Prison would be seen as an educational opportunity to help inmates with literacy and numeracy.
Sums up the Lib Dems nicely - they care all about the perpetrators of the crime and not one iota about its victims. Prison shouldn't be about reform, it's what makes it so tolerable - even attractive to those in poverty - it should be about solitary confinement and punishment. Social justice my ass.
The Lib Dems would "tax more fairly and spend more wisely" Mr Kennedy claimed.
Take fairly and wisely away from that sentence and you have a more realistic outlook on Lib Dem fiscal policy. Quite where this tax money, other than Charlie's popular policies will go has been a mystery for some months now, though.
"Isn't it a disgrace that after seven years of a supposedly Labour government the poorest 20% contribute more of their income in tax than do the richest 20%?" he asked.
This is no disgrace, it's what keeps the rich and successful in the country instead of being taxed all the way to Europe or the US. Without those richest 20% the poorest 20% would be facing the dole and our unemployment would be higher than France. No-one's going to stay in a country where the fruits of their labour are confiscated by the state. The Lib Dem proposal of a 50% higher income tax band is a myopic one.
The council tax would be replaced with a local income tax and the elderly would no longer have to pay for personal care
Wow. Way to get rid of one stupid tax by introducing another. It'd also make the average family about £200 a year worse off (on top of the council tax), because only the working population (about 50% of all people in the UK) actually pay it.
In short, a lot more statism and a step back from the rational, minimal government that would do the country the most good
