'WHERE HAS ALL THE MONEY GONE?'

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 22nd Mar 2006

Today, Gordon Brown delivered his tenth budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer. But with more and more people feeling let down by New Labour, the Liberal Democrats are asking where all the money has gone over the years Labour has been in power.

Paul Holmes MP for Chesterfield said: "Taxes and red tape have increased year on year but now hospitals are announcing cuts in nursing staff as they slip into debt. At the same time, businesses are being forced to spend more and more time on bureaucracy."

Unlike Labour and the Tories, the Liberal Democrat team in Parliament has won a reputation for putting honest choices before spin. The Lib Dems took the lead in exposing the tax credit fiasco and we are demanding urgent action to tackle the growing personal debt crisis. At the same time we are calling on the Government to deal with the major threats of climate change by taking effective action to protect our environment.

Paul Holmes said: "The contrast between the principled approach of the Liberal Democrats under Sir Menzies Campbell and the Conservatives could not be greater. The Tories hope that by copying New Labour spin, we will all forget what a mess they made of running the economy the last time they were in power. "Liberal Democrats want an economy that is stable and well managed and based on fairer, not higher, taxes and honest choices."