the casino (risk taking) operations from the high street banks, and close tax loop holes for the very rich. We asked local shoppers whether they would support the petition, and the response was excellent. What we found this morning was that people were all set to rush to M&S, but mention the banks and they stopped to talk. This is clearly an issue that won't go away, and the anger is still there. Vince Cable has led this debate from the beginning, and again today people were full of praise for him. We may well do this again before I send the petition off to Alistair Darling. One little aside: we chatted to a long time Labour campaigner who said they were supposed to be campainging this morning in the same place, but he was the only one there. Even their candidate had not shown up! It really is a 2 horse race in Spelthorne!

Policing Plans

Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne launched our manifesto plans for policing today. We have pledged to put 3000 more police on the beat by scrapping the ID Cards scheme and using the money to put more officers on the beat. It would have been 10000 if Labour had not already wasted so much money setting up the now laughable "voluntary" ID Card Scheme! Amazingly, 18 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales have seen a reduction of police numbers since 2005. Two thirds of them are run by the Conservatives, and a third by Labour. Whilst both of them try to out tough each other on crime, the reality is they have both failed to support our police force. In Surrey, no local Tory MP bothered to vote on the capping of the police budget. Lib Dem MP's in South West London like Vince Cable did, and voted not to cap the authority. Actions speak louder than words, however tough the rhetoric!

The Kelly Report

If what we hear is true, I am delighted that Sir Christopher Kelly, the man tasked with overhauling the MP's expenses system, has said that claims for mortgage payments for second homes shoud be banned. This is something that is clearly way beyond the public interest and should never have been sanctioned by the fees office in the first place. I'm also glad that there is going to be a wider zone outsidde London where second homes allowance cannot be claimed. This will include Spelthorne if reports are accurate. I have been critical in the past of David Wilshire claiming this allowance, and have publicly stated that I would not claim it myself. So to see the boundaries moved to a more sensible distance is welcome. Lib Dem MP's who were able to claim and were close to Spelthorne, like Vince Cable in Twickenham, have not previously claimed. Now those who felt they were entitled to extra cannot get at the extra cash. Good.

Trust Vince

Vince Cable has been rated as the most trustworthy politician in a poll conducted for the Times. The paper thinks this was inevitable, given his straight talking on the economy. Vince has been warning of the dangers that became a catastrophe for many years, and it is a testament to his judgement and skill that this has been recognised by voters across the political spectrum. The public have come to realise that it is the Lib Dems who have the credibility on the economy these days. The Government were, and still are, slow and lumbering when reacting to events rather than providing proactive solutions. As for the Tories, George Osborne is so lacking in ability to handle the economy, he never even appears in live debate on the TV, only in prepared soundbite interviews. Check it out for yourself. If Newsnight have a live segment, the Tories put up anyone else but Osborne, and he certainly won't go head to head with Vince. Woe betide us if Osborne is the next Chancellor.......