Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg tours 2K Manufacturing in Luton with Luton South candidate Qurban Hussain and CEO Omer Kutluoglu 13 April 2010. Credit Alex Folkes

The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg MP, made a return visit to Luton yesterday.

He met with Liberal Democrat candidate for Luton South Qurban Hussain and together they toured the factory of 2K Manufacturing which makes products from recycled plastic.

Qurban Hussain said; “I was delighted to welcome Nick back to Luton. This is the third time in a few months that Nick Clegg has visited the town and it shows just how seriouly the Liberal Democrats are taking our campaign in Luton South.”

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.

Today David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, is visiting Luton South. After almost a year of Labour neglect and no effective representation in Westminster they decide to visit only when an election is due.

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?

“Labour is in denial, while the Conservatives are talking tough to cover up that they only offer more of the same,” said the Liberal Democrat Leader

Responding to Alistair Darling’s Budget, Nick Clegg said:

“This Budget was a political dodge not an economic plan.

“Britain needed a Budget that gave us honesty in spending and fairness in tax, we have got neither.

“Labour is in denial, while the Conservatives are talking tough to cover up that they only offer more of the same.

“The Chancellor is incapable of coming clean about where spending cuts will have to fall.

“Rather than being honest with people about what the Government can and cannot afford, the Chancellor would rather let others indiscriminately shave departmental budgets.

“By confirming the freeze in personal allowances the Government has ensured everyone will see a real increase in their income tax bill – when what people on low and middle incomes desperately need is an income tax cut.

“Rather than forcing the nationalised banks to lend to good British businesses they have chosen to create a feeble quango to arbitrate between bullying banks and their small business clients.

“It says something when the most substantive announcement the Government can come up with is a tax agreement with Belize, however welcome that may be.”