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Lib Dem leader Tim Farron unveiling housing plan Tim Farron's mission: To get Lib Dems 'back in power'
(about 1 hour later)
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron is unveiling plans to solve England's housing crisis in a speech to his party's conference. Tim Farron's "mission" as Liberal Democrat leader is to get them "back in power at every level throughout Britain", he has told activists.
They include a housing investment bank and allowing councils to borrow up to £7bn extra to fund new homes. In his first big conference speech, Mr Farron said the Lib Dems were now the only "credible" opposition to the Conservatives.
He will also vow to tear up parliamentary conventions in an effort to block David Cameron's plan to sell-off housing association properties. And he invited liberals from across the political spectrum to join the party.
He will also use his speech to call on liberals from all parties to join the Liberal Democrats. He also mounted his strongest attack yet on David Cameron's "pitiful" response to the refugee crisis.
Mr Farron will tell activists in Bournemouth: "Access to affordable housing affects us all because it is the entry ticket to society: to security and stability, to work, health and community." Mr Farron, who was elected leader in July following the party's general election rout, which saw them lose all but eight of their MPs, warned activists against retreating into the comfort zone of opposition.
He will say he was inspired to get into politics as a teenager by watching a repeat of the 1966 film Cathy Come Home, a ground-breaking drama documentary on homelessness that led to the foundation of the charity Shelter. Refugee crisis
"Housing is the biggest single issue that politicians don't talk about," Mr Farron will say. He refused to distance the party from its coalition with the Conservatives, telling activists: "I am proud of what we did in government."
"Well, we are going to talk about it, campaign on it, go on and on and on about it, and make a difference to the millions who have been ignored. But he mounted an angry attack on David Cameron's handling of the refugee crisis and called on the government to opt in to the EU plan to" take our share of the refugees", although he did not specify a number.
"Communities up and down this country have spent 25 years building housing association homes, picking up the pieces of Mrs Thatcher's destruction of council housing, and we will not allow David Cameron to destroy that work too." In an impassioned account of a visit he had made to a refugee camp in Calais, which earned a standing ovation from activists, he accused Mr Cameron of making "the minimum effort for the maximum headlines".
"It's pitiful and embarrassing and makes me so angry because I am proud to be British and I am proud of Britain's values.
"So when Mr Cameron turns his back on the needy and turns his back on our neighbours I want the world to know, he does not speak for me, he does not speak for us, he does not speak for Britain."
'Serious about power'
Mr Farron has seized on Jeremy Corbyn's election as leader of the Labour Party as an opportunity to reclaim the centre ground of British politics.
"If others wish to abandon serious politics, serious economics, that's their lookout," he told activists.
"But you can be certain that the Liberal Democrats will occupy every inch of that progressive liberal space because you cannot change people's lives from the glory of self-indulgent opposition.
"Instead, I want us to be serious about power."
He accused Mr Corbyn of being "ambivalent" about Britain's membership of the EU, vowing to fight for the UK to remain in the bloc in the forthcoming referendum.
The Lib Dems had lost in May because voters did not know what they stood for, he told activists in Bournemouth, and it was now time to set out a "strong and clear liberal vision" for the UK.
He said the party's fightback would begin at next year's Scottish and Welsh elections and in town hall elections across the UK.
Small business
The Lib Dem leader said the party remained committed to abolishing the structural deficit by 2017-18 - but not on the back of the poorest and lowest paid, saying: "We must all play our part, based on our ability to pay."
He pledged that the Lib Dems will be the champion of small business.
He told the conference: "Liberals must be on the side of business - ambitious for business - tearing down the barriers that stop businesses from fulfilling their ambitions."
Analysis by BBC Political Correspondent Ross HawkinsAnalysis by BBC Political Correspondent Ross Hawkins
After Labour's new leader was elected the Lib Dems decided they couldn't be more left wing than him, so they have spent five days explaining that they belong on the centre ground of British politics.After Labour's new leader was elected the Lib Dems decided they couldn't be more left wing than him, so they have spent five days explaining that they belong on the centre ground of British politics.
Anyone who voted for Farron as Lib Dem leader hoping for a dramatic change of direction will be disappointed.Anyone who voted for Farron as Lib Dem leader hoping for a dramatic change of direction will be disappointed.
When he praises "people who believe that no-one owes them a living" and insists government must tear down barriers to business, he sounds like a man more than willing to do some business of his own with the Conservatives.When he praises "people who believe that no-one owes them a living" and insists government must tear down barriers to business, he sounds like a man more than willing to do some business of his own with the Conservatives.
Five things we learned from the Lib Dem conferenceFive things we learned from the Lib Dem conference
Mr Farron says he will instruct Lib Dem peers in the House of Lords to block David Cameron's plan to give housing association tenants the right to buy their homes. He also used the speech to set out plans to solve the housing crisis in England by building 300,000 new homes a year.
It was one of Mr Cameron's flagship policies at the general election but critics, including former Lib Dem minister Ed Davey who compared it to a Robert Mugabe-style land-grab, say it will hit those in housing need. He said he was inspired to get into politics as a teenager by watching a repeat of the 1966 film Cathy Come Home, a ground-breaking drama documentary on homelessness that led to the foundation of the charity Shelter.
Voting against right-to-buy would break the long-standing agreement, known as the Salisbury convention, that prevents peers from blocking government manifesto commitments. Housing plan
But the Lib Dem leader told Sky News: "The Salisbury convention is a gentleman's pact between the old, established parties." "Housing is the biggest single issue that politicians don't talk about," said Mr Farron.
He said he was "on the side" of communities and "not on the side of any political stitch-up". "Well, we are going to talk about it, campaign on it, go on and on and on about it, and make a difference to the millions who have been ignored.
Garden cities plan "Communities up and down this country have spent 25 years building housing association homes, picking up the pieces of Mrs Thatcher's destruction of council housing, and we will not allow David Cameron to destroy that work too."
Mr Farron says he will instruct Lib Dem peers in the House of Lords to block David Cameron's plan to give housing association tenants the right to buy their homes in an attempt to block them.
Other Lib Dem policies aimed at solving the housing shortage include:Other Lib Dem policies aimed at solving the housing shortage include:
The Labour government in Wales has said it will abolish the right-to-buy if it wins the 2016 Assembly election. He ended his speech with an appeal to "liberally-minded" people from across the political spectrum to join the party, as 20,000 people have already done since May.
Welsh Liberal Democrats say they will retain it for existing tenants but are against any extension. "There are millions of people in Britain who know in their hearts that they are liberals.
The right-to-buy has already been abolished in Scotland and there is no borrowing cap for local authorities. "We need to convince them now to become Liberal Democrats," he activists.
Mr Farron will also use his conference speech to praise the Lib Dems' record in government, and defend the party's decision to go into coalition with the Conservatives.
"We paid a heavy price for our time in government, but we did right by the country," he will tell activists, and say he is "proud" of the past five years.
He will say the party remains committed to abolishing the structural deficit by 2017-18 - but not on the back of the poorest and lowest paid, saying: "We must all play our part, based on our ability to pay."
Mr Farron is also to pledge that the Lib Dems will be the champion of small business.
He will tell conference: "Liberals must be on the side of business - ambitious for business - tearing down the barriers that stop businesses from fulfilling their ambitions."