Lib Dems 'should be doing better' - Vince Cable on why the Lib Dems should do better

Written by Vince Cable interviewed on the Politics show and published in BBC 1 on Sun 27th Apr 2008

Vince Cable

The Lib Dems should be doing better in the polls with the government in trouble on several fronts, the party's deputy leader Vince Cable has said.

"We are not doing as well as we hoped we would be, I'm not complacent," he told The Politics Show.

An ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph put the Lib Dems on 20%, which Mr Cable said was lower than he would like.

He made no reference to Nick Clegg's leadership and apportioned some of the blame to his own performance.

"We can do better and should do better. There is a big opportunity - we are not doing badly but we could do a lot better," said the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman.

"I think it's a question of us putting in more work, being credible on the issues that really matter to people.

"A lot of responsibility comes onto me because the thing people are worried about more than anything is the economy."

Mr Cable said the party had a lot of work to do before Thursday's local elections, where it is defending 725 seats in England and Wales.

On Monday, the Lib Dems are expected to join forces with the Conservatives in the Commons when MPs debate the Finance Bill and the abolition of the 10p tax rate at its committee stage on Monday.

The two parties are expected to call for reassurances over how and when people who have lost out will be compensated and whether it will be fully backdated.

Mr Cable said most of the five million people affected would still lose out - despite the measures offered by the government.

"Even those who have been offered tax credits, Gordon Brown's favourite mechanism, many of them will not be able to claim it.

"We know there is a very low take-up rate."

The ICM poll puts the Tories on 39%, 10 points ahead of Labour on 29%, and the Lib Dems on 20%.