Clegg: Four Steps to a Fairer Britain

Today I launched the values and principles that will guide our manifesto. Everything our party will stand for at the next election will be based on our principles. You can read about them in more detail at www.shepwaylibdems.org.uk/fairnessfirst/

I believe it is possible to both balance the books and transform British society - but only if you are guided by strong values in taking the tough choices which now must be made. People will support us because we are realistic about the difficulties ahead, but guided by optimism and clear convictions about the way forward.

That is what makes us fundamentally different from the other parties. Last week's phoney election campaign was a depressing experience. The petulant playground politics of both Labour and the Tories did nothing to explain how they would solve the economic, political and environmental challenges facing Britain. They only demonstrated that neither of them is fit to run our country.

We are putting our cards on the table now. The heart of our manifesto will be short, direct and to the point. I recorded this video about it earlier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJJgXuI3f3o

Our manifesto is based on a single insight: that the dreadful crises we have faced give us the chance to reshape our country. And it is built on one simple and very British value: fairness.

We will offer the British people the chance to vote for the four steps that are essential for a fairer Britain. Only four. But they are four big changes - more significant than anything Labour or the Conservatives will offer at this election - that together will reshape the country we live in.

We are committed to spending more on education to give every child a fair start, and we have a plan to invest in sustainable jobs and homes - making sure that we leave this recession behind and build for the future. We will couple this with a radical tax switch programme, which will see the wealthiest and polluters pay their fair share and allow us to raise the income tax threshold to £10,000 - meaning four million of the lowest earners will pay no income tax at all and average earners will get a £700 tax cut. And we remain the only party committed to meaningful political reform. We will transform the electoral system to make it fair, give voters the chance to sack corrupt MPs, take big money out of politics, and take power away from Whitehall and put it in the hands of local people.

And we know how we will make the sums add up. Vince Cable and I have gone further than any other politicians in spelling out some of the steps which must now be taken to address the deficit and redirect money to our own priorities: a 10% levy on banks' profits as long as they are underwritten by the taxpayer; no to the like-for-like replacement of Trident; an end to tax credits to above average income families; cancelling the Child Trust Fund; and a £400 cap on all public sector pay increases. These are, in our view, unavoidable if we're going to tackle Gordon Brown's astronomical deficit and find the money for our social and political priorities.

Real change cannot be achieved if we merely tinker at the edges. Talk is cheap, but real change is harder. That is why today I've laid out the big, permanent change that, with your help, I'm confident our party can deliver - and if we do, we can build a better, fairer Britain.