Fairness - The Liberal Democrat Manifesto Launch

10.24.35am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 14th Apr 2010

Nick Clegg has launched the Liberal Democrat General Election manifesto. The manifesto sets out four clear priorities of fair taxes, a fair chance for every child, a fair economy, and a fair deal by cleaning up politics.

At the launch, Nick Clegg said:

"Every manifesto needs to have an idea at its heart. The basic idea that animates this manifesto is something I have always believed. I believe every single person is extraordinary.

"The tragedy is that we have a society where too many people never get to fulfil that extraordinary potential.

"My view - the liberal view - is that government's job is to help them to do it. Not to tell people how to live their lives. But to make their choices possible, to release their potential, no matter who they are.

"The way to do that is to take power away from those who hoard it. To challenge vested interests. To break down privilege. To clear out the bottlenecks in our society that block opportunity and block progress. And so give everyone a chance to live the life they want.

"There's a simple word for those ideas, and it's a word this manifesto is built on: fairness."

The Liberal Democrat manifesto outlines 4 steps to a fairer Britain:

Fair taxes that put money back in your pocket

• The first £10,000 you earn tax-free: a tax cut of £700 for most people

• 3.6 million low earners and pensioners freed from income tax completely

• Paid for in full by closing loopholes that unfairly benefit the wealthy and polluters

A fair future creating jobs by making Britain greener

• Break up the banks and get them lending again to protect real businesses

• Honesty about the tough choices needed to cut the deficit

• Green growth and jobs that last by investing in infrastructure

A fair chance for every child

• Ensure children get the individual attention they need by cutting class sizes

• Made possible by investing £2.5 billion in schools targeted to help struggling pupils

• Give schools the freedom to make the right choices for their pupils

A fair deal by cleaning up politics

• Put trust back into politics by giving you the right to sack corrupt MPs

• Restore and protect hard-won British civil liberties with a Freedom Bill

• Overhaul Westminster completely: fair votes, an elected House of Lords, all politicians to pay full British taxes

You can download the Liberal Democrat manifesto at http://www.libdems.org.uk/our_manifesto.aspx along with summary documents and videos for each of the key areas, order a paper copy and find audio and easy read text versions.