Over at Scotland on Sunday, Nick Clegg has an article arguing that “It’s the Liberal Democrats who have the record, the strength and the vision to change politics for good”. Here’s an excerpt:

It’s liberals who invented the state pension and the NHS, liberals who were first to campaign to protect the environment and liberals who first put concern for human rights into our foreign affairs. The Liberal Democrats are a pioneering party – the party of Charles Kennedy and Ming Campbell, who stood up against jeers and derision to campaign against the illegal invasion of Iraq. We led calls for a Scottish Parliament while Labour and the Nationalists stalled, pushing for practical, workable devolution for Scotland. And we’ve pioneered policies for radical tax reform that would put £700 in the pocket of almost every working man and woman, paid for by taxing the very wealthy and polluters more. …

Our first priority has got to be a new sustainable economy. We want to put Britain back to work and fight climate change by investing in green economic growth. By focusing growth on renewable energy, affordable homes and green infrastructure we could create thousands of new jobs. Plus we need a totally new approach to banking. A crucial part of that is splitting up high-risk casino banking from high street lending and current accounts – to make sure ordinary people’s savings aren’t put at risk. As we re-privatise the banks, we need to break them up, creating a diverse, competitive banking industry that has a much bigger place for small, local and regional banks with their roots in the communities they serve. As part of this process, I believe we could and should try to give the Bank of Scotland back its independence rather than letting it be permanently lost in the leviathan of the Lloyds Banking Group.

You can read the article in full here.