Gareth Epps

It’s clear that Britain needs a strong and stable government that can govern in the national interest.

Liberal Democrat negotiators in Parliament have been working hard on some difficult and important talks. In forming a Government, our commitments to fairness and a stable economy are paramount, as is our commitment to overhaul Britain’s rotten political system. It is also – as my mailbox reminds me – important for politicians to enter this important time in a spirit of openness. While Nick Clegg and his negotiating team need support to conclude their discussions successfully, it is important that people are reassured that the talks are being pursued with the national interest in mind.

That’s why, at this stage, I believe there is no longer anything to be gained in pursuing the leads from a Labour Party that has decisively lost the election and which has been shown to be weak, divided and unable to submit to compromise on a number of key issues. An alliance with Labour, even if it included other parties, would be neither stable nor strong. The verdict of the electorate means that any Government that did not include the Conservative Party would be exceptionally weak.

It’s clear that it’s in the national interest that these discussions should not continue for longer than is absolutely necessary.

On electoral reform, Labour has shown in the past that it cannot be trusted. Therefore any offers it makes must be treated with considerable scepticism, however they may sound. A minority of its MPs are already publicly undermining attempts to reach consensus on this issue. While I do not believe the Alternative Vote system, promised as a referendum option by the Conservatives, is a sufficient step towards a system that reflects the will and choice of the electorate, it is nonetheless a step towards fairness and a significant offer by the Conservatives.

Given the urgent importance of achieving economic stability and stable government in the national interest, I hope the Liberal Democrats nationally will now move to swiftly conclude an agreement that will give the country the stable government we need, with significant safeguards to entrench fairness in that government. I hope we are now indeed in that final phase.

You know that when even The Mail on Sunday is conceding that the Liberal Democrats have a huge lead in the polls that the political landscape of the UK is changing. But that is exactly what is happening. A survey by BPIX which The Mail on Sundays calls “the most authoritative conducted since the televised debate” tells us that:

…support for the Lib Dems has soared to 32 per cent, one point ahead of the Conservatives on 31, with Labour trailing third at 28.

This radically reverses the trend of a 7% Conservative lead highlighted by BPIX surveys in The Mail on Sunday on April 11th, just days before the debate on April 15th, and on March 28th.

These surveys prove that when Liberal Democrats are given a chance to fairly explain our policies we can demonstrate that there are big differences between what the duoploy of another 5 years of ‘Labservative’ rule offers, and what a Liberal Democrat government offers.

Those nay-sayers who think that this is merely a blip on the radar before things return to a more comfortable – for the old parties at least! – and “normal ordering” of parties have only to look at the increased energy and momentum that has already been carried by the Liberal Democrats over the weekend and into a new campaigning week.

Yes, nationally, but specifically here in Reading East there has been a renewed passion and enthusiasm as Lib Dem activists campaigned over the weekend. As a local party we have had a tremendous uplift.

Other parties might have large donations from wealthy individuals who may or may not be domiciled in the UK for tax purposes, or tithes from militant unions, the Liberal Democrats do not have those luxuries and cannot afford the complacency that goes with them, that’s why we spend less time on pithy attacks on other parties and people, and more time communicating with the people to whom we are accountable.

We should not forget the context in which the current Liberal Democrat poll lead should be placed.

An early indication that the Liberal Democrats will be more of a headache for the two older parties came when Vince Cable was hailed as the winner of the Channel 4 Chancellors Debate in late March. That Nick did so well in the Prime Ministerial debate is being attributed to the idea that he was someone “new” who we’d “never heard of”, and he had “the least to lose”, but for weeks even Liberal Democrats have been chuckling to all the jokes on prime-time radio and TV programmes about “who is Nick Clegg?”. It’s funny, but those jokes aren’t being made anymore.

Now, rightfully, there is an aura of seriousness surrounding the Liberal Democrats. We have more conviction in ourselves and our policies, and, increasingly, so do the people that matter – the voting public.

There are two more debates to go. The excuses about having “the least to lose” and that Nick Clegg came off the best was because he was “new” to the public will begin to hold less and less water as Liberal Democrat policies begin to be probed deeper and are revealed to – literally if you check the figures in our manifesto – add up.

Nick Clegg was right to say the day after the debate that Lib Dems have “earned the right to be heard”. And on issues like the economy, like health, like education, like the Trident replacement system and ID cards we will be heard more and more of over the next few critical weeks.

Gareth Epps and Nick Clegg MP

Gareth Epps, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Reading East, has welcomed the launch of the Liberal Democrats’ General Election manifesto.

The manifesto sets out four clearer steps to a fairer Britain:

• Fair taxes that put money back in your pocket: the first £10,000 you earn tax-free, and a tax cut for £700 for most people, freeing 3.6 million low earners and pensioners from income tax completely
• A fair chance for every child, investing £2.5 million (and millions of pounds in Reading East) tackling educational inequality, ensuring children get the attention they need, and phasing out university tuition fees;
• A fair future; creating jobs by making Britain greener, offering young people ways out of unemployment;
• A fair deal by cleaning up politics; putting trust back by putting power back into people’s hands and completely overhauling Westminster with fair votes, an elected House of Lords and all politicians paying full British taxes.

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Gareth Epps

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate Cllr Gareth Epps has launched the General Election campaign in Reading East with a direct challenge to his Conservative opponent to face the electorate at forthcoming public meetings in Reading.
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