More MPs for us - Lib Dems

Kennedy: Student tuition fees shameful

The Liberal Democrats are predicting they will win more seats in the Commons and secure a bigger share of the vote than in the last general election in 1997.

Lib Dem election campaign director Lord Razzall made the forecast as the party returned on Wednesday to its core themes of education and help for the elderly at its final news conference.

The Lib Dems won 46 seats four years ago, although its share of the vote was lower than in 1992. And they captured another seat in the Romsey by-election.

Senior party spokeswoman Lady Williams said the Lib Dems would provide effective opposition after the election while the Conservatives fought among themselves.

Echoes of 1981

She predicted the Tories could be hit by similar problems as Labour suffered in 1981, when, as one of the so-called Gang of Four, she left Labour to set up the SDP.

"We are going to be the effective voice of the people over and over again in the face of a new Labour government," she said.

Williams: Schools facing crisis

Party leader Charles Kennedy said only a vote for the Lib Dems would secure proper investment for schools and dignity for the elderly.

The party wants an extra penny on income tax to boost education funding by £3bn and promises pension rises together with free personal nursing care for the elderly.

Mr Kennedy told reporters in London on Wednesday morning: "We are the only party committed to investing properly for our young people and giving our older people the dignity they deserve".

He branded as an "insult" the government's 75 pence pensions rise - which Labour has admitted was a mistake.

And he said the introduction of tuition fees for university students was a "shameful" move which amounted to a "pernicious tax on today's school leavers".

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"We say abolish tuition fees so that everyone's children can go to university not because of their ability to pay but because of their ability to succeed," said Mr Kennedy.

He said voters faced three choices on Thursday: the same level of investment in schools and pensions under Labour, worse funding from the Tories and proper investment from the Lib Dems.

Crisis in schools

Baroness Williams, who served as Education Secretary for Labour in the 1970s, also underlined the problems facing schools.

She said a bulge of retirements on top of current teacher shortages would mean a crisis in schools during the next parliament.

And she criticised Labour's plans for more specialist schools, saying they provided the outline of a two-tier education system.

Lib Dem education spokesman Phil Willis, himself a former comprehensive school headteacher, underlined the party's concern about education for both children and adults.

"The lack of skills in our workforce is holding back Britain's productivity and it is one of the drags on our whole system," he said.

Mr Willis added that 55,000 young people would leave school this year without qualifications and go into an underclass.

Mr Kennedy reiterated that the Lib Dems would win more seats than last time during a brief visit to Cheadle, Greater Manchester.

Lib Dem candidate Patsy Calton needs a 6.1% swing to overturn the Conservatives' 3,189 majority.