Don’t risk a government dragged off to the left or right

It is now clear that no single party will win a majority of seats in this coming General Election. That means that if you vote Labour you might end up with a government pulled to the left by the Scottish Nationalists - but if you vote Conservative you might end up with a government dragged off to the right by Ukip and the Conservatives' own right-wing backbenchers. If a strong enough group of Liberal Democrat MPs is elected however they will be able to act as a moderating force in Parliament, anchoring any government in the centre ground.

What does that mean in practice? Well, during the last Parliament, the Conservatives tried to bring in regional pay, but it was blocked by Liberal Democrat MPs. Regional pay would have meant that public sector workers - police officers, nurses, teachers - working in Plymouth and the rest of the South West would have been paid less than those working in, say, Portsmouth or Manchester. We were right to block the Conservative attempt to being in regional pay - and a strong group of Lib Dem MPs elected on 7th May will continue to block the Tories from introducing it. We believe that our nurses and midwives - here in Plymouth - are worth just as much as those who work anywhere else in the country.

Liberal Democrats will go even further to help public sector workers. We won't just block any attempt to introduce regional pay. We'll also give all public sector workers - from teachers and nurses to social workers and police officers - pay rises every year that at least keep pace with the cost of living.

And we will put into the NHS the extra investment it needs. Liberal Democrats are committed to funding our NHS properly, with a costed commitment that spending each year on the NHS should rise by at least £8 billion over and above inflation by 2020. That figure isn't plucked out of the air. It's what the NHS itself says it needs. And we will make sure it gets that extra money so that the NHS is able to care for you when you need it.

If you want a government that doesn't get dragged off to the left or right, if you want fair pay for nurses and teachers, and if you want the NHS to get the extra funding it needs, vote Liberal Democrat this time.