Liberal Democrats today promised to restore the link between pension and earnings immediately. Setting out a key priority for the Liberal Democrats Liberral Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said it was a “scandal” that many pensioners live in poverty.

Nick Clegg said a Liberal Democrat government would keep local post offices open, ensure fair fuel prices and that the raising of the tax threshold to £10,000 would benefit older people.

Speaking in Birmingham, Nick Clegg said: “It’s a scandal that 2.5 million pensioners live below the bread line in Britain today.

“Ever since the link with earnings was broken back in the 1980s, the basic pension hasn’t been enough to live on.

Liberal Democrats will change things for older people, putting fairness into social care and pensions.”

Liberal Democrats would also scrap the default retirement age at 65, which means companies can insist employees retire.

Nick Clegg said:

“We will also bring an end to age discrimination and stop people being written off or forced to retire once they reach a certain age.

Liberal Democrats recognise the enormous contribution older people make to our society. In government we would make sure that all of our public services, and businesses like energy companies, treat older people with the respect they deserve.”

This evening saw Nick Clegg go head to head with Gordon Brown and David Cameron in the third and final Leader’s Debate broadcast on BBC1.

Nick Clegg’s opening statement 

In his opening statement at the final leaders’ debate, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg

“Tonight’s debate is about you – about your job, the taxes you pay, your family, the prosperity of our country.
 
“We need to do things differently to build a new, stronger, fairer economy.

“The way they got us into this mess is not the way out. 
 
“So we need to be frank about where cuts are needed – so that we can protect things like schools and hospitals.
 
“We need to break up our banking system so that irresponsible bankers can never again put your businesses and your savings at risk.
 
“We have to rediscover our passion for innovation, for building things, not just placing bets on the money markets.
 
“We need fairer taxes, so that you don’t pay any income tax on your first £10,000.
 
“Of course, they’ll tell you tonight that these things can’t be done.
 
“But I think we’ve got to do things differently – to deliver the fairness, the prosperity, the jobs which you and your families deserve.”

Nick Clegg’s closing statement 

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“Everything I’ve said during these three television debates is driven by my simple belief that if we do things differently this time, we can create a fairer, better Britain.
 
“As you decide how to cast your vote, of course you’ll be told by these two, that real change is dangerous, that it can’t be done.
 
“Don’t let anyone scare you from following your instincts.
 
“Together next week we can change Britain for good.
 
“Just think how many times you’ve been given lots of promises by these two old parties – only to discover when they get into Government that nothing really changes.
 
“We can do so much better than that this time.
 
“Of course I can’t guarantee that every problem you face will be solved overnight.
 
“But I can guarantee that I will work tirelessly to deliver greater fairness for you.
 
“Fairer taxes, so that you pay less but people at the top pay their fair share.

“A fair start, smaller class sizes, for your children.

“A different approach to the economy.

“And open, decent politics which you can trust once again.
 
“I believe all this can happen.
 
“This is your election. This is your country.

“When you go to vote next week, choose the future you really want.
 
“If you believe like I do that we can do things differently this time, then together we will really change Britain.
 
“Don’t let anyone tell you it can’t happen. It can.

“This time, you can make the difference.”

“Liberal Democrats will change things for older people, putting fairness into social care and pensions,” said the Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg.

The Liberal Democrats have today set out their policies for older people. The policies include:

• Restoring the earnings link immediately
• No-one to pay tax on the first £10,000 of their income
• Scrapping the default retirement age
• Fair energy prices
• A review of social care
• Keeping Post Offices open

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“It’s a scandal that 2.5m pensioners live below the bread line in Britain today.

“Ever since the link with earnings was broken back in the 1980s, the basic pension hasn’t been enough to live on.

“In order to get more money pensioners have to fill in complex and demeaning forms. Many struggle to pay their fuel bills, and many are forced to sell their homes simply to pay for the care they need.

“Liberal Democrats will change things for older people, putting fairness into social care and pensions.

“But it’s about more than that – we will also bring an end to age discrimination and stop people being written off or forced to retire once they reach a certain age.

“Liberal Democrats recognise the enormous contribution older people make to our society. In government we would make sure that all of our public services, and businesses like energy companies, treat older people with the respect they deserve.”

It is unfair that as each year goes by, pensioners slip further behind. It is only fair that, at times when the country is getting richer, retired people share the benefit.

Today, almost 1 in 4 pensioners live below the bread line. More than half of pensioners are on such low incomes that they are entitled to means-tested benefits, yet many don’t get the extra help they need because they are put off by complicated forms and sharing personal information.

Liberal Democrats will immediately restore the link between the basic state pension and earnings.
We will use growth in average earnings, prices or 2.5 per cent, whichever is higher, to determine the increase in the state pension. For personal pensions we will give people control over their own pension by scrapping the rules that compel you to buy an annuity when you reach 75.

Forcing people to retire on their 65th birthday is age discrimination, which we want to end. We believe that employers should never be allowed to use someone’s age as a reason for taking away their livelihood. People should be judged on their ability to do their work, not their age.

Liberal Democrats would remove compulsory retirement ages. Obviously, to continue working, employee and employer have to be agreed that it is to their mutual advantage. Those who go on working should accept a periodic assessment of their capacity to be able to continue doing their job effectively. The age from which these assessments would be required will be decided through consultation with stakeholders, including employers and interest groups such as Age Concern and Help the Aged.

We live in a country where people on low and middle incomes pay too much tax on their income while those on high incomes are able to avoid large amounts of tax. Liberal Democrats will radically rebalance the tax system by cutting taxes for people on low and middle incomes meaning that no-one pays tax on the fi rst £10,000 of their income.

This means that anyone between 65 and 74 with an income of £10,000 or more will have their income tax cut by at least £100. Those over 75 will get just under £100 in their pockets. As higher personal allowances for people aged over 65 are only for those on lower incomes, anyone over 65 with an income of over £29,500 will see their income tax cut by £700.

The change will be paid for by a new mansion tax, closing loopholes that benefit the wealthy and ensuring airlines pay for the damage they cause.

Energy bills are too expensive for too many people, especially pensioners who often spend all day at home. Under the current rules, a pensioner trying to heat a single room in their home pays more per unit than a millionaire does heating a five-storey mansion. No wonder nearly 37,000 people died from the cold last winter, most of them elderly.

Liberal Democrats will require energy companies to reverse the charging regime so that the first units of energy consumed are at the lowest price. This will reward those who use less energy and encourage investment in energy efficiency.

There are also currently massive differences in how energy companies decide who is eligible for a ‘social tariff’. Liberal Democrats will force energy companies to introduce mandatory social tariffs, lower than their other prices, to protect vulnerable people on means-tested state benefits from high fuel costs. We will require that these social tariffs are less than or equal to the cheapest market price available regardless of how these customers pay their bill.

The long-term funding system for adult social care in England is not fit for purpose and funding for services is likely to become more difficult in the future. Liberal Democrats want to create an independent commission to reach a consensus on social care and sort this problem out once for all. We will seek agreement based on the principles of fairness, sustainability and affordability.

Liberal Democrats will support the million family carers in Britain who provide 50 hours of care a week for a loved one with a guarantee of a week’s respite a year. This is affordable because we will cancel Labour’s plans for ‘free care at home’, as they are so badly funded they will lead to cuts in social care support for many vulnerable people or an increase in Council Tax.

Pensioners and older people often rely on their local Post Office, but Labour and the Conservatives before them have closed down more than 10,000. This simply isn’t fair.

Liberal Democrats will give the Post Office a sustainable future by splitting Post Office Ltd from Royal Mail, allowing each to focus on their separate challenges. When market conditions allow, 49 per cent of Royal Mail will be sold generating proceeds that will become available to fund improvements in the Post Office network depending on need at that time.

The Post Office, on the other hand, will remain in public ownership in order to provide an essential, locally-based, lifeline to all communities and will be supported in developing new sources of revenue.

These include the creation of a PostBank, acting as the shop window for Government and as a collection/delivery point for internet shopping.

If you live in the Yarboroughy Ward you should have received this leaflet by now, but in case anyone has not seen it yet I have put a copy of it on here:

“When you next hear David Cameron and Gordon Brown talking about billions and billions of so-called efficiency savings, don’t believe a word of it,” said the Liberal Democrat Leader.

Speaking today at Oxford Brookes University, Nick Clegg said:

“One thing I will not do, and Labour and the Conservatives are doing, is try to fool you into thinking that you can fill in one of the biggest black holes in our public finances in generations through phantom, fantasy ‘efficiency savings’.

“It’s an insult to your intelligence that David Cameron and Gordon Brown pretend that you can fill a structural deficit the size of which we haven’t seen since the Second World War through savings on paperclips in Whitehall.

“It’s a nonsense, it’s a joke, they’re treating you like fools.

“So when you next hear David Cameron and Gordon Brown talking about billions and billions of so-called efficiency savings, don’t believe a word of it.

“That’s why Vince Cable, myself and the rest of the Liberal Democrats took the decision to spell out in our manifesto item by item, saving by saving, how we would find £15bn of cuts.

“£5bn will go towards our priorities. The rest, £10bn, is a serious down payment to deal with this structural deficit.”

“The economy also requires rebalancing and transforming. We are the only party with a plan to do just that and we are ready to begin that massive undertaking,” the Liberal Democrat shadow Chancellor said.

Vince Cable today spoke to the Institute of Directors. His speech in full:

This building commemorates Britain at the peak of its economic power and glory. We are still an important country with much to be proud of. But that power and the glory have faded. And we are currently in a serious economic mess.

The current economic model is broken. It relied on consumer spending, financed by heavy borrowing and low savings; investment in property rather than production; rapidly expanding public spending based on temporary windfalls from oil, then financial speculation; and growth over-dependent on the fickle fortunes of the banking industry. Any party which does not face up to the scale of the problem, and the parallel crisis in our political system, does not deserve to win. And will not succeed if they do win.

The Liberal Democrats have received credit for warning about the looming crisis and saying what needed to be done in an emergency. But the issue now is: how does the country get back into balance and make a living in future? Good, successful, profitable, business must be a large part of the answer to that question.

Personally, I am proud of the fact that I worked in industry for one of our top companies, alongside world-class directors and managers. I have spent much of my time in this campaign meeting and supporting entrepreneurs: especially the small and medium sized companies which are the backbone of the economy and which will provide future jobs. I am a friend but also a critical friend of business and I have no intention of pulling my punches when they are needed.

For example, I have no time for billionaire tax dodgers who step off the plane from their tax havens into the country where they make their money and have the effrontery to tell us how to vote and how to run our tax policies.  If some of them came onshore and paid their taxes it would make a useful dent in the budget deficit.

Let me be clear, I have no quarrel with the IOD. I expect the IOD to lobby for lower taxes which affect its membership. You would want your membership fees back if it didn’t. In the same way I expect dairy farmers to lobby for milk subsidies, high tech companies to lobby for special tax breaks and my old friends in the oil industry to lobby for tax relief on oil exploration. I actually agree with you that a tax on payrolls is not a good way to raise revenue. But none of that excuses politicians who are too weak to take into account the needs of the whole economy and say ‘no, sorry we simply can’t afford what you ask’.

We are told that it will be paid for by increased ‘efficiency’. I am all in favour of increased efficiency and less waste. But efficiency has become the new politically correct word for sacking people and cutting services. Some of the wisest words on this subject were uttered by Mr David Cameron. Let me commend them to you. ‘The government ‘efficiency drive’’ – he said – ‘is one of the oldest tricks in the book. The trouble is, it’s nearly always just that – a trick’. And indeed he is not alone, the IFS was happy to endorse this criticism of our opponents just yesterday.

But I want to concentrate on what the Lib Dems would do to turn things round. Starting with the banks that were the focus of the financial earthquake and the subsequent recession. The banks that were rescued by the taxpayer are hoarding not lending capital. They must now be required by the government, which has a controlling stake, to act in the wider interest of UK PLC. That means lending to good, solvent small and medium-sized, UK, companies – like many of you in the audience – who are currently being starved of working and investment capital on reasonable terms and as a consequence cannot expand and employ people. Fees are often extortionate and what used to be business lending has become mortgage lending on directors’ homes.

The banks must also be made safe, since Britain is exceptionally exposed to crises in banking because assets as a share of the economy are much higher than in the US, France or Germany. That is why we want to act on the Governor of the Bank of England’s advice to split the big banks so that the traditional business and personal lending is not dominated and potentially undermined by so called ‘casino’ activities.

Then, equally crucial, we recognise the need for government financial discipline and for a serious plan to cut the public sector deficit which has grown to unsustainable levels. Nick Clegg and I have been arguing for months that the next government will have to make serious spending cuts and we have been specific – more specific than our competitors – in spelling out what some of these should be. We are not afraid to tackle taboo subjects: we question some welfare payments – like Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners under 65, tax credits and the Child Trust Fund; public sector pensions, which are running out of control, particularly at the top; not ring fencing spending by government departments which will merely ensure that some really useful spending is cut deeply to protect bureaucrats in other, higher profile, departments.

We have made it clear that we are fully committed to the country’s financial stability whatever the outcome of the election and the markets appear to understand and respect our seriousness.

The deficit problem is easier to solve if there is growth. That is why the next government has to recognise the fragility of the economy and not take action which would precipitate a double dip recession leading to more unemployment and even bigger budget deficits.

But in the longer term, growth will happen when you feel confident enough to expand. So we recognise an obligation to get rid of intrusive red tape; we have for example been consistently opposed to the Working Time Directive. The role of government is not to supplant business or tell it what to produce but to provide a platform of educated manpower and functioning modern infrastructure to rebuild our national competitiveness. That is why we believe a part of the savings we make in government spending should be channelled back into ensuring that the schools produce people who are numerate and literate and trainable by business. It is also why we have been talking to the insurance and pension industry – which has hundreds of billions of investments looking for a safe outlet providing a decent return – and the engineering professional groups about how best to channel long term institutional finance into infrastructure. We led the way in arguing the case for a UK Infrastructure Bank.

We Liberal Democrats recognise the sheer scale of the challenge ahead. Our political system and parliament in particular have lost their credibility, reputation and effectiveness. The economy also requires rebalancing and transforming. We are the only party with a plan to do just that and we are ready to begin that massive undertaking.

“The Liberal Democrats are different. Not only will we oppose any raising of the cap, we will scrap tuition fees for good, including for part-time students,” the Liberal Democrat Leader said.

Students will be saddled with debts as high as £44,000 in the next five years under Labour and Conservative plans to raise tuition fees after the election, the Liberal Democrats have predicted.

Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to scrapping tuition fees and opposing any attempt to raise them. We will phase out tuition fees over six years, starting by immediately scrapping final year fees for students doing their first degree.

Our 6 point timetable for scrapping tuition fees

See more on our plans for education: here.

Commenting, Nick Clegg said:

“Labour and the Conservatives have been trying to keep tuition fees out of this election campaign.

“It’s because they don’t want to come clean with you about what they’re planning.

“Despite the huge financial strain fees already place on Britain’s young people, it is clear both Labour and the Conservatives want to lift the cap on fees.

“If fees rise to £7,000 a year, as many rumours suggest they would, within five years some students will be leaving university up to £44,000 in debt.

“That would be a disaster. If we have learnt one thing from the economic crisis, it is that you can’t build a future on debt.

“The Liberal Democrats are different. Not only will we oppose any raising of the cap, we will scrap tuition fees for good, including for part-time students.

“We can’t do it overnight, but we can start straight away with students in their final year – that means anyone at university this autumn will have their debt cut by at least £3,000.

“Students can make the difference in countless seats in this election. Use your vote to block unfair tuition fees and get them scrapped once and for all.”

Liberal Democrats are different to the Labservatives. Not only will we oppose any raising of the cap on student tuition fees, we will also get rid them for good, including for part-time students,” the Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg.

Students will end up with debts as high as £44,000 in the next five years under Labour and Conservative plans to raise tuition fees after the election, the Liberal Democrats have warned.

Liberal Democrats are committed to scrapping tuition fees and opposing any attempt to raise them. We will phase out tuition fees over six years, starting by immediately scrapping final year fees for students doing their first degree

Commenting, said:

“Labour and the Conservatives have been trying to keep tuition fees out of this election campaign.

“It’s because they don’t want to come clean with you about what they’re planning.

“Despite the huge financial strain fees already place on Britain’s young people, it is clear both Labour and the Conservatives want to lift the cap on fees.

“If fees rise to £7,000 a year, as many rumours suggest they would, within five years some students will be leaving university up to £44,000 in debt.

“That would be a disaster. If we have learnt one thing from the economic crisis, it is that you can’t build a future on debt.

Liberal Democrats are different. Not only will we oppose any raising of the cap, we will scrap tuition fees for good, including for part-time students.

“We can’t do it overnight, but we can start straight away with students in their final year – that way means anyone at university this autumn will have their debt cut by at least £3,000.

“Students can make the difference in countless seats in this election. Use your vote to block those unfair tuition fees and get them scrapped once and for all.”

Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman Vince Cable has attacked Conservative tax and spending plans, describing them as “fundamentally dishonest”.

As the three party leaders were preparing for tomorrow’s final televised debate, focusing on the economy, Mr Cable dismissed Tory claims that they could fund their planned national insurance cut through efficiency savings as a “cop out”.

In a debate on BBC2′s Newsnight, Mr Cable singled out the Tory plans to save £12 billion through cutting waste for strong  criticism.

Mr Cable described Conservative reliance on efficiency savings as a cop out. He said:

“It is fundamentally dishonest. It is a trick, it is not dealing with the need for cuts of a specific kind,”

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, campaigning in Oxford, will highlight his party’s plans to phase out tuition fees, warning that under the current system, in five years time some students will be leaving university up to £44,000 in debt.

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It seems that the Conservatives are doing their best to lose the vote of gay people. Last month Conservative home secretary Chris Grayling who landed himself and his party in trouble by defending the rights of bed-and-breakfast owners to discriminate against gay couples. Then the party’s shadow defence minister Julian Lewis alleged that equalising the age of consent had increased the risk of HIV infection.

Now the Conservative party has had to suspend one of their candidates for describing gay people as “not normal”. The BBC reports:

Tory election candidate Philip Lardner has been suspended for describing gay people on his website as “not normal”, the party has confirmed. … The primary school teacher’s name will remain on ballot papers because it is too late to remove his nomination. He will still be listed as a Conservative candidate, although a party spokeswoman said they had made clear they no longer supported him. Mr Lardner had been reinstated to the party in 2008 after a previous suspension over claims he made racist comments by portraying former leader of white-rule Rhodesia, Ian Smith, as a hero. On that occasion, Mr Lardner did not deny making the comments but suggested they had been taken out of context.

His latest suspension was provoked by comments in the “What I believe in” section of his website, under the sub-heading: “Homosexuality is not ‘normal behaviour’.” The former Territorial Army soldier wrote of his support for the controversial “clause 28?, which was introduced by the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher and banned public bodies from promoting homosexuality.

This latest example of backwards Tory thinking perhaps helps explain the collapse in the party’s support among gay voters, with the Lib Dems the overwhelming choice of 58%. Pink News reports:

A group of 911 LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] people, weighted demographically and geographically have been informing PinkNews.co.uk of their voting intentions since March 2010 as well as their votes in the 2005 general election. Support for the Conservative Party has fallen from 17% in 2005 to 9% today. Labour support has dropped from 29% in 2005 and in the 2009 poll to 21% today. Liberal Democrat support has increased from 20% to 58%. The Green Party have dropped from 10% in 2005 to 8% today.

Oh, and here’s another reason why gay voters might doubt the resolve of the Tory party in advancing gay equality – here’s a stumbling and mumbling David Cameron defending his party’s record in an interview for Gay Times recently:

(Available on the Channel 4 website here).

In stark contrast to the Conservative mix of confusion and homophobia, Nick Clegg has set out in crystal clear terms five firm proposals he would move to implement as Lib Dem policy to promote gay equality.