Sir Ed Davey took part in an obstacle course in Kent today as he continued his campaign of eye-catching campaign stunts.
The Liberal Democrat party leader raced around an assault course in rural Tunbridge Wells, speaking afterwards about the importance of exercise and green spaces.
He visited Arena Pursuits in Wadhurst, on the Kent and Sussex border, with his party’s Tunbridge Wells candidate Mike Martin, and stumbled briefly while stepping over tyres.
When asked by KMTV if his party is doing enough to bridge the gap between recreation and conservation Sir Ed said: “It's a really important balance to strike and the way you do it is you work with the local community.
“You work with the environmental experts. I think it really is important that people have greater access to green spaces.
“The Liberal Democrats take a very different approach, which should really reassure people worried about the green belt.
“We take a community-led approach, so the community is very much at the heart of that.
“It means that you deal with the infrastructure issues, whether it's social infrastructure or the physical infrastructure, at the same time and you get the houses that the community needs.
“Where our approach has been applied in this country and elsewhere, it's been fantastic.
“It's produced great quality housing, but in places that mean the environment can still be protected.
“This is possible, but not under the Conservatives' approach where the developers hold all the power.”
Sir Ed has declined to name the Bills he wants to table in the first 100 days of the next parliament.
Even if the Liberal Democrats cannot form a government after the General Election, either with another party or by itself, their future MPs could shape the legislative agenda by tabling private members’ Bills.
In the party’s manifesto, unveiled on Monday, the Liberal Democrats set out its proposals for new laws – including a “comprehensive new animal welfare Bill”, “higher standards of behaviour from Government ministers by enshrining the Ministerial Code in law”, and a new Hillsborough Law for “a statutory duty of candour on police officers and all public officials”.
At today’s event, when Sir Ed was asked by the PA news agency how he might shape legislation from the opposition benches, he said: “Oh, you know, I’m not thinking about that yet. That would be taking the voters for granted – I’m not going to do that.
“I’m going to work every minute till close of polls to try to win people over to the Liberal Democrat cause and to elect local champions for their area.
“But with the manifesto, I guess the key things is if you want to know what Liberal Democrat MPs are going to champion in the next parliament, it’s going to be health and care – we’ve put that at the centre of our manifesto.
“It’s going to be helping people with the cost of living, whether it’s our policy on free school meals or insulating people’s homes to help their energy bills, or it’s going to be things like the sewage scandal, so read the manifesto – that’s what the Liberal Democrat MPs when elected will keep campaigning for.”
The party has pledged to extend free school meals to all children in poverty, with the ambition to extend them to all primary school children when the public finances allow, and offer free insulation and heat pumps “for those on low incomes”.
Almost 200 miles away in Manchester, the Labour Party unveiled its manifesto.
Sir Ed said he had heard “dribs and drabs” from his Labour rivals, saying: “I’ve been focusing on getting the Liberal Democrat policies over. I’m leader of the Liberal Democrats, I want to talk positively and I want to talk about our policies.”
