'Confidence and enthusiasm abounds as Totnes Lib Dems start the election campaign in earnest' - Treleaven

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 6th Apr 2005

As the General Election campaign starts in earnest Totnes Lib Dem Candidate, Mike Treleaven, is full of confidence as the Liberal Democrats set about fighting a campaign based on real solutions to real problems.

Mike Treleaven said:

'In the last parliament the Liberal Democrats have proved themselves to be the real opposition. More and more people have recognised this and are now looking to the Liberal Democrats to provide a real alternative to Labour and the Conservatives - this is exactly what we are determined to do in this campaign'

'We want a fair society where people contribute according to their means and a society where freedom means being able to live your life without worrying about receiving a decent pension or paying for care as you get older. Where young people have the freedom to be educated without worrying about crippling debts and where our citizens can freely walk the streets without fear of the YOB culture.'

'We have real solutions to these real problems as we address people's hopes and not play on their fears'

'Our policies are particularly relevant to the people in the Totnes Constituency where we have a large number of pensioners and people on low wages. We will abolish the unfair Council Tax and replace it with local income tax based on the ability to pay. This would mean thousands of local pensioners paying no local tax at all and savings for a typical household of £450 per year. We will increase pensions for those over 75 by £100 per month as the first step to increasing pensions for all, and end the scandal of discrimination against women. We will introduce free personal care for the elderly as we have done in Scotland'

'We will tackle the problem of affordable housing by changes to planning laws, making more government land available and innovative shared ownership schemes.'

'We will cut class sizes in our schools. We will provide 10,000 more police and allow them to be out and about by cutting down on paperwork. We will scrap tuition fees and bring to an end the prospect of students facing huge debts on graduation'

'All our policies are carefully costed and the sums add up. We will redirect £5bn of wasteful Government spending by scrapping compulsory ID cards, abolishing the child trust fund and cutting back on central government departments. Our one and only tax rise will be to ask the wealthiest 1% of taxpayers to pay just a little bit more. That is fair!

'The environment is at the heart of all our policies as the reality of climate change begins to bite. We do not have time on our side and government must act now'

'People have lost trust in government as Tony Blair misled us into the Iraq war and has broken promises on tax increases and the imposition of top up fees. The Conservatives have also lost the nation's trust as they propose spending plans that simply don't add up.'

'We believe trust has to be earned and we have set a good example by implementing key policies when we have shared power in Scotland and Wales'

We are full of confidence in the Totnes constituency as people are telling us that they are fed up with Labour and the Conservatives. They realise that it is time for something different and The Liberal Democrats are the real alternative'