Ed Davey: Repair our broken relationship with Europe to prosper - BBC headline
The first sentences in the BBC News story stated: "The UK must "repair our broken relationship with Europe" to boost its economic prospects, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said. Sir Ed set out his pitch to voters on key poicies at his party's spring conference ahead of local elections in May.
He spoke of his plan to "tear down" bariers and fix the Conservatives' "botched" Brexit deal.
He also talked about the party's vision for the NHS and electoral reform."
ON EUROPE, Ed Davey told the Lib Dem conference:
"And there's another historic, longstanding difference between the Liberal Democrat economic vision - and those of others. More relevant today than ever. I call it the elephant in the room of British politics. An elephant we always point to, even though other parties daren't even whisper its name.
So let me shout it, yet again: if you want to boost our economy, you have to repair our broken relationship with Europe. Conference, you don't need me to tell you what a disaster the Conservatives' botched deal with Europe has been for our country. You see it every day in your communities: The businesses strangled by red tape. The farmers, fishers and factories, unable to sell to their customers on the continent. The empty shelves in local supermarkets.
It's why we campaigned against it. Why, when Boris Johnson brought his terrible deal to Parliament, when even Labour supported it, Liberal Democrats stood alone and voted against it.
And why now Liberal Democrats are the only ones with a real plan to fix Britain's trade. To tear down the Conservatives' trade barriers, rip up their red tape, and rebuild the ties of trust and friendship with our European neighbours."
ON THE NHS, Ed Davey said:
"Listening to people, thinking big about the problems they face, and making the changes they need - even in the most challenging times. When Britain faced the existential threat of German invasion in the forties, the Liberal William Beveridge looked beyond the Second World War to envisage a universal healthcare system, free at the point of use. Open to everyone, regardless of wealth. The NHS. A Liberal invention and one of things that makes us so proud to be British.
We cherish the NHS. We all have loved ones who owe their lives to it. And we will never forgive the Conservatives for what they have done to it. Leaving our brilliant nurses overstretched, underpaid and exhausted. Leaving hospitals to crumble. Leaving patients to suffer. In the twenty-five years since I was first elected to Parliament, I have never seen the NHS in a worse state than it is today.
Conference, we have to save our NHS from this Conservative vandalism.
And we know - as we have said many times over many years - that we cannot save and repair the NHS without fixing social care.
So even as we battle through this current crisis, let us do as liberals have always done and set our sights on a better future - not just for the NHS, but for social care too. Because care remains the unfinished business of Beveridge's reforms.
And as we think about our historic mission to reform care, and save the NHS, let us never forget the millions of family carers who do the vast bulk of our nation's caring. So as we reform social care, let us at the same time reform how we support our nation's precious family carers. The mother and fathers. The sons and daughters. The grandparents and grandchildren. The kinship carers. The people who care because they love.
As I said in my first speech as Leader, I want us to be the party of carers. The voice of carers. So we can save the NHS."