Shirley Williams joins Sue Farrant to visit local shops in Sherborne
Dr Sue Farrant, parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats in West Dorset, was joined by Shirley Williams, revered politician and founder of the SDP, on the election campaign trail in Sherborne yesterday.
Meeting at ‘The Conduit’ in Cheap Street, and joined by a throng of Liberal Democrat activists, they embarked on a ‘meet and greet’ through the town centre, stopping to speak to local residents and dropping in to shops to chat with owners and customers.
Party workers were then invited back to Sue Farrant’s house for tea and Baroness Williams gave a speech on Liberal Democrat values and her views on this intriguing election campaign.
By way of an introduction, Sue Farrant said: “It is a great honour for me to have Shirley Williams here to lend her support to my campaign. She is one of my heroines and a wonderful role model. It gives us great encouragement in the last stage of the campaign.”
Shirley Williams said: “This election is tremendously exciting. It is much bigger for us now than at any other time. I’ve seen the mould cracking. The people of Great Britain are fed up with the voting system. I was on Channel Four last night and when the audience was asked if they wanted real change at this election, nine tenths were in favour. The debates have presented the Liberal Democrats to the British people as a party of real change.”
Baroness Williams laid out the policy areas that required this real change. In finance, the establishment of the Council of Economic Stability, an independent body, is crucial to the decision making process in dealing with the scale of the economic problem.
Political reform is a top priority. She said: “We need to be tough on expenses fiddling. But, we must go much deeper than that. Proper independent committees must be set up to keep this in check.”
On the issue of the constitution, Baroness Williams said: “Gordon Brown is right to say there is no evidence the Tories believe in fundamental constitutional change.
“But there is little evidence either of a serious Labour commitment, apart from devolution of power to Scotland and Wales. In power for thirteen years, Labour never proposed genuine electoral reform, nor more effective oversight of government by the House of Commons, nor even stronger rules over Parliamentary expenses. Proposals by the Wright Committee to strengthen the role of Parliament were blocked by the Prime Minister himself in February.”
She concluded: “The Liberal Democrats have campaigned for constitutional reform since they were founded more than twenty years ago. Liberal Democrats campaigned for devolution, for freedom of information and for a Ministry of Justice long before Labour reluctantly adopted them.
“British voters want a fundamental reform of politics in this country. So do we. We will only get it if Britain’s electors vote for it by voting Liberal Democrat.”
