Lib Dem conference: Call to scrap Covid laws in pitch for Tory voters

The Liberal Democrats are calling for emergency coronavirus laws to be scrapped, as their party conference gets under way.

Leader Sir Ed Davey is stepping up efforts to woo Conservative voters following the party's shock by-election victory in Chesham and Amersham.

He will call for the Coronavirus Act to be repealed and restate Lib Dem opposition to vaccine passports.

The party is also focusing on education and climate during the four-day event.

The Lib Dems have fared poorly in recent general elections, winning only 11 seats in 2019 on 11.5% of the UK vote.

But June's by-election in Chesham and Amersham, Buckinghamshire, saw the party overturn a 16,000 Conservative majority - a result which surprised many pundits.

A source said the party's mood was "buoyant" and it would be going all out to target the Tories in their traditional southern heartlands.

Sir Ed told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We're going to make a pitch for the votes of parents who feel let down and taken for granted by the Conservatives.

"They worry about their kids, particularly after the pandemic. We're going to make a pitch for carers. I've been a carer most of my life. We should be the voice of carers."

He said the Lib Dems also wanted to be the party of small business and the self-employed, adding: "These are the people who feel the Conservatives are taking them for granted."

While the Tories and Labour are holding conferences in Manchester and Brighton, the Lib Dems' event will involve major speeches taking place in Canary Wharf, east London, with votes and most other contributions happening online.

In his speech on Friday, Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael called for the emergency Coronavirus Act to be scrapped entirely.

The party pointed to Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) figures, which showed all 292 cases brought under the act up to June 2021 were deemed to have been charged incorrectly.

Of these, 239 were subsequently withdrawn and 48 returned to the CPS.

Mr Carmichael said the powers under the act are "disproportionate, ill-considered and confusing".

"The overwhelming majority of the provisions have never been used and the few that have been used - such as the fast-track registration of medical professionals - are no longer needed."

Mr Carmichael also offered to work with Tory rebels to oppose vaccine passports if the government seeks to make them mandatory.

"Whatever challenges present themselves in the weeks and months to come we shall continue to take the fight to this government," he said.

"We will offer them an opposition rooted in liberal values and liberal principles."

Plans to make vaccine passports a requirement for entry into England's nightclubs have been dropped, but the government's "Plan B" for the winter states they could be made compulsory for a range of venues if there is a surge in Covid-19 cases which puts the NHS at risk.

In his speech on Sunday, Sir Ed will attempt to portray his party as a genuine alternative to Boris Johnson's Conservatives, especially in southern England.

Other issues on the Lib Dem conference agenda also include banning conversion therapy, reforming corporation tax, global carbon pricing and end-of-life care.