Tim Farron Election 2017

A wonderful crowd, welcome to Tim. Ed and I are coming back... And what

I hear on the doorsteps and I have done a lot for ready is that phrase,

welcome back and what we are seeing Krmas of upsurge in membership, in

support, enthusiasm more than last time and all the momentum now is

with us. You may remember two years ago we had had five years of strong

and stable government and the coalition and let -- letters went

around saying we need strong and stable government and a David

Cameron and where is he? It is a mess. They created a mess. We are

now out of the European Union, massive disruption of jobs,

destroying our potential science base which is important around here

and now they are saying against, Theresa May, I want strong and

stable government, I want a massive majority supposedly to negotiate

with the European Union. What they are racing as they want a blank

cheque, they do not want criticism, they do not want backbenchers who

will challenge who will tell her what she needs to be told rather

than what she wants to hear. And if you really want to know what the

conservatives think about you, I don't whether you read the

Conservative press but that phrase crush the saboteurs, that is ours.

But the country needs us, it needs an effective opposition who will

challenge and when at the end of this we get a bad outcome or no

outcome, somebody needs to say when you're in a hole, stop digging. Let

the public have another say on this disastrous exit we are pursuing. And

this election is not just about Brexit. I have been going around

local schools in Twickenham and they are under incredible financial

pressure. It is as bad as it was in 1997 when I first became an MP and

we had a long period of Tory government starving schools of cash.

It is happening all over again and they are foisting on the local

schools a funding formula which aired and I stopped when we were in

government because it was unfair and damaging and the same thing is

happening to the decline of social care because the Tories tore up an

all-party agreement to sort it out so there are big big battles to

fight and we need a very strong Lib Dem representation in parliament and

that is what you will get from the three of us in this area so thank

you for coming, thank you to Tim and let's get on with the fight.

Thank you, Vince, thank you everybody, thank you, Tim. This is

an exciting day will stop here in Surbiton we are launching the

campaign to make sure we take back Twickenham, keep Richmond Park and

get back Kingston and Surbiton for the Lib Dems. Vince, you were too

gentle on the Conservatives. It is not strong and stable, it is weak

and fragile. The Tories are as divided on Europe as the Labour

Party. It is only the Lib Dems are united and have a clear position and

have held that position for decades. And therefore the country needs us,

it needs us to have that voice, that strong voice on Europe and needs us

to hold whoever gets elected to account. And if it is the

Conservatives as opinion polls show, if they have a huge majority it will

be disastrous for the Brexit negotiations because this

Conservative government does not understand Europe. It needs Lib Dems

like Vince and Sarah and myself who have negotiated in Europe,

negotiated in the single market and free trade to make sure we get a

good deal for the UK but also as a Vince said, whatever deal emerges in

two or three years' time, it should be the British people who decide

whether that is the right thing for this country. Vince rightly talked

about the problems in our schools, hospitals and public services like

police and public transport Corps we have lost 27 police officers in

Kingston, the budget is going down by 6 million thanks to the Tories.

Waiting times at Kingston a and he has shot through the roof, this is

the Tory party in action starving resources to public services. And if

they get a huge majority, what will happen? It will get a lot worse.

This is not just an ordinary Tory government, it is right wing pulling

out of Europe, guess what they will send us back to be the dirty man of

Europe again, even now since May 2015, voting against climate change

measures, to think no protect the environment, with a act on climate

change? I saw them in government other did not want did not want to

do the measures the Lib Dems delivered on. We kept our promise on

climate change, we'll keep our promise on those and public services

and tackling hard Brexit. Please work hard every hour between now and

June the 8th to achieve that. But I'm so delighted that 1-party has a

leader of principle. A leader who is speaking for the majority of British

people, who do want to see a change in the direction of our country and

I could not be more delighted to introduce my friend and colleague,

the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron.

APPLAUSE Welcome! Can I say an enormous thank

you to all of you, especially for laying on Lake District weather for

me, it makes me feel massively at home. Yes, this is a chance for us

to change colour for the British people to change the direction of

our country. Let's not pretend Theresa May has called the selection

for any other reason than that she expects a landslide. Our job is not

to give it to her. Not to let her take you for granted. What could be

worse for south-west London and the country as a whole than a

Conservative majority, Coronation on the 8th of June that allows her to

ignore the plight of local hospitals, ignore the plight of

local schools and the reduction in police officers and ignore the

reduction in the strength of our Armed Forces and ignore the growing

clamour for Britain to remain as members of the single market. The

worst governments are the ones with the weakest positions and there is a

vacancy for an opposition in this country and the Lib Dems are here to

fill it. So, if you believe Britain can be better than this, if you

believe it is wrong that we should be taken out of the single market

without the British people having the final say, if you are concerned

the revelations overnight about Theresa May's complacency, her

complacency as she tells European leaders she has won the election

something that will be news of the British people and offensive to be

heard but also complacent about the consequences of no deal whatsoever.

Theresa May was once home secretary, she knows what a lack of security

co-operation across Europe means for the safety and security of the

British people. She knows what dropping out of the single market

means for the lack of jobs for the rising prices, lack of stability and

the danger to our economy, she needs the impact on local families here

and the impact on families around the country, she must not care. She

knows being outside the free trade deal will mean less money in fixed

jacket, less money for schools, hospitals and police forces. She

knows those being the case and she must not care. Complacent government

heading for what Theresa May believes is a Coronation is an

incredibly dangerous situation to be as you're here to say today

this will not be a Coronation, this will be a contest and as the Labour

Party fights the next leadership battle, fighting inwardly against

themselves, rather than standing up against this divisive Conservative

government, we say we will stand in the place of a decent opposition,

things can change and change dramatically, just over a week ago

the two biggest parties, the main parties in France came third and

fifth, do not let anyone tell you dramatic things cannot happen. We

have seen enough of this or ready. Two anniversaries today, a half

anniversary, firstly six months ago here we were in south-west London

and we saw the dramatic victory of Sarah in Richmond Park taking the

seat of the Conservatives reminding us that 80 months beforehand Sarah

had not even been a member of the party because if you are one of

those out there concerned and exasperated and anxious about the

way our country and world is going, do not just sit there and weep into

your latter-day, do something about it. Do something about it and this

is your chance to do something. And a final controversial note, today it

is 20 years, Ed and Vince enter parliament and since Tony Blair

entered ten Downing St. A reminder whatever we think of Tony Blair and

his outrageous illegal and counter-productive war in Iraq, it

is a reminder 20 years ago that there was a time when a Progressive

party was determined to get out there and win because if you do not

win, you cannot change the country. We have a Labour Party not

interested in winning, Liberal Democrats who are. Your job is to

ten Theresa May's Coronation into a contest for the good of the British

you.