Beaconsfield Liberal Democrats

Statement by Nick Clegg about the coalition government

(To read the full text of the coalition agreement, please go to the UK Liberal Democrats' national website via the navigation panel to the left.) "Tonight the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party and the Federal Executive of the Liberal Democrat party have overwhelmingly accepted my recommendation that we should now enter into a coalition government with the Conservative Party."

"Before I say anything more about that coalition government I would like to express my thanks and admiration for Gordon Brown. He has been a towering figure in British politics for well over a decade. And the manner in which he has acted over the last few days has demonstrated immense dignity, grace and a profound sense of his public duty.

"We are now going to form a new government More importantly than anything else, we are going to form a new kind of government; I hope this is the start of a new kind of politics I have always believed in. Diverse, plural, where politicians with different points of view find a way to work together to provide the good government for the sake of the whole country deserves.

"That was what we were asked to do by the people of Britain in the General Election last Thursday and that is what we will deliver.

"I want to thank David Cameron for the very open, constructive and workmanlike way in which we have come together to make this agreement on how we can come together in this coalition government. We are obviously politicians from different parties. I believe we are now united in seeking to meet the immense challenges that now face the country and to deliver a fairer, better Britain.

"Of course there will be problems along the way; of course there will be glitches. But I will always do my best to prove that new politics isn't just possible - it is also better.

"I'd like to say something directly to the nearly seven million people who supported the Liberal Democrats in the General Election last week. I am now acutely aware that I carry your hopes and aspirations into this coalition agreement.

"I am sure you have many questions, maybe many doubts. But I can assure you I would not have entered into this agreement unless I was genuinely convinced it was a unique opportunity to deliver the changes you and I believe in. Fair taxes. A fair start in life for every child. A new approach to our discredited banking system and the prospect of green and sustainable economic growth. And new, open politics which you can trust once again.

"So I hope you will now keep faith with us let us prove to you that we can serve this country with humility, with fairness at the heart of everything we do. And with total dedication to the interests and livelihoods of everyone in this country."

Below is a summary (not the full, formal agreement) of the agreement between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives:

A Fair Start for Children

· Introduce a Pupil Premium to give all children a fair start.

Fairer taxes and Economic Reform

•A substantial increase in the personal allowance from April 2011 with a longer term policy objective of further increasing the personal allowance to £10,000, making further real terms steps each year towards this objective

•Reform of the banking system, ensuring a flow of lending to businesses and a Banking Levy. An independent commission on separating retail and investment banking.

•Capital Gains Tax reform

Fair Politics

•Fixed-term parliaments and a referendum on electoral reform for the House of Commons.

•A power of recall, allowing voters to force a by-election where an MP was found to have engaged in serious wrongdoing.

•A wholly or mainly elected House of Lords on the basis of proportional representation.

•Giving Parliament control of its own agenda so that all bills are properly debated.

•Enacting the Calman Commission proposals and a referendum on further Welsh devolution.

•A statutory register of lobbyists.

•A limit on political donations and reform of party funding in order to remove big money from politics.

•Radical devolution of power and greater financial autonomy to local government and community groups.

A fair and sustainable future

•Establish a smart electricity grid and the roll-out of smart meters.

•Establish feed-in tariff systems in electricity

•A huge increase in energy from waste through anaerobic digestion.

•The creation of a green investment bank.

•The provision of home energy improvement paid for by the savings from lower energy bills.

•Retention of energy performance certificates when HIPs are scrapped.

•Measures to encourage marine energy.

•The establishment of an emissions performance standard that will prevent coal-fired power stations being built unless they are equipped with sufficient CCS to meet the emissions performance standard.

•Establish a high-speed rail network.

•Cancel the third runway at Heathrow and refuse additional runways at Gatwick and Stansted.

•Replace the Air Passenger Duty with a 'per plane' duty.

•The provision of a floor price for carbon, as well as efforts to persuade the EU to move towards full auctioning of ETS permits.

•Make the import or possession of illegal timber a criminal offence.

•Promote green spaces and wildlife corridors in order to halt the loss of habitats and restore biodiversity.

•Reduce central government carbon emissions by 10 per cent within 12 months.

•Increase the target for energy from renewable sources.

Pensions

•Restoration of the earnings link for the basic state pension from April 2011 with a "triple guarantee" that pensions are raised by the higher of earnings, prices or 2.5%.

•Phase out the default retirement age and end the rules requiring compulsory annuitisation at 75.

•Implement the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman's recommendation to make fair and transparent payments to Equitable Life policyholders.

Civil Liberties

•Scrap the ID card scheme, the National Identity register, the next generation of biometric passports and the ContactPoint Database.

•Outlaw the finger-printing of children at school without parental permission.

•Extend the scope of the Freedom of Information Act to provide greater transparency.

•Adopt the Scottish approach to stopping retention of innocent people's DNA on the DNA database.

•Defend trial by jury.

•Restore rights to non-violent protest.

•A review of libel laws to protect freedom of speech.

•Safeguards against the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation.

•Further regulation of CCTV.

•Ending of storage of internet and email records without good reason.

•A new mechanism to prevent the proliferation of unnecessary new criminal offences.