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Aim for power, says Lib Dem chief Aim for power, says Lib Dem chief
(about 1 hour later)
Sir Menzies Campbell will use his first major conference speech as Lib Dem leader to say the party must show it is a serious prospect for government. Sir Menzies Campbell is using his first major conference speech as Lib Dem leader to say the party must show it is a serious prospect for government.
He will say the Lib Dems have shown this week they are a party of substance who can take on the Tories and Labour. Unlike Labour and the Tories, the Lib Dems are "a party of substance, not of spin", he is telling delegates.
Ahead of the speech, the party will try to portray Sir Menzies as a statesman in a slideshow on his life. "My objective is nothing less than to complete the transformation of the Lib Dems from a party of opposition into a party of government," he says.
Set to pumping music, it will show Sir Menzies as an Olympic athlete, barrister and energetic campaigner. He does not mention of ex-leader Charles Kennedy and his resignation.
'Credibility' Instead, Sir Menzies is saying the party must go forward showing it is both responsible and radical.
The 65-year-old's image has been contrasted with that of the more youthful Conservative leader David Cameron or the laid back style of his predecessor Charles Kennedy. Gains in next year's elections could make Lib Dem Nicol Stephen Scotland's first minister, he predicted and the party's ambition must not end there.
We're ready to turn ourselves into a party capable of government Sir Menzies Campbell "I have had three great opportunities in my life: in sport, in the law, and in politics," he is saying.
The Lib Dems suffered a rocky start to the year with Mr Kennedy forced out over his drink problem. "And now I have been given one more: the opportunity to lead our party from opposition towards government."
Home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten dropped out of the ensuing leadership contest because of lack of support, shortly before an affair with a male prostitute was revealed. Tax message
Sir Menzies told BBC News 24 he would use his speech to show the party had moved on. He is pointing to his victory in the crunch vote over his tax proposals this week.
It had enjoyed a by-election triumph in Dunfermline and West Fife, Gordon Brown's "backyard" and had come close to overturning the large Tory majority in Bromley and Chislehurst. The Lib Dems can now say exactly what they would do on tax - cutting income tax and using higher taxes on gas-guzzling cars and aviation to pay for it, he says.
"I'm going to say we are back in business," he said. The Conservatives say the plans will hit the pensions of middle earners.
"The turbulence of the early part of the year has been put behind us and we're ready to turn ourselves not just from being a party of protest, not just from being a party of opposition, but into a party capable of government." But Sir Menzies argues: "We will reward ambition and aspiration - not penalise effort."
Sir Menzies will hail Tuesday's victory in the conference vote on his new tax package, when he fended off demands the party stick to its past pledge for a 50p top tax rate. The "very wealthy" would lose generous pension tax subsidies and tax breaks on capital gains would be removed.
The new proposals use £8bn in green taxes to fund cuts to income tax. The Lib Dem leader is attacking Labour for failing to tackle the gap between rich and poor, while there had been little improvement in public services in nine years of Tony Blair's government.
Sir Menzies denies the plans will hit middle and low earners but says they are redistributive and will take more from the top 10% of earners. He also accuses ministers of putting civil liberties under threat and is promising to fight any new attempts to allow terrorism suspects to be held for up to 90 days without trial.
"We are penalising wealth but not achievement," he said. "Terrorism thrives where civil liberties are denied," he says.
'Failed legacy' 'Losing security'
Sir Menzies will accuse Labour of failing to do enough to fight poverty and say the Conservatives are not providing serious policy alternatives. Sir Menzies is also launching a broadside on Labour's foreign policy, saying Britain's reputation on had been tarnished by a prime minister who puts "conviction over judgement".
He will say: "Labour has squandered their opportunity. After three victories, Labour has failed. He is paying tribute to British troops who have died in action but argues that Iraq is approaching a civil war and Guantanamo Bay stood as an "affront to justice".
"The gap between rich and poor is wider than at any point under Margaret Thatcher; we have higher taxes but little improvement in public services. "Security is not being gained, it is being lost," he says.
"Millions of pensioners remain consigned to poverty - two thirds of them women; hard-working families are crippled by debt; carbon emissions are rising. "Terrorism is not being defeated, it is being invigorated. Freedom is not being spread, it is being undermined."
"And now hospital wards are closing; doctors and nurses are losing their jobs. Apology demands
"This is the domestic legacy of the Blair-Brown government." Sir Menzies also turns his fire on the Conservatives, accusing David Cameron of being "a substance free zone".
Charles Kennedy won two standing ovations when he addressed delegates on Tuesday and Sir Menzies will strive to better that performance. "Their idea of political principle is to say, tell us what you don't like and we'll abandon it," he says.
'Ming's story' He is demanding Mr Cameron apologise for supporting the Iraq war and writing "one of the most reactionary, unpleasant, right-wing manifestos of modern times" at the last election.
His aides say people know him as a politician. Now they want to tell his personal story. The Lib Dems are trying to sell Sir Menzies' personal story and the leader began his speech only after a slideshow about his personal life.
The photos show him campaigning for the party, meeting police, visiting schools and spending time with his wife. Set to pumping music, it screened photos of him as an Olympic athlete in the 1960s, a successful barrister, husband and energetic campaigner.
There are also shots of him dressed in a flying suit ready for a ride in a military helicopter and of him sprinting as a top class athlete in the 1960s. Sir Menzies is using his speech to give more details of his background, telling how he had grown up in a Glasgow tenement with his parents working hard to give him they chances they never had.
A senior party source said: "What we are saying is, he's a fantastic Liberal Democrat politician, a fantastic statesman. "But opportunity should not be an accident of birth," he says. "It must be open to everyone in Britain."
"But this is a man with a lot of substance and a lot of background.
"There's no reason why delegates would know that and it's an interesting element of the whole story about Ming Campbell, credibility and leadership, that we want to communicate...not just to the Lib Dems but to the outside world."