"The UK has one of the most flexible labour markets in the world and reforms to tribunals by Vince Cable have improved it even further.
"I don't believe that tearing up employment rights is going to pave the way for economic recovery.
"People worrying they may be fired at will is only going to undermine consumer confidence at a time when we want people spending on their local high street.
"Liberal Democrats believe the right way to sort out Labour's mess is to get spending under control, get the banks lending, rebalance the economy away from the City through the £1.4bn Regional Growth Fund and invest in the future and skills of our young people as we have through the £1bn Youth Contract."
Senior local government Liberal Democrats are going on the offensive after voters in many parts of the country where local elections are taking place received leaflets from the Labour Party containing blatant lies about the Liberal Democrats.
The party is used to the usual strident propaganda put out by the opposition, but in this case senior Lib Dems believe it is time to fight back and rebut serious untruths.
The Leader of the Liberal Democrats on the Local Government Association and Leader of Portsmouth Council,
Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, is determined to take on this negative campaigning.
Liberal Democrat-controlled Cardiff is opening five new libraries and Portsmouth and Bristol are also opening new libraries.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Party President, Tim Farron said:
"While Conservatives and Labour councils their budgets without regard for the most vulnerable, Liberal Democrat-controlled councils know how to protect essential services.
"Encouraging and enabling reading is vital to the development of children and adults alike. If we don't give our children the opportunity to practice and perfect their reading skills at a young age, they will struggle to catch up later in life.
"Libraries are a life-line for local communities, especially for those who are less well off, and give people the opportunity to relax, learn new information and skills or to use the internet if they don't have it at home.
"Cutting services like Labour and Tory councils are doing will do long-term damage. Liberal Democrats are doing the right thing thanks to our financial competency in the councils we run. That is also the reason why not only have Liberal Democrat councils kept libraries open, but councils in England have also frozen council tax and are most likely to be giving the lowest-paid council workers a pay rise."
The Government has made it easier for councils to tackle pavement parking and stop it causing an obstruction to pedestrians
At the meeting Keith Baldry said that vehicles parked on pavements can cause particular problems for people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments and those with pushchairs. While in some circumstances pavement parking is unavoidable - for example in narrow residential roads with no off-street parking - the Government believes that in many cases it can be avoided.
In his speech Keith Baldry said:
"Parking on the pavement can be selfish and dangerous, putting pedestrians - especially those with disabilities or using pushchairs - in danger. If a vehicle is blocking the pavement then people often have no choice but to walk in the road where they are at much greater risk of being involved in an accident.
"Most drivers are considerate and do not park on the pavement unless it is permitted or necessary. However, there is a selfish minority who do not use their common sense and dump their cars wherever it suits them without a second thought for others."
The motion was seconded by Cllr Mike Hannaford from Totnes. He gave examples of problems in Totnes as a result of inconsiderate pavement parking.
The meeting agreed to work with Devon County Council to implement the idea.
After the meeting Keith Baldry said: "I am glad that the council has supported by proposal to make life easier and safer for those who use pavements."
Keith Baldry is ward member for Yealmpton and Leader of the Liberal Democrats on South Hams Council.
"James Murdoch will hope this resignation takes some of the pressure off News Corp's bid for BSkyB. No doubt the other BSkyB owners will be breathing a sigh of relief that the bid, for now, seems to be on the back burner.
"However, whether or not News Corp qualifies as a 'fit and proper person' remains to be seen, and there are still unanswered questions on James Murdoch's knowledge of phone hacking.
"It is essential that this resignation does not act as a barrier to finding out the truth."
"Liberal Democrat councillors across the country are working to protect the services that people value most, while Liberal Democrats in the Coalition clear up the economic mess Labour left behind.
"Our priority is clear, in difficult times we must make sure we do all we can to help ordinary working people. That is why, unlike Labour or the Conservatives, every Liberal Democrat council in England has frozen council tax. That is why Liberal Democrat councils are more likely to earmark funds for the lowest paid than any other. And that is why this month Liberal Democrats in Government are delivering tax cuts for 25m working people.
"Liberal Democrats have a strong record in local government and are committed to fighting for communities across the UK."
Also inside Peter Arnold asks some questions about Scottish independence.
This week Nick Clegg has been representing the UK at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, which was attended by representatives from 53 nations. The Deputy Prime Minister had a number of one-to-one meetings with world leaders, including US President Barack Obama.
The UK delegation, led by the Deputy Prime Minister, called for more vigilance about the spread of potentially dangerous information and discussed progress on attempts to 'lock down' vulnerable nuclear materials.
During his visit to South Korea, he announced that a Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Korea had been agreed. The Agreement could bring £500m per year to the UK economy and create £2bn new export opportunities for UK businesses. He also unveiled a new Host2Host agreement which will help British firms win contracts for sporting events like the 2014 Asian Games, the World Student Games in 2015 and Pyeongchang Winter Olympics 2018.
One leader he spent time with was President Pinera of Chile, who rose to prominence in the UK with his handling of the rescue of the 33, trapped miners in October 2010.
They had a wide ranging discussion which covered, among other topics, the global economic situation; the upcoming Rio +20 environment summit (at which both Nick and President Pinera will be representing their respective countries) and tensions between the UK and Argentina over the Falkland Islands.
Interestingly, President Pinera had a keen interest in Liberal Democrat tax policy. The clearly well-informed President was quick to ask - completely unprompted - whether the Budget had yet been voted on; when the personal allowance might be raised further and how many people had been lifted out of paying income tax. Nick was only too pleased to be able to answer his questions - particularly on lifting two million people out of tax.
A clearly impressed Chilean President hailed the "excellent" tax policy before wishing Nick luck with his efforts to raise the threshold further. Extraordinary evidence of the global recognition that this policy is starting to enjoy.
Over 20 million working people will be better off next year after Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government delivered the biggest ever increase in the income tax personal allowance in the Budget.
The massive £3.5bn tax cut for working people delivers:
The biggest ever single uplift in the tax threshold
A personal allowance of £9,205 in April 2013
21 million working people getting an extra £220 tax cut
Brings the total tax cut for basic rate tax payers to £550
Brings the total number of people lifted out of tax to 2 million.
Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg used his speech to the Party's Spring conference in NewcastleGateshead to call for the forthcoming budget to be a "budget for fairness" and pledged that it would help working familes.
The Deputy Prime Minister pledged that by 2015 Britain would have seen an end to control orders, the first gay marriages and the first elections to the House of Lords.
Fairer taxes, promoting green jobs, protecting your civil liberties - these are just some of the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in government.
We're building a freer, greener and more liberal country - and stopping some of the worst excesses of the Conservatives. Find out more in this infographic.
