Addressing a rally in Eastbourne this morning, Nick Clegg will say:

“In 24 hours we can change Britain forever.

“Change is possible and change is coming, if you choose it.

“Your vote can make the difference.

“In your heart of hearts you know that if either of the two old parties win this election, nothing will really change.

“You’ve been let down by them a hundred times before, you know how little to expect.

“We cannot let that happen.

“We cannot let politics as usual triumph.

“We can choose something different this time and we will choose something different this time.

“If change is what you want, don’t let anything or anyone stand in your way.

“It may be just a small cross on the ballot paper but it is a big opportunity.

“Yours may be just one vote but it could be the one that makes the difference: so use it.”

“The current voting systems means that when most people go to the polls their vote does not count. It simply is not fair or democratic that your vote only counts if you support the winning candidate – the votes of all residents should count.”

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne said:

“He’s happy for your vote not to count so that he can keep his MPs in safe seats tending to their moats and duck houses instead of the people they are supposed to represent,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary.

Commenting on David Cameron’s description of Proportional Representation as a ‘great con’, Chris said:

“David Cameron doesn’t want change at all. He’s just another old-style politician making a grab for absolute power with just one in three of the votes.

“He’s happy for your vote not to count so that he can keep his MPs in safe seats tending to their moats and duck houses instead of the people they are supposed to represent.”

The five “instant” poll results on the night:

• Guardian/ICM: Clegg 33%, Cameron 29%, Brown 29%
• YouGov: Clegg 32%, Cameron 36%, Brown 29%
• ComRes: Clegg 33%, Cameron 30%, Brown 30%
• Angus Reid: Clegg 33%, Cameron 32%, Brown 23%
• Populus: Clegg 36%, Cameron 37%, Brown 26%
• Poll Average: Clegg 33.4%, Cameron 32.8%, Brown 27.4%

The election has been thrown wide open by Nick Clegg‘s first debate win. A number of polls have shown that the Lib Dems and the Conservatives are neck and neck, with Labour trailing in third. BBC journalist Michael Crick said on Newsnight “The momentum is still with Clegg.”

We will invest an extra £2.5bn in schools through a Pupil Premium that will raise funding for the poorest pupils to private school levels.

The money will be targeted at schools taking on children who need more help, but will benefit every child in every school. The cash can be used to cut class sizes and provide one-to-one tuition or catch-up classes, ensuring every child gets the individual attention they need.

An average primary school could cut class sizes to 20. An average secondary school could see classes of just 16.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“In 1997, when New Labour was first elected, no one would have believed it would end like this.

“Labour’s bright promise of a fair society has faded away.

“Our big task now is giving people back their hope that things can be different, and better, and that the fair society we have hoped for so long can become a reality.

“If you want to build that fair society I believe education is everything. That is why the biggest financial commitment in our manifesto is to our schools.

“With the deficit as it is, everyone knows money is tight, but this is a question of priorities.

“We have identified in our manifesto £15bn of savings, of which we will redirect just £5bn to alternate spending. It is a measure of my personal commitment and passion for education that half of that money will go into our schools.

“Our plans will raise the money spent on the million children from the poorest backgrounds to private school levels.

“Headteachers will be able to use that money on a whole range of measures to help all pupils and all schools.

“Cutting class sizes, providing more one-to-one tuition and catch-up classes: whatever suits their school and their pupils’ needs best. With a simple, but profound ambition: to make sure every child gets the fair start in life they deserve.”

To give every child a fair start, we will spend an extra £2.5bn a year on schools. The money will be targeted at schools taking on children who need more help, but will benefit every child in every school. The cash can be used to cut class sizes, provide one-to-one tuition, catch-up classes or in anyway the school wishes, ensuring every child gets the individual attention they need. An average primary school could cut class sizes to 20. An average secondary school could see classes of just 16.

Performance at school is closely linked to children’s background. The poorest children are only half as likely to get 5 good GCSEs as other children. Too often, the poorest children start school already struggling and fall further behind as they grow older.

Schools taking disadvantaged children aren’t getting the money they need to cut class sizes and provide them with extra support. The existing methods for distributing deprivation related funding are confusing and inconsistent. Nearly one in three secondary school pupils eligible for free school meals attends a relatively affluent secondary school.

Area based targeting therefore misses a large proportion of the poorest pupils – including in many rural areas. There is a huge gap between poor children in different parts of the country: in Kensington and Chelsea, 59% of poor children get 5 good GCSEs, while in Rutland, it’s 14%.

The Pupil Premium would be available to the school which each disadvantaged pupil attended. It would be attached to the million children with the highest levels of disadvantage. The Pupil Premium would be set nationally and it would top up a national per pupil base funding figure. It will raise the poorest children’s school funding to private school levels, with the average school receiving around £2500 extra for every child entitled to free school meals on their roll. Head teachers would be free to spend the money as they see fit, to raise standards in their school.

This policy costs £2.5bn a year, and will be introduced in the second year of the Parliament after our jobs stimulus package, paid for from savings in government such as our proposed reforms to tax credits (which will save up to £1.5bn) and administrative savings in the Department for Education and quangos (which saves up to an additional £1bn).

Last night was the first of the three televised Leaders’ debates. Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, debated with Gordon Brown and David Cameron about domestic affairs. Subjects discussed included immigration, healthcare and education.

After the first TV debate, more and more people say they agree with Nick. If you didn’t see the debate last night, you can watch it online here.

Nick Clegg said:

“Every manifesto needs to have an idea at its heart. The basic idea that animates this manifesto is something I have always believed. I believe every single person is extraordinary.

“The tragedy is that we have a society where too many people never get to fulfil that extraordinary potential.

“My view – the liberal view – is that government’s job is to help them to do it. Not to tell people how to live their lives. But to make their choices possible, to release their potential, no matter who they are.

“The way to do that is to take power away from those who hoard it. To challenge vested interests. To break down privilege. To clear out the bottlenecks in our society that block opportunity and block progress. And so give everyone a chance to live the life they want.

“There’s a simple word for those ideas, and it’s a word this manifesto is built on: fairness.”

“This is a complete double standard. Only last week David Cameron was happy to go campaigning in Kingston hospital, but suddenly the Conservatives are saying it’s unfair for parties to use the NHS in this way,” the Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary said.

Commenting on the Conservative attack on Labour for using an NHS hospital to launch their manifesto, Norman Lamb, said:

“This bizarre attack shows how little the Tories have to say about the big issues facing the country.

“This is a complete double standard. Only last week David Cameron was happy to go campaigning in Kingston hospital, but suddenly the Conservatives are saying it’s unfair for parties to use the NHS in this way.

“The pettiness of the Conservatives’ response is beyond belief. People will not be impressed with a party that has so little to say about Labour’s legacy of failure.

“The real issue about Labour’s launch venue was the fact that it was at another PFI project steeped in debt.”

Luton South Liberal Democrat PPC Qurban Hussain’s general election campaign has started with a public opinion poll showing him to be the public favourite in Luton South.

In a poll conducted by the Luton and Dunstable Express Councillor Hussain gained 40.6% of votes, compared to 31.4% for the Conservatives and just 14.6% for Labour.

The poll reflects the strong, local support the Liberal Democrats have in Luton South, where they currently hold eleven of the Borough Council’s seats in the constituency.

Following results of the poll Qurban said:

“After such a fantastic start to my campaign yesterday I was delighted to see a poll conducted by the Luton and Dunstable Express put the Liberal Democrats and myself in the lead in Luton South.

May I thank everyone who is backing my campaign and has declared their support for the Liberal Democrats.

For local residents to back my campaign is truly a great honour and I am humbled by your continued support.

While some candidates want to represent us but don’t even want to live here, I am proud to call Luton home. I pledge to every voter in Luton South that I will continue to work to ensure a brighter future for own town and our families.”

The choice at this election is who is going to put Luton South first?

Under Labour we have seen Vauxhall close, the gap between the richest and poorest increase and have been without a working MP for nearly a year. They have continued to put the Labour party before the people of Luton South.

The past Conservative governments hit Luton South hard, they have only two Councillors in the constituency and plan to cut taxes for millionaires instead of supporting Liberal Democrat plans to raise the income tax threshold to £10k. Only the Liberal Democrats can defeat Labour in Luton South and bring real, fair change to our community.

The old, broken politics of Labour and Conservative has continued to let our town and country down. The Liberal Democrats offer real change and a fair society that will help to improve the lives of all residents.

Unlike many candidates in this election, I am proud to live and work in Luton South. It is my home, where I choose to raise my children and where I am honoured to represent as a Councillor.

The decisions our next MP makes will affect all of our lives and the best person to make those decisions is a Lutonian.  As Lutonians we have a passion and dedication to our town and fellow residents that those who choose not to live here will never have.

The Liberal Democrats and I are campaigning to get our banks lending to local businesses to create new jobs, to invest more in our schools, to increase pay and resources for our armed forces and to reform our broken, corrupt system of politics in Westminster.

Locally I will continue to campaign to protect our green belt, to rid our streets of extremism, support local charities and to attract new businesses to our town to create a prosperous, secure future for our children.

On May 6^th we will have the choice to decide who represents us in Westminster. The choice is clear between the Liberal Democrats and candidates who want to represent us but do not even want to live here and candidates whose parties have always put self-interest before local residents.

Let us choose to put Luton South first.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has visited twice in the last year to visit Luton South businesses and meet with local residents while Treasury Spokesperson Vince Cable visited earlier this year.

Luton South residents will take from this that the Labour Party only want to listen to people when they want their vote as they continually failed to listen to or respond to public anger regarding our disgraced MP Margaret Moran.

The Liberal Democrats though have continued to stand up for local residents and Nick Clegg and I have been campaigning for reform of the rotten system in Westminster for many years.

Local residents need to be represented locally and in Westminster all year round, not just when politicians are trying to hold onto their jobs. Once again the Labour party are doing far too little, far too late.

As a Luton South resident here are some of the questions I’d like to the Foreign Secretary and the Labour candidate to answer:

• Why will Margaret Moran’s pension be more than the salary of some of our front line Armed Forces?
• Why do we have the money to pay bankers bonuses at a time when families are struggling to get by?
• Why did the Labour Party never support local campaigns calling for Margaret Moran to resign?
• Why did the Government take us into an illegal war in Iraq with no evidence?
• Why don’t Labour support raising the income tax threshold to £10k to help those on low and middle incomes?
• Why did it take almost a year for Labour to suspend Margaret Moran from the Labour Party?
• Why won’t Labour scrap tuition fees to give every student a fair start?
• Why did Vauxhall and other key manufacturing firms leave Luton under a Labour Government?
• Why do our Police spend time doing mountains of paperwork rather than policing our streets?
• Why did the Labour party think it acceptable for Luton South residents to go without an MP for a year?
• Why did Labour not back Liberal Democrat plans to give people the right to sack their MP?