Lib Dem Vince Cable Calls for Better Health and Education and a Return to Rational Economics in Address to London Meeting

Speaking at the Social & Liberal Forum Conference last week in the Resource for London Centre in the Holloway Road Vince Cable, now Leader of the Liberal Democrats, called for a national return to sensible economics and for the Liberal Democrats to focus more strongly on campaigning for improved and more effective health care delivery and a broader based education system.

Getting the economics right, however, is fundamental to generating the additional resources for health, education and training that everyone agrees are needed. He pointed out that there is not a binary choice between austerity measures on the one hand and unrestrained economic stimulus on the other - there is in fact a broad spectrum of policy options.

Unfortunately in the UK the balance of measures and the position on taxation and spending had been wrong for a decade. Most urgently, we now need to shift the point of balance by stopping or reversing cuts to benefits, grants and infrastructure spending and we need to increase taxes. In the longer term we need to develop a radical approach to our industrial policies and to bring in structural change to our economy.

The UK needs to tackle the imbalance between large and small firms in terms of access to capital and trading advantage. The Germans have long sought to protect and promote the middle-ranking enterprises in the interest of social and industrial stability. We make little effort to limit monopoly control or reduce tax avoidance by large multi-nationals, especially by the big internet companies. Only the EU Commission seems to be tackling these issues and standing up for consumer rights and choice.

"On Brexit we Lib Dems are right," he said, "and this will become clearer and clearer as time goes on. But we must also show we are right on education, health, economics and industrial strategy."

In concluding he made a special plea for social enterprises, co-operatives and small companies such as owner/managed bus operators - but above all for the establishment and support of green and automation technology start-ups of all shapes and sizes.

He wound up with a call to arms, "We are the green-campaigning, carbon-busting, planet-saving Lib Dems. Get out and shout!"