“It is a shocking indictment of the Government that around half of all pupils cannot get five good GCSEs including English and maths after over a decade of formal education," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary.

Commenting on today’s GCSE results, David Laws said:
 
“Today’s results reflect a huge amount of work by many pupils and schools, and I would like to congratulate everyone who has worked hard and achieved good grades.
 
“However, today’s statistics also highlight the twin crisis in education - too many pupils failing to get good results and a lack of confidence in standards. 

“It is a shocking indictment of the Government that around half of all pupils cannot get five good GCSEs including English and maths after over a decade of formal education. In the poorest areas, up to 70% of children fail to achieve this standard. These children are the ones who will now struggle to find jobs, and risk ending up as long term unemployed.
 
“We need to cut class sizes in primary schools and introduce a Pupil Premium to target resources more effectively at those children who are falling behind.
 
“The second big problem in education is the lack of public confidence in exam standards and qualifications.  As a consequence, some schools are considering shunning GCSEs, and the Government’s complex Diploma looks like an expensive flop.
 
“The Government needs to introduce a truly independent Educational Standards Authority to act as a credible standards watchdog, and its first duty should be to review the change in exam results since GCSEs were introduced.  Meanwhile, the Government should introduce a new General Diploma, allowing children to mix both academic and vocational qualifications.”

More than a million children have been convicted of a criminal offence and another million cautioned since Labour came to power, according to research by the Liberal Democrats.

The figures, contained in answer to a Parliamentary Question, show that:

• 1,033,454 children aged between 10 and 17 have been convicted of a criminal offence since 1997. This includes almost 30,000 10 to 12 year olds.
  
  
• The number of 10 to 12 year olds convicted rose by 87.2% between 1997 and 2007. Among 13 to 15 year olds, it rose by 54.6%.
  
  
• 1,172,599 children aged between 10 and 17 were cautioned for a criminal offence under Labour.
  
  
• In the same period, 2,251,798 young adults (aged 18 to 21) were convicted and 577,424 were cautioned.

The Liberal Democrats propose a new approach to youth justice, tackling potential offenders before they enter the criminal justice system. Community Justice Panels should be established to draw up Positive Behaviour Orders (PBOs), which require minor offenders to agree on a course of action to pay back the community they have wronged.

The party is also committed to putting 10,000 extra police officers on the beat by scrapping the Government’s national ID card scheme. More officers will enable higher visibility policing at gun and knife crime hot spots and provide improved capability for intelligence-led stop and search.

The Liberal Democrats aim to engage young people and provide activities that will divert them from crime. The party will create a Youth Volunteer Force for every area, with young people working with local authorities on projects that serve the community.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“These shocking figures show how Labour has criminalised a generation of our children.

“It is a disgrace the Government spends eleven times more locking up our young people than it does on backing projects to stop them getting involved in crime in the first place.

“Dragging young people through the criminal justice system for minor offences is the best way of helping them to graduate to a more serious life of crime.

“Labour talks tough on crime, and then creates more criminals. It's time to talk sense and act smart to stop the young offenders of today becoming the hardened criminals of tomorrow.

“We need to see innovative approaches that ensure children make amends to their victims and put things right, rather than immediately criminalising them.

“The Liberal Democrats propose a new approach to youth justice that prevents young people from getting into crime in the first place.”

The number of 16-year-olds who have left compulsory education without five good GCSEs (A*-C) since Labour came to power is expected to reach 3m, research by the Liberal Democrats has found.

Since 1997, more than 2.8m 16-year-olds have finished school without five decent qualifications - the Government’s key benchmark. The trend is set to continue when the 2009 results are published tomorrow [Thursday 27 August], pushing the total to more than 3m.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary, David Laws said:

“These shocking figures reveal the true extent of Labour’s failure in education.

“After over 10 years in power, it is deeply concerning that around one third of pupils are leaving education without even achieving the basic standard of five good GCSEs. 

“It is these young people, let down by Labour, who are now likely to be bearing the brunt of the recession.

“Ministers need to start getting the basics right early on, so no child falls behind.  We need to target additional funding at the children who are struggling, and cut class sizes so every young child gets the attention they need.”

“This will doubtless be bad news for many employees in Scotland, and makes the Government's inability to stop Goodwin's substantial pay-off all the more difficult to swallow," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Scotland Secretary.

Commenting on the news that RBS is to cap increases in the pensions of over 60,000 workers, Alistair Carmichael said:

“Considering Fred Goodwin managed to get away with much of his massive pension despite his catastrophic management of what was the UK’s largest bank, it seems a little tough that it is those whose jobs he endangered who have to make savings.

“It is right that a state-owned bank such as RBS should look at what savings it can make. But any belt-tightening should start at the top.

“This will doubtless be bad news for many employees in Scotland, and makes the Government's inability to stop Goodwin's substantial pay-off all the more difficult to swallow.”

Commenting on today’s figures which show that fewer seven-year-olds in England mastered the basics of maths this year, Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary, David Laws said: “The decline in maths scores for seven year olds is a blow to ministers who have been targeting resources in order to improve performance.

“It is enormously concerning that children are not mastering basic English and maths at an early age, because without these skills they cannot go on to do well in secondary school.

“The Government should be especially ashamed of the fact that one in four boys has failed to master basic writing skills by this age.  Ministers clearly need to target additional resources in this area reduce class sizes.”

“These deeply troubling figures highlight the chronic failure of this Government’s prison policy," said the Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson.

Commenting on today’s [Tuesday 25 August] report by the Prison Reform Trust which reveals the 20 most overcrowded jails in England and Wales, Paul Holmes said:
 
“These deeply troubling figures highlight the chronic failure of this Government’s prison policy.
 
“Labour’s obsession with sounding tough on crime has left our prisons dangerously overcrowded with sky-high re-offending rates.

“Ministers must realise the bankruptcy of their approach and focus instead on what works. This means moving drug addicts and prisoners with mental health problems into more appropriate accommodation and treatment and investing in alternatives such as restorative justice.”

“The Conservative’s incompetence when they were in Government has made laws designed to prevent video piracy and protect children from harmful DVDs unenforceable," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary.

Commenting on the news that the mistakes by the Conservatives has meant that the law to prevent video piracy and stop children watching harmful DVDs is unenforceable, Don Foster said:

“The Conservative’s incompetence when they were in Government has made laws designed to prevent video piracy and protect children from harmful DVDs unenforceable and thrown film censorship into chaos.

“This must be a massive embarrassment to the Tories, especially as David Cameron was the special advisor to the Home Secretary in 1993 when the law was amended.
 
“Until the problems have been overcome we must hope that legitimate retailers will observe the spirit of the act to protect our children from violent and explicit DVDs and videogames.”

The Government owns an area of surplus land almost as big as Slough that could be used to build almost 100,000 new homes, analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

Over 3,100 hectares of surplus land are owned by the public sector.  Guidelines say that property must be sold within six months if it already holds housing, but can be left for three years if it is empty.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Sarah Teather said:

“With 1.8m families stranded on the housing waiting list, it is completely unacceptable that the Government is sitting on so much land that has already been designated for housing.

“Ministers need to do a thorough audit of the surplus land in their departments and work out what could be used to benefit homeless families.

“The Government need to get its priorities right.  It’s important to get a good price for surplus land, but this needs to be balanced against the social value of building new homes.

“Land shouldn’t sit empty for years on end if there are people with nowhere to live. We have a unique opportunity to build much-needed social and affordable homes, boost the struggling construction industry, and protect future generations from the misery of temporary accommodation.”

More than £500m has been spent on Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks since 2002, the Liberal Democrats have revealed. The rate of checks being carried out has also trebled since they were introduced, while the fees charged for carrying them out have also increased dramatically.

The figures, revealed in Parliamentary answers given to Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, Jenny Willott, show:

• A total of £571m has been charged in fees for CRB checks since 2002
  
  
• The number of checks has nearly tripled from 1.4m in 2002-03 to 3.85m checks in 2008-09
  
  
• The number of ‘enhanced’ checks has increased from 1.25m to 3.45m, while the number of ‘standard’ checks have risen from 178,000 to 396,000
  
  
• The annual sum of fees charged has more than trebled, from £41m in 2002-03 to £131m in 2008-09
  
  
• In the last three years, the fee for a standard check has risen by 37% to £25.18 and for enhanced check by 45% to £35.21
  
  
• In 2008-09, nearly 400,000 people had to wait more than a month for their enhanced check, more than double the previous year

Commenting, Jenny Willott said:
 
“The Government is allowing CRB checking to run out of control.
 
“Checking criminal records of people working with children and vulnerable adults is essential. But when the system is so clumsy and costly that it starts putting people off wanting to work with children and vulnerable adults at all, there is something seriously wrong.
 
“Despite acknowledging there is a problem, ministers have only made matters worse and it is clear many employers have simply ignored them. Requiring bodies to submit a minimum annual quota of CRB checks is ludicrous and does nothing to make anyone any safer.
 
“Under the current system, job applicants and volunteers can be forced to pay for several identical CRB checks at any one time just because they are applying for more than one job.
 
“There is no flexibility in to take into account when someone has just received a CRB check for another job application. All too often, they have pay to go through the whole process again. 
 
“Delays in the system are getting worse causing many to miss out on a job offers because their CRB check hasn’t come through in time.” 

I have been listening to the cricket all day on the radio ( yes I am too tight to pay for sky sports ) and what a day it has been. England are on top with Australia needing over 460 to win.

So lets all keep fingers crosssed that England can knock off the 10 wicketes that they need on Sunday.

Damian Green, the Conservative front bench immigration spokesman whose sparked a parliamentary storm, has won a four-month battle to have his DNA, fingerprint and police records destroyed. But in a statement the Metropoliton Police have told Greens Lawyers that he was being treated as an exceptional case.His DNA sample and fingerprints, taken when he was arrested, will be deleted within "a number of weeks".

So it now seems that it is one rule for a rich Conservative MP and one for the rest of us.

Double standards or what?

Every child deserves the right to a happy life free from the fear of violence and abuse yet tragic cases have highlighted the fact that current policies are failing.

The issue of child protection has climbed further up the public agenda over recent months; as a result the Liberal Democrats have compiled a robust and considered response. Annette Brooke, Shadow Children’s Spokesperson, and local government colleagues have come together to produce a paper to be debated at the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in September.

A key theme running through the paper is the belief that safeguarding is everybody’s business.  Whilst professionals working with children need more support, better training and increased development opportunities, there has been too much buck-passing which has sometimes had tragic consequences.  The paper therefore calls for a campaign to raise the issue of child protection and remind everyone of their responsibility.  Every child has the right to be happy and the whole of society has a key role to play in ensuring that this happens. 

The paper considers ways in which the shortage of social workers could be tackled, not just by raising the status of the profession, but also from learning from the teaching profession.  We have also looked at how inexperienced social workers could be better supported.  Importantly we have also suggested ways in which all professionals involved in child protection could be working together in a better way and develop a true understanding of one another’s roles.

Commenting on figures from the Office of National Statistics which show that UK public sector borrowing totalled £8bn last month, the first July deficit for 13 years, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: “As the country fights its way through recession we are seeing a collapse in tax revenues."

“We are now heading for a level of deficit this year even higher than the Chancellor’s original predictions.
 
“What is particularly concerning is that the Government’s hopes for the recovery of the public finances are based on extremely optimistic growth forecasts. Without this growth we will be heading for even higher levels of debt.”

Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats today sent his message to Muslims observing Ramadan.

“As Ramadan comes round once more, I’d like to wish all Muslims observing the month my very best wishes.

I have learned from working with Muslim communities across the UK – and indeed from the many Lib Dem councillors and candidates who are practising Muslims - that the fasting and Qur’an reading during Ramadan provide spiritual renewal and enlightenment. As friends and family are brought together every night, we also reflect on all the millions of people around the world who still go without food and clean water every day.

We in the Liberal Democrats have always championed religious tolerance, and we are proud of the diverse traditions in our country.

We recognise the importance of the principle of Zakat to Muslims, especially at this time, and I deeply regret that Islam can be unfairly portrayed in many parts of the media especially when Muslim communities in this country do so much excellent charitable work.

I congratulate Muslims for the volunteering and donations they make during the month of Ramadan and at other times, and, more broadly, to thank British Muslims for the enormous contribution they make to life in this country.

Ramadan Mubarak!”

Nick Clegg,

Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Nick Clegg and Vince Cable this week pledged to put a motion before Parliament to put pressure on the government and banks to act to return the money charged to customers by banks unfairly. Following an email campaign by MoneySavingExpert.com, Nick Clegg responded to an email sent to its members.

He also stated the Liberal Democrats commitment to debate consumer protection at the forthcoming Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference in Bournmouth. Read the full article: Here

Nick Clegg’s letter to MoneySavingExpert.com in full:

Dear Martin,

As a subscriber to your weekly email, I saw your recent comments on unfair banking charges. I couldn’t agree more with you about the scandalous nature of these charges.

The Liberal Democrats have taken a strong stance on this for a long time - in particular, in our manifesto for complete reform of Britain’s banking and financial institutions “A New Deal for the City”, launched in May 2008 where we stated:

“The treatment of charges by the banks borders on the scandalous. It is a continuation of the practice described above: a protected industry seeking to maximise profits by exploiting the weakness of individual consumers who lack information and sophisticated knowledge of products or legal advice. The principle should be established that bank charges must be transparent and cost based.”

In your email, you made a further suggestion that banks should have to pay back all unfair charges automatically if the courts do rule against them. This struck me as an extremely good idea that we should do all we can to put in place. Vince Cable, my shadow Chancellor, and I would be delighted to support your campaign.

We will put a motion before Parliament setting out our support for your idea as soon as the recess is over, which will hopefully put pressure on the government and the banks to act to return the money they so unfairly took from customers.

Finally, I’m really looking forward to receiving the manifesto you’ve been compiling on your site regarding other consumer issues. And I’m pleased to be able to let you know we will be having a debate on consumer protection at our conference in the autumn, where we hope to adopt some strong new policies for our manifesto.

All the best,

Nick Clegg

Leader of the Liberal Democrats

A healthy natural environment is crucial not only to our quality of life but also to the sustainability of life on the planet. Liberal Democrats recognise that the threat to biodiversity and the depletion of our natural resources are as great a threat as climate change.

Our Natural Heritage - Marks a step change in the approach of any major UK political party to the natural environment. The paper again places the Liberal Democrats at the forefront of proposals to both improve the quality of life of people today, especially those living in deprived areas, and safeguard the natural environment for future generations.

In particular, the proposals include measures to:

Cut the net consumption of natural resources, including passing an Anti-Waste & Resource Efficiency Act to establish an independent Resource Efficiency Committee tasked with identifying the key resources being used unsustainably and with a duty to recommend binding targets for reducing their net consumption, on the lines of the Climate Change Act;

Supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services, in particular by moving to the use of environmental capacity as the key guidance for identifying sites for development; giving local authorities a duty to protect local biodiversity and set local targets for wildlife; encouraging provision of wildlife-friendly features in new developments; and better protecting natural habitats that cannot be replaced;
Giving people access to their local environment by insisting on Natural England’s Natural Green Space standards and increasing rights of access to the countryside, as successfully introduced by the Liberal Democrats in Scotland;

Improving water management by introducing universal smart water metering in water stressed areas by 2020; providing grants and preferential rates for water saving products; and providing stronger planning guidance in favour of compulsory rainwater harvesting;

Giving people control over their local environment by introducing landscape-scale planning and reversing Labour’s Planning Act; giving local authorities the power to protect green spaces;

Acting to cut noise and light pollution with stricter regulation and better enforcement, including treating external lighting as a potential pollutant requiring control and taking measures to cut traffic and aircraft noise and provide better noise insulation for homes;

Providing proper environmental enforcement by making the Environment Agency the ‘buck-stops-here’ body with responsibility for co-ordinating the enforcement of environmental protection regulations; and ensuring that environmental crimes are properly prosecuted and the penalties truly reflect the damage done;
Acting internationally to protect the natural environment.

The policies within the paper will be the subject of a major debate at the Party’s Bournemouth conference in September.

You can access a PDF of the policy paper here

Commenting on Home Office figures showing a big increase in the use of Tasers by police officers, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson, Tom Brake said: “Tasers should be for a few specially trained officers, not standard issue."

“The Government has put large numbers of Tasers in the hands of police officers without any debate.

“Given the increase in Taser use and the fact they have killed hundreds of people in the United States, we must have a full public debate before we slip any further down the slope to fully armed US-style policing.”

People from ethnic minority communities are more likely to be exposed to life-threatening emissions, research highlighted by the Liberal Democrats has shown.

Ethnic minorities who live in urban areas are 17% more likely to be exposed to Particulate Matter (PM10s), which causes serious health risks, than their white-British neighbours.

Despite this, the Government has called for an extension to the date by which Britain has to comply with the European Commission’s Air Quality Directive, leaving those who live in urban areas breathing dirty air.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, Tim Farron said:

“Air pollution is a silent killer and there is clear evidence that ethnic minorities are being disproportionately affected.

“If we are to live in a fair Britain, then ministers must stop sitting on their hands and make sure that the air we breathe is clean for all.

“Meeting European targets on air pollution is not optional - its a matter of life or death. Its high time Britain cleaned up its act.”

More than 1,000 miles of rail routes will be replaced by buses over the August Bank Holiday weekend (28th-31st), analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found.

A table showing how many miles of routes are to be replaced by buses, broken down by train operator is attached.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said:

“Spending hours in a hot bus is not the way most of us want to spend our Bank Holiday but with miles of rail replacement buses planned yet again, it’s going to be hard to avoid.

“Passengers who have paid for a rail journey have the right to expect to travel by train.

“Train companies that force passengers to travel part of the journey by bus should give them a substantial rebate on the cost of their ticket.

Bath MP Don Foster is backing the Live Music Bill put forward by Lib Dem Peer Lord Clement-Jones.  Don has also signed a petition on the number 10 website, calling on the government to change laws which came into place as part of the 2003 Licensing Act.

The Live Music Bill aims to revive live music by:

• Creating an exemption from licences for the performance of any live music in a pub or similar venue

• Reintroducing the rule allowing up to two performers to play live music anywhere without the need for a licence

 Enabling hospitals, schools and colleges to perform live music without the need for licences

Don said, “When the licensing laws were changed in 2003 we were promised an explosion of live music, but in reality many small scale events have been stifled by bureaucracy.

 “This Bill will not only make it easier for local musicians to get a gig, but it will help small venues who cannot cope with the cost of applying for a license.

“It is time that common sense prevailed, and small venues, hospitals and schools were allowed to host live music without having to cope with an expensive, bureaucratic nightmare.”

Every August e-mails circulate which suggest we are about to have a close encounter with Mars. The e-mails are a hoax, but they say something about our fascination with the Red Planet.

The e-mail seems to promise something truly remarkable.

It often starts: "The Red Planet is about to be spectacular."

It ends with the screaming caps: "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN."

The message tells of Mars being close to the earth on 27 August, close enough to be as big as the moon with the naked eye.

Want to read more then follow the link HERE

Bill Clinton's successful mission to North Korea presents a "win-win" situation for President Obama. Never mind the nay-sayers, such as the neo-conservative former ambassador John Bolton, who has accused the administration of practically consorting with terrorists by engaging with the unpredictable Kim Jong-il. Contrary to Mr Bolton, who forgot in his previous incarnations working for George Bush that actions have consequences, President Obama has demonstrated that he is a serious strategic thinker, and by dispatching the former president to Pyongyang he has his eye on the long term.

to read the full story in the Independent follow the link HERE

Pointing to past bank crises in other countries Mr Cable said: "It can take a decade before the banks are cleaned up so they can be sold in the market in such a way that the taxpayer can get back their money and indeed make a profit."

He also said that the government's policy towards the banks was "pathetic" and urged the Chancellor to force banks to lend money "in the national interest".

"It's rather pathetic, nine months after the crisis, to see the Chancellor of Exchequer flapping his arms and politely requesting what he should be demanding they should do," he said.

"They should be acting in the national interest."

Nick Clegg has announced the Liberal Democrat’s General Election team. The role of the General Election team is to provide recommendations to the leader on strategy, resource allocation and communications and to plan and supervise implementation of its General Election strategy.

"The government has always been embarrassed by the fact it had to nationalise it," he said.

"It wants to show the market that it is going back to business as usual, which I think is completely the wrong strategy."

He added: "Overall the taxpayer will take quite a heavy loss on this overall transaction they've got to be patient they've got to hold on to it"

He said that the government should hold on to the bank and force it to act as a "responsible" lender to the economy.

"It should operate as a responsible mortgage lender and it should operate as a nationalised bank until we get a very good price for it."

We have reported the matter that many areas of Twerton have not had there Garden or Cardboard collected again today.

We have asked the council to chase this matter up and have been promised that it will be collected on wednesday this week.

We're not quite sure what Conservative Party Chair Eric Pickles means when he suggests that many Local Authority Chief Executives could be abolished. In an interview with the Independent yesterday morning Mr Pickles said "recent changes to the structure of local government meant many chief executives were no longer needed. Since 2000, many councils have switched to having a leader and elected cabinet members handling specific portfolios."

Eric goes on to suggest that: I'm not one of these people who gets excited about high salaries but it should be in proportion to their responsibilities," Mr Pickles said. "A lot of council Chief Executives do not have that level of responsibility."

So is he suggesting that Council Leaders get paid more to do the Chief Executive job? 

"This is doing terrible damage to the British economy and ultimately the banks themselves. It's ultimately a very short-sighted and selfish approach," he said.

"If it wasn't at the expense of the rest of the economy one wouldn't be complaining about it, but it is," he added.

"The gap between the rate at which they lend and the rate in which they take money is getting fatter".

A consultation exercise is soon to be carried out by the Council on cutting the mobile library service. Many of these cuts fall on villages, but they also fall on communities in Bath. In Foxhill, for instance, the two library stops in Hawthorn Grove and in Bradford Park are to be cut. Mobile library visits to Twerton will be cut altogether.

 Cllr Roger Symonds (Liberal Democrat, Combe Down) said:

“These cuts fall on the least well off and most vulnerable in our communities. Getting to the central library by bus is too expensive. The mobile library service gives easy access to books, in particular, for children from the poorest households. This administration seems unable to recognise the importance of making books available to our less well off residents.”

 Cllr Cherry Beath (Liberal Democrat, Combe Down) added:

 “This move by the Conservative Administration is about shaving off a relatively small amount of fuel costs, and I am concerned that a valuable service that goes out to residential areas is under threat of reduction. The danger is that some people might well be put off altogether from using the library.”

Cllr Tim Ball (Liberal Democrat, Twerton) commented: “The mobile library will disappear from Twerton altogether. What message does that give to youngsters eager to improve their reading skills?”

Nick Clegg has described Gordon Brown's policy plans as "a hotch potch of unrelated Whitehall schemes" with no unifying vision from a prime minister who was "running out of steam".

Conservative Peer Lord Taylor of Warwick claims £70k for home that does not exist

This weekend, Lord Oakeshott, a Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, said: “This looks like the worst abuse yet of the discredited Lords’ expenses system. The Conservatives should make Lord Taylor pay the money back to the taxpayer now.”

The Sunday times has been following this for weeks to read the full story in the Sunday Times follow the link HERE

• Vince Cable MP, Liberal Democrats Treasury spokesman Andrew Marr Show, BBC1

Mr Cable said that despite the need for "severe" discpline in budgets, it could be possible to balance the budget through "fairer" tax policies as opposed to overall tax rises.

"All parties are just going ot have to accept the realities of the situation what will be different - certainly different from the Tories - in the our tax policies is we wil be arguing for greater fairness," he said.

"You could have a tax system which involves not higher taxes but fairer taxes," he added, claiming that any tax cut directed at those on lower incomes could be paid for by the more wealthy.

"We don't argue for an overall tax increase," he said.

Mr Cable also said that his party was the only party willing to break taboos on areas of public spending that needed a review, such as tax credits, public sector pensions, and university access.

""Some key areas of public spending would have to be cut. They would be difficult - that's why we went out in front and argued about the tax credits system," he said.

He added: "It is not affordable and we are going to have to stay in a very disciplined environment for public spending they will have to be dealt with".

Commenting on the High Court decision not to overrule the extradition of Gary McKinnon, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: “Today’s judgement is a hammer blow to a vulnerable man and his long suffering supporters.