Lib Dems will not ‘stand back’ from another coalition

Liberal Democrats will not “stand back” from another opportunity to go into coalition government, even if doing a such a deal risks them losing support, Willie Rennie said.

The Lib Dems have seen their popularity with voters slump after Nick Clegg chose to take them into government with the Conservatives after the the 2010 election.

With the general election less than two months away, and with polls continuing to suggest another hung parliament, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader said his party would “put the country first” and go into another joint administration if given the chance.

Mr Rennie, speaking at the start of the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference in Aberdeen, said that his party had a “very good record” after five years in power with the Tories.

He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland: “I came into politics, and my colleagues came into politics, to try to make a difference to people’s lives and give them an opportunity to get on in the world when otherwise they might be deprived.

“So I’m not going to stand back from an opportunity to make those kind of changes, that’s what we’ve done in government.”

The Liberal Democrats in Scotland were in coalition with Labour at Holyrood for eight years, with Mr Rennie saying: “In the Scottish Parliament we abolished fees for dental and eye checks, we made sure we’ve got free personal care, we introduced bus pass changes, those things were what Liberal Democrats delivered in government.”

He added: “And at the UK level we’ve cut taxes, we’ve increased pensions.

“If you come into politics just to look after yourself and not actually deliver the aims, the ambitions the aspirations you have for people, if you’re just going to opt out…too many other parties just look after themselves and that’s what gives politics a bad name.

“We put the country first, that’s why we’re making a big difference with the tax cuts, the pension rises, the childcare expansion. All the things that I think people will love when it comes to polling day.”