Greg Mulholland Joins Charles Kennedy at General Election Summit

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 24th Mar 2005

Lib Dem candidate for Leeds North West Greg Mulholland joined the Liberal Democrat Leader, Charles Kennedy and Lib Dem MPs at the party's 'General Election Summit' at London's South Bank Centre.

The event was opened by Charles Kennedy who rallied his Party for the final time ahead of the expected May 5th General Election. He said:

"Unlike 1997, Tony Blair now has a record in Government to defend. He has to face the loss of public trust, especially after Iraq - and after eight years of a Labour Government, he can't keep blaming the Conservatives for all the problems in Britain.

"The Conservatives are picking on opportunistic issues designed to shore up their core vote. Immigration, asylum, gypsies. Their new campaign chief refers to these as 'dog-whistle' issues. I call them the politics of fear.

"All the indications suggest that this squabbling is turning voters off.

And it demeans our politics. If we want to be successful in this campaign we must engage the public. So Liberal Democrats will continue to address with real solutions the problems that people face every day.

"Today I set out this challenge to the Labour and Conservative Parties.

Give some realistic answers to the questions people really ask."

Mr Kennedy then highlighted spiralling student debt, the unfairness of the Council Tax and discrimination against women in our pensions system.

Mr Kennedy concluded:

"In this parliament we have been the real opposition to the Labour Government over Iraq, over top-up fees, ID cards and the Council Tax. The Conservatives have either lined up with Labour or flip-flopped about.

And we have stood up against Labour's authoritarian instincts in defence of Britain's civil liberties. At this election we will offer a real alternative.

"There are no limits to our ambition. There are no no-go-areas for the Liberal Democrats. We are aiming to take seats from both Labour and the Conservatives in every region of the country.

In a rousing end to the speech, Charles Kennedy told MPs and candidates, including Greg Mulholland:

"I look forward to seeing you back here as Liberal Democrat MPs after the election. I will expect you then to live up to the hopes of your new constituents, and help us build a fairer Britain".