London Liberal Democrats buoyant as Euro-campaign launches

4.05.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 12th May 2009

The Liberal Democrats have launched their 'Stronger together, poorer apart' national campaign for the European Parliament elections on June 4th. Liberal Democrat party leader Nick Clegg MP and deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat MEPs, London MEP Sarah Ludford, outlined the party's main campaigning priorities.

Sarah Ludford, number 1 on the Liberal Democrat list for London, also introduced no 2 Liberal Democrat London candidate Jonathan Fryer and no 3 Dinti Batstone, stressing the party's optimism that LibDems will win 2 London Euro-seats.

"Europe is good for London, the continent's top city, and for Londoners. Liberal Democrats will ensure that the EU delivers even more practical benefits of jobs, security and a clean environment for our city and its residents."

"Our campaign spotlights the issues of most concern to Londoners; getting out of recession and credit crunch, tackling crime and terrorism while preserving civil liberties and equal rights for all, and combating pollution and climate change. Liberal Democrats, with a strong record on all these issues, know they cannot be tackled in isolation from our EU neighbours. We are the only party with a real commitment to getting the best deal from European cooperation."

"Gordon Brown's Labour government has failed on the economy and City regulation. It has indulged fatcats while letting child poverty persist. Its crazy determination to ram through Heathrow expansion in breach of EU air quality and noise laws will ruin the health and sleep of millions of Londoners. It wants to fingerprint and DNA-test innocent people but fails to catch child sex traffickers. Meanwhile Tory anti-European prejudice leads them to shun sensible EU measures like the European Arrest Warrant which ensured a 21/7 bomber was swiftly returned from Italy to justice"

Jonathan Fryer, second on the Liberal Democrat list for London added:

"In the last Euro-elections in 2004, I missed out on becoming the Lib Dems' second MEP for London by only 0.6%, that's just 280 votes per parliamentary constituency. Since then, the Liberal (ALDE) group in the European Parliament has played a crucial role in passing legislation on important matters such as the European arrest warrant and consumer protection and choice. I'm hugely encouraged by the response I've been getting on the doorstep and at hustings meetings around London. Growing numbers of people appreciate the Liberal Democrats' message of positive engagement with the European Union and see the Party as more sensible and sound than the alternatives."

You can read Nick Clegg's press release here: http://www.nickclegg.com/2009/05/european-elections-2009-launch/