Freeze the Council Tax, and put more police on the beat!

11.58.45am UTC (GMT +0000) Sun 25th Apr 2004

Liberal Democrats have set out their plans for the City ahead of a close fight with Labour in this year's local elections. The Liberal Democrats already run Liverpool and Stockport.

They have put cleaner streets and giving people more say at the heart of their plans.

Councillor Jackie Pearcey outlined the plans, "Liberal Democrats would provide the funding for over 30 extra street cleaners in Manchester. There would also be a further £1million pounds to run local recycling schemes."

"How can Labour manage to clean the streets for the Commonwealth Games, but tell local people that there isn't enough money now?" asked Councillor Jackie Pearcey. "Liberal Democrats would also spend £5million fixing our roads and pavements."

Another top priority for a Liberal Democrat City Council would be the fight to get more police on our streets. Liberal Democrat Policing Spokesperson, Cllr Keith Whitmore, added "Labour have shown their true colours over police funding. The Labour Government has delivered nearly £7million less than expected for our local police. Once more we are let down by Tony Blair."

Liberal Democrats are backing the Chief Constable's bid for a further 1,000 officers for Greater Manchester to bring the area into line with other big cities.