24/09/2012 Today at Conference


24/09/2012

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Good evening and welcome to our first today at a conference of the

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2012 party conference season. We are here in Brighton, with the

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Liberal Democrats, not quite as many or as cheerful as usual as

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they shelter from the miserable weather and a separate --

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depressing poll ratings keep landing on the party like going

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from a broken roof. Can Nick Clegg give them hope? Today, a plan for

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business, backed with a billion pounds of public money and the

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treasurer of the Lib Dems, Vince Cable, behind it. If the economy

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recovers, maybe the Lib Dems can, too. And after Nick Clegg's much

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mocked tuition fees apology, we will see if the rank are in a mood

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to forgive and forget? # I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so

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sorry. A lot of Lib Dems hair at the Grand

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Hotel will tell you they love a Vince Cable speech. It is almost as

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if he is the Lib Dem they would like to be when they grow up. Old,

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but not too old to be leader, not that he is after the job, you

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understand, Wise, more left-wing than Nick Clegg, a bit like them,

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and reassuringly comfortable in coalition for the sake of the

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economy. And not above having a swipe at their Conservative

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partners. We are so good at so many things in this country. But for far

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too long, the mirage of growth based on property speculation and

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financial gambling has hidden the harder for Jews of making things

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So we have got to get behind successful British firms in

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vehicles and aerospace, life science and creative industries.

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Industrial strategy can only work if finance supports business

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investment and growth and country, it doesn't. Hour leading banks are

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often anti-business, especially anti small business. They through

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traditional relationship banking over the side, and sold it useless

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insurance and dodgy derivatives instead. A her we need a new

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British business back with a clean balance sheet and an ability to

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expand. I can announce to you today that we will have one. I am working

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with the Chancellor to develop a new institution that will combine

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�1 billion of new government capital with a larger private

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sector contribution, and this will apply leverage through guarantees

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to support up to �10 billion of finance to small and mid-sized

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companies. This is a significant proportion of all the lending

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currently available. We are scrapping unnecessary red tape on

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small businesses, while strengthening regulation where it

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is necessary. As for the Environment, we are getting more

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women into top business positions on boards, and we have seen off the

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head bangers who want our hire-and- fire culture, and seemed to find

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the idea of sacking people as some kind of aphrodisiac. Actually, it

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is totally ro and in the country with flexible labour markets which

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have created over 1 million private sector jobs in the last two years.

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Instead, we have concentrated on practical tribunal reform and

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supported progressive firms who want working participation.

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Furthermore, we want the cost of our current crisis to be fairly

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shared. We are all in it together. It is a good slogan. Forget the

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Tory messengers, let's just apply the message. And that means

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cracking down hard not just on criminal tax evasion, but on

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abusive tax avoidance. It means working with our allies to close

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down tax havens, because nobody keeps their cash in tax havens for

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the quality of investment advice. These are sunny places for shady

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Now, I note that there are some of you who hanker after an assault on

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top incomes. But we do know that very high marginal rates of income

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tax are counter-productive. So if I were advising Mr Hollande, I would

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be recommending a chateau tax. For those of us who never even managed

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a dumbed down GCSE in French, that means a mansion tax. Core Lib Dem

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policy says a first step to the proper taxation of wealth and land.

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I know it revise the Tory backwoods men, but it is popular and right.

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The super rich can't move their shattered to Monaco or Switzerland,

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so let's get on with it and tax them here. But now, you might say,

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well, that is fine, but how do we get out of the present mess? We are

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in a dangerous phase of this crisis of go go as consumer spending is

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squeezed by falling incomes and debt, and exports to the European

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Union are being hit by the Eurozone crisis. Now, our critics on the

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left say, a cut more slowly. But the Government has already extended

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the period to eliminate the structural deficit from four to six

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years. Yet Ed Balls says "workers of the world, unite. We need a plan

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B". We should, he says, not cut the deficit in six years, but seven.

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Wow! Of and then our critics on the White say that all we need is

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supply-side reform to liberate the animal spirits of business. Well,

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of course we need and we value our entrepreneurs. But no amount of

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push from supply-side reform can possibly succeed without the pull

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of demand. Other critics say, why not borrow more when interest rates

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are solar? Actually, that is what we are doing. We are absorbing the

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slowdown, restoring some of the savage cuts in capital spending

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from the last year of Labour government. So boring has been

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allowed to rise, and that is sensible -- borrowing has been

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allowed to rise. I have considerable personal sympathy for

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the Chancellor, who has been attacked for borrowing too much and

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borrowing too little at the same time. Actually, and it is not a

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matter of plan A versus plan B or plan C. When we came into

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government, we had to balance the competing risks of the economic

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downturn versus the risks of losing the confidence of lenders. I

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believe we struck the right balance and adopted a deficit reduction

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plan. I make no apology for my continuing support for that fiscal

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discipline. But right now, we are fighting recession. And the need is

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for a demand stimulus. But the central point is this. The country

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must not get stuck in a downward escalator Breslow or no growth

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means bigger deficits, leading to more cuts and even slower growth.

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That is the way to economic disaster and political oblivion.

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Now, most of our MPs will face Conservatives at the next general

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election. They face the enticing prospect of a Tory split up. I

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don't know what Boris and they've got up to at Eton -- I don't know

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what Boris and they've got up to Eton. Perhaps a pillow fight got

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out of control in the dormitory. I have been told, however, that jokes

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about social class are not good for the unity of the coalition. But as

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a mere pleb, I couldn't resist. Over two years in government, we

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are battle-hardened, but certainly not war-weary. None of us know

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exactly how it will all end. But we do know we must fight the next

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general election her as a totally independent National, credible

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I don't believe, actually, that the British people will want to entrust

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their future to any one party next time. And if Britain wants

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sustainable growth, competence with compassion, fairness with freedom

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and more equality, not ever greater division, then that government must

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have Liberal Democrats at its heart. Thank you. Vince Cable, speaking

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earlier this afternoon. Straight after the speech, Andrew Neil spoke

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to the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Simon Hughes, on the Daily

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Politics. The government is only put in �1 billion into this state

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bank. We don't know where that money is coming from her. And it

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will not even start for 18 months. It will do nothing for small

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businesses in the recession at the moment, correct? You are correct

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that it will be a �1 billion government down-payment, matched by

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private finance. The idea is that it will produce about �10 billion.

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In this Parliament, the problem that has bedevilled small and

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medium-size businesses, getting money from the banks to help expand

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and help through hard times, will be dealt with. It is the second

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initiative, because we have already started the green investment bank

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for green projects, and that is up and running. There you are going to

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ask the taxpayer to guarantee funds that are going to go into small

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businesses that have already been turned down by the commercial banks.

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What collateral will we get in return for these loans? The bank

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will work out a way of doing it at that satisfies them, from a

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government perspective, that it is a viable proposition. But it will

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be more risky by definition. How can we be sure you will not lose

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our money? You can never be absolutely sure. When any bank

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lends money, you can't be absolutely sure. The state needs to

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take action to protect the taxpayer. But when we were left with banks

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going under and the state had to rescue them, the plea was,

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shouldn't the state have some influence on what they do, or

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should we leave them to make their decisions? My experience is no

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different from any other part of the country. Small businesses with

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reasonable propositions which have a good record struggle to get

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lending. Most people don't work for big businesses, they work on their

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own or for small businesses. We need to make sure that sector

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continues to grow. It has already created 900,000 jobs since the

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recession began. In the public sector, jobs are going down. So we

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have now got the Vince Cable Bang, but we will not have that for 18

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months. We have got the green bank. How much has the green bank loaned

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to people so far? I don't know. He the answer is nothing, because it

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is only now up and running. Of how much has the Big Society bank

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loaned to people? Go this is like a quiz programme, Andrew. There my

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point is that you keep creating banks that don't do anything.

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De Big Society bank was an initiative that David Cameron

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wanted to make sure go there was something for volunteering and the

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charitable sector. There we have only just passed the legislation

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for the green bank. The idea is to make sure that places like the

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north-east get the support for the renewable energy industries.

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know what it is meant to do, Mr Hughes. We are committing to making

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sure that there is public investment without penalising the

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taxpayer in ways that grow the economy. Our best example of that

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was the announcement made yesterday that there will be an ability for

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people to use their pension pot to help their children and

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grandchildren have the investment and security to get the housing

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Mr Cable says he wants the Bank of Cable we may call it to concentrate

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on lending people noun make things K I give you examples. British Lee

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land, British ship builders, DeLorean, Phoenix, these were great

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successes, weren't they? I remember those as you do. You also know the

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great debate last year was why we didn't support our own companies to

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get contracts for the railway industry when it was self-evident

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that other countries within the European Union under the rules were

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managing to do that. We are having a different and more robust

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attitude on these matters within the European Union. You are not

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allowed to unfairly state subsidise to distort competition but you are

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allowed to assist if you apply the rules.

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Simon Hughes talking to Andrew Neil earlier. Today, like every day I

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suppose, was about how to grow the economy. During the morning session

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the conference debated a motion about generating jobs and growth at

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a time of austerity. Not all of them share Nick Clegg or Vince

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Cable's support for bearing down so hard on the deficit. They want an

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end to plan A which they see as hurting ordinary people. The UK

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economy isn't a soulless auction room, a mechanism. It is a seething

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mass of hopes and fears, where Government decisions shape the

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behaviour of millions of workers and savers and consumers.

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Government needs a dynamic, not a book-keeper's model of our economy.

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Even Mervyn, the governor, is telling Mr Osbourne, don't be

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obsessed with the simple aErith met tick. Mervyn is right. We need

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intelligent policy-makers, not blind watch-makers. And there's so

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much that a humane and intelligent Government can do. Our Government

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has had no problem finding cash for irresponsible bankers. And it can

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do more for those who need its help most. Alongside these investments

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which have been announced there is always the caveat from our leaders

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and from the rest of the coalition, but of course we are still making

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deficit reduction our top priority. So the Government is giving out

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what is seen as a very mixed message. On the one hand, more

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investment. On the other hand, more cuts. And the private sector

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continues to withhold its investment until it sees which hand

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wins out. So we have to change the message. No longer can deficit

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reduction by means of cuts in public spending be our top priority.

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Instead, the priority has to be boosting the economy and reducing

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our cuts or at least spreading them over a longer period.

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I think the point of this debate is about saying what are we for as

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Liberal Democrats? Well, I know what I am for as a Liberal Democrat.

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I am for fairness. I am for social justice and I am for a war on

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poverty. Danny Alexander doesn't want to us be timid. Colleagues,

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neither do I. If you support amendment one, we begin to send a

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significant signal that says Liberal Democrats are for people,

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we are for fairness, we are for justice in this country and plan A

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clearly is not working. We have the power, if we have the courage, to

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stand up and argue for a better approach.

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I come from a generation who saved before they spent and the country

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has done the reverse. We cannot pretend we have no financial

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problems. We cannot spend, spend, spend. Because we have not saved,

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saved and saved. Conference, I am a dedicated

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follower of John Maynard Kings, I believe in a demand-led recovery. I

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want to see more investment in social housing and in ambitious

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green projects and putting more money back in pockets of of low

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paid people who will spend it. Scrapping the fiscal mandate will

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be crackers. It's the credible deficit reduction strategy stands

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between us and market chaos, interest rate hikes, that means

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businesses going to the walls, house repossessions and mass

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unemployment. I am in politics to work to avoid human misery.

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Scrapping the fiscal mandate would create avoidable human misery.

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Please oppose amendment one, support the motion in amendment two.

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Thank you. Conference, this is such an important debate and it is an

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argument about philosophy and the philosophy of our party. Let's

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remember the starting point. The starting point is this: When we

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came in to this coalition Government we were spending �4 for

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every �3 that was brought in, in tax aches, that's simply --

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taxation. That's simply an unsustainable position. If we

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accept amendment one, then that is exactly where this party says that

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we should remain. We voted together, overwhelmingly

:20:40.:20:43.

in Birmingham two and a half years ago, for this coalition which was

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built on this fiscal mandate and we voted for a five-year deal. It

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would be wrong to give up now. Conference, I know that when the

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going gets tough, Liberal Democrats are not ones to lose our nerve. We

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need to stick to what we agreed. Conference, support the motion and

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reject amendment one. The party leadership saw off that

:21:10.:21:13.

challenge to the coalition's deficit reduction plan

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Conservativably. Later this -- comfortably. Later that afternoon

:21:17.:21:23.

the Chancellor's Lib Dem Lieutenant at the Treasury, Danny Alexander,

:21:23.:21:27.

took questions and did his bit to make the Lib Dems feel better about

:21:27.:21:29.

themselves and life in their coalition marriage of convenience

:21:29.:21:33.

with the Conservatives. activists when we are talking to

:21:33.:21:37.

people we as Lib Dems are now perceived to be the same as the

:21:37.:21:40.

Tories and we desperately need to be able to show that we are

:21:40.:21:43.

different and we need to be able to show that that we are moderating

:21:43.:21:46.

the Tories and that we are making things less awful than they might

:21:46.:21:51.

have been. We do need to be able to demonstrate that a vote for a Lib

:21:51.:21:59.

Dem is not a vote for a Conservative. APPLAUSE. Well, that

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is a point I 100% agree with. We are an independent party. We have

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our own ideas, our own beliefs our own values, our own policies. I

:22:08.:22:12.

think that it is - you are setting your ambition too low. I don't

:22:12.:22:16.

think our aim should be to demonstrate the things are not as

:22:16.:22:21.

batted as they might have been. -- as bad as they might have been. I

:22:21.:22:27.

hope I have shown you ways in which the income tax people pay is less

:22:27.:22:30.

because of the Liberal Democrats, that's making a real difference to

:22:30.:22:32.

millions of people across the country. The support that young

:22:32.:22:35.

people from disadvantaged backgrounds have in schools is

:22:35.:22:38.

better because of the Liberal Democrats. I won't go on and repeat

:22:38.:22:44.

the whole list. I reu this will I would go further in than you did in

:22:44.:22:46.

your ambition for showing people the difference we are making in

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Government. APPLAUSE.

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I am sure day in, day out, you have conversations with Conservative

:22:53.:22:55.

Ministerial colleagues and sometimes you agree wholeheartedly

:22:55.:22:58.

with them and sometimes you don't. People might be interested to know

:22:58.:23:02.

anybody you particularly find often that you are arguing with? Or any

:23:02.:23:06.

particular good Conservatives from your point of view? I am not going

:23:06.:23:10.

to do a sort of score card of my Conservative colleagues. I can see

:23:10.:23:15.

why that would be interesting. But maybe I am old-fashioned in this

:23:15.:23:19.

respect, it's not my way of doing things. I would say more there are

:23:19.:23:24.

certain issues which are particularly challenging and

:23:24.:23:28.

difficult. I have highlighted this week that I think the real risks

:23:28.:23:32.

for our economy if we can't resolve in the right way the differences of

:23:32.:23:35.

opinion that exist, particularly between back bench Conservatives

:23:35.:23:38.

and Liberal Democrats, on the environment, for example,. That's a

:23:38.:23:41.

major issue that we have to get sorted out because it's something

:23:41.:23:44.

that can make a huge, huge difference to our economy right now

:23:44.:23:48.

and this sort of sense that's political uncertainty around that

:23:48.:23:51.

is very damaging. That's an issue, rather than a personality, if you

:23:52.:23:55.

like. Isn't it not now time as we

:23:55.:24:01.

approach the 2015 election for you and Nick Clegg, in particular, to

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be saying more this fact that it is not full Liberal Democrats policy,

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we want more, it's a pragmatic compromise? Of course it's not full

:24:11.:24:14.

policy, we didn't win the election. I would love it if we had a

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majority Government, we could deliver all the things that we

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promised. We got 23% of the vote. The Conservatives didn't win the

:24:20.:24:24.

election, either. Some of them thraoeubg forget that fact. -- like

:24:24.:24:27.

to forget that fact. That's why we have a coalition which does involve

:24:27.:24:30.

compromises t involves delivering a lot of what we promised. It

:24:30.:24:34.

involves delivering a lot of what they promised, too. You know, going

:24:34.:24:39.

back to what I said earlier, as a party we have - we are already

:24:39.:24:42.

delivering a great deal of what we promised. We have a great deal to

:24:42.:24:45.

gain from that process, not least in terms of demonstrating for the

:24:45.:24:48.

first time for many decades that we are a party that can be trusted

:24:48.:24:51.

with the country's money, a party that has credibility on the economy,

:24:52.:24:55.

we are a party that has the right ideas in terms of fairness and

:24:55.:24:59.

that'sy used the expression at the end of my presentation, we can

:24:59.:25:02.

demonstrate other the the only economically credible and

:25:02.:25:04.

progressive party in British politics. That's very good ground

:25:04.:25:09.

to fight the next election on. Danny Alexander there. We heard

:25:09.:25:12.

what what Liberal Democrats think of coalition. What do they make of

:25:12.:25:17.

Nick Clegg's famous apology now for promising to try to hold down

:25:17.:25:21.

tuition fees? Not for breaking the promise, for making it in the first

:25:21.:25:24.

place. Adam Fleming took out his conference mood box for its first

:25:24.:25:28.

outing to find out. All the talk here is about Nick

:25:28.:25:33.

Clegg saying sorry over tuition fees. Are delegates here ready to

:25:33.:25:37.

forgive him? Yes or no? Nick Clegg saying sorry over tuition fees, do

:25:37.:25:43.

you forgive him? Yes. Why is he deserving of forgiveness?

:25:43.:25:46.

Because he's basically said it from the heart. It's like an admission

:25:46.:25:51.

of how he feels and that's how I feel about it. Let's look at the

:25:51.:25:56.

last couple of years. We had no apology on Iraq. We have had no

:25:56.:26:00.

apology on the mess that the last Government left us financially.

:26:00.:26:04.

They were huge. Over the fees, I do forgive him but the fact they made

:26:04.:26:07.

a promise and went against it I can't forgive him for that. That's

:26:07.:26:12.

number one error of politician can make. Who else should be asking for

:26:12.:26:15.

forgiveness? Well, the press should be asking for forgiveness of all

:26:15.:26:18.

the students that put off actually going to university by

:26:18.:26:22.

misrepresenting what the policy is. I still think he was right to

:26:22.:26:26.

apologise but should have done it two years ago. Am I ready to

:26:26.:26:31.

forgive him? On one hand, yes. On the other hand, no. Too little, too

:26:31.:26:41.
:26:41.:26:41.

Someone's come up to me and said a lot of people actually quit the

:26:41.:26:47.

party over tuition fees so they're not even here to vote no.

:26:47.:26:55.

I am sorry, I am sorry, I am so, so, sorry! It's very hard to say that I

:26:55.:27:01.

am sorry! Wow, you saved me 79p, thank you very much. The answer is

:27:01.:27:06.

yes. Do you think it's done damage? The apology? Breaking the pledge?

:27:06.:27:10.

Definitely, no question. That's why the apology was needed and was

:27:10.:27:15.

welcomed. I think all of us have learned things from this episode. I

:27:15.:27:19.

said the other day it's - we are a party that prides itself on its

:27:19.:27:24.

integrity. Nick said sorry about tuition fees, do you forgive him?

:27:24.:27:31.

Yes! Can you think of anything you want to apologise for? I would echo

:27:31.:27:34.

his apology on the pledge that we made, but sadly couldn't keep.

:27:34.:27:38.

Thank you. I think actually Wye have forgiven

:27:38.:27:41.

him if his apology had been accompanied by his letter of

:27:41.:27:45.

resignation. What do you say to people who don't want to forgive

:27:45.:27:50.

Nick? We are not in North Korea. We are a liberal party in one of the

:27:50.:27:54.

most liberal-minded countries in the world. Not everyone is required

:27:54.:27:58.

to agree with the leader on every issue. The people ready to forgive

:27:58.:28:01.

and forget have come out on top. Have a look at what I have been

:28:01.:28:06.

handed from the Lib Dem shop, a Nick Clegg "I am sorry" badge.

:28:06.:28:09.

That's it for today. Here in Brighton as the Liberal Democrats

:28:09.:28:12.

wash down Vince Cable's speech the bookies have cut the odds on the

:28:12.:28:15.

Business Secretary becoming the next leader. Not that he is after

:28:15.:28:20.

the job, you understand, and after all, there's no powerful appetite

:28:20.:28:29.

here to to dump Nick Clegg. Not yet it's nice to be thought of, I

:28:30.:28:33.

suppose. Some we will hear from Michael Moore and Danny Alexander.

:28:33.:28:37.

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