Newham Borough Liberal Democrats

Sarah's bulletin: 30 April 2010

Dear friends,

Clegg the overall winner of the leaders' debates

Yesterday's performance by Nick Clegg seals the verdict that he won the series hands down. Again yesterday he was fluent, honest and candid, showing that the LibDems are the new way forward for Britain. The Times/Populus poll put Nick and Cameron neck and neck on 38% last night with Brown trailing on 25%. The Independent says: "...voters are starting to make up their minds. Clegg was the winner when all three (debates) are considered".

Nick, Vince, Chris and our other splendid spokespeople have promoted a clear, robust and detailed set of policies - centred on fairness in tax, education, the economy and politics - that we are determined to deliver. The contrast with Cameron is telling: no detail on cuts, simplistic rhetoric and refusing to answer direct questions such as about EU free movement. And above all, looking after the rich: as one paper put it "Cameron played skillfully to those whose first concern is looking after number one."

Nick has done brilliantly, sticking to his guns throughout in the face of a 'ganging-up' by the 2 old party leaders who refuse to 'get real' over the unaffordable cost of Trident or the toxic legacy of decades of Tory and Labour immigration chaos which has left hundreds of thousands of people living in the shadows. We are not proposing an amnesty for all illegal immigrants, far from it. Our 'earned route' to citizenship (and paying of tax) for people who have lived here for at least 10 years, with strict conditions, is simply a honest solution to the mess the other parties created and cynically try to pretend away. Both governments have in fact quietly just let people stay after years of losing files or losing track, but of course they never had the guts to own up to what they were doing, creating the very suspicion that is so poisonous now. Of course LibDems would not choose to 'start from here', and we have firm proposals to manage our borders a damn sight better than Tory and Labour governments have done, but an ostrich response to the 'legacy cases' is not credible. And polls show a majority of people realistically accept that.

On the euro, we have always taken a pragmatic view that it depended on an evaluation of the economic argument. Where we differ from the Tories is that they are ideologically opposed to it, blind to any possible economic benefits. In principle LibDems are in favour because of the practical advantages of a single currency for travelling or trading individuals and businesses in avoiding exchange costs and risks. If conditions one day become favourable, Britain can decide after a referendum whether to join the euro, but that time is hardly now. Indeed, I am fuming at the incompetent way the eurozone is dealing, or not dealing, with the Greek debt crisis.

The tremendous 'Clegg effect' has created a massive surge in people registering to vote and coming forward to help the Liberal Democrat campaign. It is fantastic that a large proportion of these new sign-ups are aged 18-24, a generation that has until now suffered from being resolutely apolitical. These new recruits are an electoral force to be reckoned with - and make the result even more unpredictable.

In London, the campaign is hugely exciting. In my own Islington South and Finsbury, Bridget Fox is striding ahead. Our teams in Susan Kramer's seat Richmond Park, in Sarah Teather's altered-boundaries Brent Central and Ed Fordham's battleground of Hampstead & Kilburn are throwing everything they have into the contest. Our sitting MPs in South West London are all fighting hard, along with Lynne Featherstone in Hornsey and Simon Hughes in Southwark. Thanks to our surge in the polls, other seats are also tantalisingly within reach. Wherever you live in London, if you do one thing this bank holiday weekend, go and lend your support to your nearest top LibDem campaign - whether it be canvassing, delivering or stuffing envelopes.

We enter the final week of the campaign in a position that few could have anticipated: a 2-horse race between us and the Tories. This is a race in which Liberal Democrats are focused and determined, but we must run even faster! I know you are all working unbelievably hard, often in the face of rubbish being thrown at us by our opponents (e.g. locally here in Islington, Tory lies about the mansion tax: remember it will only be levied on the value over £2 million, not the whole value of the house). But let's face it, we are used to these pressures and we won't let them put us off!

The huge effort that you have been putting in, building on Nick's stunning performances has created a real opportunity for us to deliver a fantastic success in London. As a parliamentarian who represents the whole of London, I'd like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. But you know as well as I that opportunities only become reality if we grab them!

I don't need to tell you this, but the final week is the key to real success in this campaign. To quote Nick, "together, next week, we can change Britain for good".

Best regards,

Sarah Ludford