Sir Menzies fends off criticism

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Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell has brushed off criticism of his record, saying it showed how seriously Labour and the Conservatives now took him.

He told the BBC's Sunday AM: "We are now in an era of solid third party politics."

Sir Menzies, who is to outline plans to solve the housing crisis this week, said he intended to lead his party into the next election "and beyond".

He said May's elections gave the party 26% of the vote, up on 2005's election.

He said the party was ready for a general election which was expected within two years, and the task for him was "to take maximum advantage of the new circumstances".

These included "a new prime minister desperate ... in many respects to deny everything that's taken place over the last ten years".

There was also a Conservative leader trying to reinvent his party, with the sort of "growing pains" seen recently over grammar schools, Sir Menzies added.

'Innovative'

On housing, Sir Menzies said it was essential to recognise that there was a housing crisis.

This existed "at every level", with young people unable to get on the housing ladder and others having to borrow five times salary, or more, to buy a property.

In rural areas there were also problems with people being unable to afford to buy a property in the place where they had been brought up, which could lead to a social crisis, he added.

At the same time, he said, the numbers of people on waiting lists for social housing had grown from a million to 1.5m since 1997.

He said more housing needed to be built on brownfield sites - land which has been built on before but not necessarily housing - and more "innovative" ways of owning a home, such as shared equity schemes..