Charles Kennedy New Year Message 2005

4.13.14pm GMT Fri 31st Dec 2004

Charles Kennedy

In his New Year Message, Charles Kennedy, leader of the Liberal Democrats, offers his condolences to the victims of the tsunami and their families and promises that the Liberal Democrats will be active in helping to restore the shattered communities:

"When these tragedies occur, it can be hard to grasp the huge numbers involved - both of casualties and the financial resources required for rebuilding. But our country has already demonstrated that it can lead the way and when Parliament resumes, the Liberal Democrats will be active in ensuring that there is a continuing determination to assist these communities - some of whom are already among the poorest people in the world - long after the most immediate crisis has disappeared from our television screens and our newspapers."

On domestic politics, Mr Kennedy says the Liberal Democrats are ready for a General Election and looking forward to it:

"As the Conservative party fades away as a national political force, we Liberal Democrats will be the challengers to Labour in its heartlands, especially in the northern cities. The Conservatives cannot win the next election and this will be a three party struggle."

He says there is an increasingly clear division between Labour and the Conservatives on one side and the Liberal Democrats on the other. It is the politics of fear versus the politics of hope - or the politics of liberalism versus the politics of illiberalism:

"A clear division is emerging in British politics: the politics of fear versus the politics of hope. Labour is counting on the politics of fear, ratcheting up talk of threats, crime and insecurity. While the Conservatives are re-working their populist scares about asylum and the European 'menace'.

"Look at how Labour, with the support of the Conservatives, has undermined trust in the political process by its spin and its reliance on external threats. Currently Labour is using this climate of fear to try to strip away the civil liberties that generations of Briton have defended and enjoyed.

"The politics of fear versus hope can be expressed in another way. It's also the politics of liberalism versus illiberalism. And, as happens increasingly often today, Labour and the Conservatives are on one side and we are on the other."

Mr Kennedy points to issues like the Iraq war, ID cards and the Council Tax, where Labour and the Conservatives are lined up against a Liberal Democrats opposition.

He says 21st century Britain is a more liberal society and is increasingly turning to the Liberal Democrats:

"Britain has changed significantly in the last 50 years. Look around you. We are no longer a nation with one family structure. We are no longer a nation of one colour and, increasingly, we welcome diversity. We are less deferential; more inclined to think for ourselves; more open about sexuality and equality. Our national institutions are changing too. We are no longer a nation of one church; we are a nation of many faiths. In our attitudes and the way we live our lives, this is in many ways a liberal Britain.

"But this new liberal Britain brings with it many new challenges and our political parties must reflect what's happening. Yet for a decade, the Conservative party has been in open warfare as it attempts to come to terms with the new liberalism; while the Labour Party, rooted in the state control of socialism, can't shrug off old habits.

"People are turning to the Liberal Democrats for answers because we instinctively understand this new Britain - and because we embrace it.

"I am proud of the Liberal Democrat's record in the holding this Government to account in 2004; and I look forward to 2005 and the chance to put our case to the nation."