Richard Baum

Politics Home Index is a great website that I had recommended to me by a colleague last week, and today it highlighted this article from the Guardian which very eloquently sums up a lot of the feeling I’ve been getting on the doorstep in the last few weeks about the crushing disappointment in Gordon Brown and the Labour government.

Last night, amongst the many supporters we met both old and new, a genuine feeling of disenchantment and disappointment came across. Not with local issues exclusively, although there is growing worry about nuisance crime and the closure of Post Offices, but with the feeling that real concerns have been forgotten about by the government.

It’s a shame, because I like to hear positive things on the doorstep. And we do get some of them. Last night I was delighted to speak to a lady who was very pleased that we’d managed to brick up some derelict garages near her home. But her neighbour asked why she couldn’t get a mortgage, and why it was costing more to buy food, heat her home and fill her car with petrol, whilst the government claim that inflation is barely budging. There’s certainly less money in her pocket.

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown flip-flops on the issues: Indecisive on Northern Rock, and indecisive on the Olympics and China. And where he does make decisions, they’re wrong - 42 days detention without charge is a savage and unnecessary attack on civil liberties. And the ending of the 10p bottom rate of tax is heartbreaking for the poorest people in society who will suffer from an ill-though-out piece of opportunism.

I urge you to read the article in the Guardian. I think most of it is spot on. It also highlights what Prestwich Lib Dems have been saying in leaflets and on the doorstep throughout this campaign - that Labour are out of touch and dishonest. Nationally they stand by and preside over the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression, whilst claiming that all is well. Locally they say they stand up for local facilities, yet tried to close our school, are trying to close our post offices, and presided over 21 years of neglect.

How can we believe a single word they say?

Nationally, Lib Dems oppose the same measures that Gordon Brown trumpets. We strongly oppose the 42 day detention limit. It is illiberal and unfair. And we oppose the 10p rate cut. Instead our Green Tax Switch would improve the tax situation for millions by cutting 4p from the basic rate.

And locally, we stand by our word and get things done. We’re the only party consistently against congestion charging (proposed by the Labour-controlled Passenger Transport Authority, overseen by the Labour government, and voted for by the Labour controlled Association of Greater Manchester Authorites). We were the only party campaigning to save Prestwich Arts College. And we are the only party in St Mary’s ward campaigning to stop the Post Office Closures, whilst our own Labour MP votes to close them down.

The choice on election day is clear - more Labour lies? Or sending a message to Gordon Brown and the lame-duck Labour let-downs that their neglect of Prestwich and their failure to grasp the issues of the day in this country must be stopped.

Rick