Nick Clegg’s Blog

Conference 2009

Bournemouth 2009 will be one of our most important Conferences ever.

This is the last autumn Conference before a general election. With Labour finished and much of the country still unconvinced that Cameron’s Conservatives offer anything better, this is an extremely exciting time for our party.

The ideas we agree in Bournemouth will shape the choices we offer voters at the next General Election. I’m proud that we are the only mainstream political party that has its policies decided by its members.

We’re here to debate the things people really need – like tax cuts for people on low and middle incomes paid for by closing loopholes for the wealthy; like creating green jobs to help the economy recover and make our environment more sustainable; and like making sure every child gets the best chance in life.

It’s our duty both to set our vision for a better, different future and to explain to the British people the tough choices a Liberal Democrat government would take. Labour won’t be honest about their plans. The Conservatives simply refuse to spell out what they will do. But the Liberal Democrats will. Over the last few years we’ve been ahead of the curve on every major event in British politics – not least of all on the collapse of the banks, with Vince taking the lead in exposing government failure.

From overhauling MPs’ expenses, to giving all Gurkha soldiers the right to stay in the UK, to calling for ID cards to be scrapped, we’ve led the way on the issues that matter. Now is our chance to capitalise on that momentum and outline our vision for a fairer, greener and stronger Britain.

At the heart of that vision is the simple idea that it’s time for something different. Ours is a voice for a different politics, where votes are fair, decisions are transparent, influence can’t be bought and governments are held to account. And it’s a voice for a different way of managing the economy, based on honesty about what the country can afford, new regulation to stop the banks from ever gambling us into recession again, and green investment to create jobs.

Now that the established orders in both politics and economics are crashing down, we have a golden opportunity to win support for the fundamental change that our country needs.

You won’t hear the other two parties making the same commitments. They can’t, they’re part of the status quo; not part of the solution but part of the problem.

It’s because of our principles – fairness, freedom, trust in people, protecting the environment – that we can offer people the hope for a different future, even in the very tough economic times that are to come.

With Labour finished and the Conservatives still more spin than substance, the Liberal Democrats will continue to speak out for what’s right, because no other party can.

See you all in Bournemouth!

Nick Clegg MP
Leader of the Liberal Democrats

You can follow Conference: Here

My website NickClegg.com is also covering my Conference: Here