Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg launched my party’s General Election campaign today with honest pledges and a promise to create the fresh start that Britain needs.

The Liberal Democrats have made four key pledges to deliver a fairer society. These are:

1) Fair taxes – a commitment to make the first £10,000 you earn tax-free. People earning less than £10,000 will pay no income tax, and everyone paying the basic rate will receive a £700 per year tax cut. This will be paid for with a mansion tax on properties worth above £2m, and by taxing income and capital gains at the same level.

2) A fair start for all our children – We will cut class sizes and introduce a “pupil premium” which will mean an extra £2.5bn to help improve discipline and provide extra tuition where needed. This will be paid for by stopping tax credits for higher-income earners.

3) A fair and sustainable economy that creates jobs. We will make Britain the world leader in the green economy. We will save £3.5bn on current expenditure and invest in public transport, home insulation and social housing.

4) Fair, transparent and more local politics. We will introduce a fair voting system to end “safe” seats. We will return powers to local communities and councils, and ensure that MPs can be sacked for breaking the rules. We will stop tax avoiders standing for Parliament, sitting in the Lords or donating to political parties.

The party has also committed to recruit 3,000 more police officers, scrap university tuition fees within 6 years, increase pay for the armed forces and restore the link between pensions and earnings. We will pay for these things by scrapping ID cards, cutting back on Defence bureaucrats, and abolishing Government Offices in the regions.

Unfortunately, the current economic crisis has meant that we have had to move away from some of the things we’d like to do. The abolition of tuition fees will now take place over 6 years rather than straight away. Extending free childcare, free care for the elderly, and a citizens pension will also have to be put on hold. We still want them, and we’d prioritise them if we could afford them, but we can’t.

We are being honest where the others aren’t You know what we stand for and what we want. You know what we’ll do, and what we would do if we could afford it.

Labour have failed in 13 years – the economy is broken and politics remains unfixed.

The Tories can’t be trusted – They promise fairness but in fact offer tax cuts for the rich. They pretend to care about the environment, but they ally themselves with climate change deniers in Europe, and here in Bury every one of the Tory Councillors voted against the 10:10 campaign. They pretend to want to change politics, but they have tax avoiders standing for parliament. Who knows what they stand for? We’ll find out, but only 50 days after they’ve been elected when they hold their first budget!

This is the start of a long campaign, but one I am proud to be standing in as a Liberal Democrat. We are the only party that can give Britain the fair start it needs.

Rick