Nick Clegg writes in the Telegraph

12.21.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 28th May 2008

Nick Clegg

Nick Clegg has a major article in the Daily Telegraph today, highlighting that:

"The fuel protests hammer home a clear message. After the 10p tax rebellion, the local elections, and the Crewe by-election, no one can doubt the mood of the country any more. There is insurrection in the air. The British people are ready for change and they don't believe Labour can deliver it.

"So the next big question is: what kind of change do people want? And which opposition party can make it happen?

"The Conservatives have painted an image of a brave new world, where the sun shines and David Cameron charms the birds out of the trees. The Cameroons have started to believe their own hype: insisting on their right to enter Number 10 without working out what they'd do once the door closed behind them.

"Their strategy is simple enough: why bother choosing policies when the Government is shooting itself in the foot? Cameron's speech on last week was a case in point: he made a virtue of the fact that he will make no further specific commitments on public spending or tax. They are elevating policy evasion to an art form...

"Politics is about choices between competing ideas, not just agreeing with everyone. It's because we understand this that the Liberal Democrats speak in detail about how we would deliver a more liberal Britain. We are the only party committed to cutting taxes for low and middle income families at the next election. We're committed to fair pensions for women, and the immediate restoration of the earnings link - while the other parties just talk about doing something for pensioners, possibly, some day.

"We'll change the school funding system so children who need the most help, get the most help, and we'll put together a financial plan to pay for every penny. Everyone, no matter their background, will have a patient guarantee, so if the NHS can't treat them in time, the government will pay for them to be treated elsewhere.

"We don't just talk about protecting the environment. We'll make polluters pay, so we can cut taxes for ordinary families, a toll for lorry road journeys so we can invest in a high-speed rail network, put fair charges on air travel, and support local recycling and green energy.

"Policy details are seldom much interest to voters. But people deserve to know what a party will do if it wins. Without detail the public has no sense of the values of a politician, still less any evidence that they'll stand by them."

You can read Nick's full piece at:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/05/28/do2802.xml