Dundee LibDems welcome Sir Menzies Campbell's Campaign Message (Dundee Liberal Democrats)

Dundee Liberal Democrats <info@dundeelibdems.org.uk>

Dundee LibDems welcome Sir Menzies Campbell's Campaign Message

April 7, 2006 10:34 AM

Dundee LibDems today (Friday 7th April) welcomed Sir Menzies Campbell's message at commencement of the campaign at the Moray by-election and the Council elections south of the border.

In his message, the Liberal Democrat leader writes:

"In the few weeks since I became Leader of the Liberal Democrats, one crucial fact has impressed me more than any other. That is the scale of the opportunity which lies before us.

Seldom in British politics has there been a greater chance to remake the political landscape.

Tony Blair is a Prime Minister who governs in spite of his Party. Every initiative he takes creates conflict on his own benches, dissent among his own supporters and resentment from his likely successor,. Every move he makes is dogged by the question - what does this mean for his leaving date? And all the time, in the background, is the rumbling of the unresolved questions about loans for peerages.

But the position for David Cameron is no better. We were promised an end to Punch and Judy politics. But it is increasingly clear that behind the mask there is little substance. Mr. Cameron's defining moment may well turn out to have been his reply to Gordon Brown's budget - the first face-to-face contest between the two.

What we expected was a heavyweight fight. What we saw was Mr. Cameron resorting to university debating tactics and failing to land a single serious blow. Why? Because the Tories offer little except Blairism with a new face. And Mr. Cameron, too, faces serious questions on his Party's funding - in particular why do we still not know the provenance of who made major loans to the Conservatives general election coffers?

The public has realised that both Labour and the Conservatives have failed to deliver. That's why there is such goodwill for the Liberal Democrats. That's why we were able to transform that goodwill into votes at the ballot box in Dunfermline. That's why since the turn of the year Liberal Democrats have won more new seats than any other party in local by-elections. And that's why we must do all we can to do so again in the English local elections in May and in the Moray Scottish Parliament by-election on 27 April.

Across Britain, we will concentrate on three key issues which are uppermost in voters' minds - the threat to our environment, the need to scrap the council tax and the menace of crime. These will be strong themes for our party in all of our campaigning.

Let me just take one of these issues. Liberal Democrats have put the environment at the centre of our thinking ever since the party was born. Our commitment is based on deeply held beliefs, not on the latest focus groups. Our prosperity, our security, our quality of life, the very sustainability of the planet, depends on our society's attitude towards the environment. James Lovelock's recent warning that global climate change may have reached a point of no return should make every politician stop and think. This is the greatest challenge of our generation and over the next few months I will be outlining what will be the greenest policies of any major party to meet that challenge.

When I became Leader I promised modernisation of every aspect of our Party and a real commitment to three-party politics. Moray and the English local elections are the first staging post on that journey."