Scott turns fire on Tories – Yahoo! News UK
Baroness Scott of Needham Market, who was elected party president last year, reminded Lib Dems of their history.
"One hundred years ago Lloyd George published his People's Budget, the most radical reform of public finances this country has ever seen," she told the Bournemouth conference.
"Tax policy, for the first time, was used for social ends, to redistribute income from rich to poor.
"That's why, of course, the Tories opposed it so viciously. It struck at the privilege and elitism that lay at the heart of everything they stood for and still do."
Scott then turned her fire on Conservative chairman Eric Pickles, who has claimed that Lib Dem supporters are turning to the Tories.
"Where does Eric Pickles get off when he suggests that the Tories are the voice of progressive politics and a home for liberal values?" Scott asked.
"When their sole specific pledge is the abolition of inheritance tax? The party which has allied itself to a group of right-wing xenophobes in the European Parliament?"
The bulk of her speech was given over to 19th century Liberal prime minister William Gladstone.
"Many of you will know Gladstone's words carved below his bust in the National Liberal Club," Scott said.
"'Liberalism is trust of the people only qualified by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people only qualified by fear.'
"And how that resonates today.
"He could have been talking about ID cards. Or the assaults on civil liberties launched by the current government with the enthusiastic backing of the Conservative Party."
Scott told the conference to remember Gladstone and other Liberal triumphs in "the fight for liberty, the assault on privilege, the defence of the individual, the belief in internationalism, the struggle for social justice".
She added: "Those Liberals who went before us showed us the way; now we must take pride in their record and live up to it."
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