It has been a busy week for the Liberal Democrats. Amid growing signs and talk of a double dip recession nationally the Lib Dems have been forging ahead, implementing positive policies to support ordinary people and their aspirations. Not by prescribing all the answers – as Labour would like to do – or letting the economy decide – as an unfettered Conservative Government would – but through concrete and incremental measures making a difference to you, where you live.

We cannot ignore what is going on in Europe. 3.5m jobs in the UK, and 40% of our exports, depend upon the Euro economy, and some of those jobs are here. Your job may be one of them. What is happening in Europe could be described as a debt crisis, but we have our own debt too. In fact, Britain has one of the worst debt to GDP ratios in the world and some of the most indebted households. This may include your own. The coalition has to be tough on debt so that, in this country, we never see the social despair that lies behind the ‘Eurotalk’ around Greece and Spain.

So some austerity is necessary. One way of alleviating its effects is the Liberal Democrat campaign to lift the tax-free threshold to £10,000. Already more than a million earners and pensioners have been lifted out of paying income tax, and the extra money will go on making a difference to every household until we reach that target.

Such support for individuals and families is matched by support for businesses, through the Regional Growth Fund and 440,000 new apprenticeships in 2010/11. Beecroft can say what he likes, but he is wrong and it is the Lib Dem agenda that  is being implemented and is supplying ordinary people with cash in their pockets and job opportunities.

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