Nick Clegg visits Bradford

1.58.33pm GMT Tue 26th Jan 2010

Nick Clegg Lib Dem Party Leader

We will be the party of fairness, says leader of Liberal Democrats at rally in Bradford

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg vowed to give power back to the people when he spoke to residents in Bradford on Thursday.

The politician gave a run down of his party's key policies to an audience of 100 people at Karmand Community Centre, in Barkerend.

He said,

"The city of Bradford has been taken for granted by Labour for too long. There is high unemployment and low social mobility.

"Bradford has a great big hole in the ground and there's a real feeling in Bradford that it has been let down. Our message is that we are the party of fairness and we plan to put money in the pockets of the people of Bradford."

He was asked about education, immigration, foreign affairs and quangos.

He promised a "bonfire of the quangos", giving people more say on how services are run and called for regional policies on immigration because some areas had greater need for an immigrant workforce than others. He also said that asylum seekers should be able to work while they were waiting for a decision.

When asked about faith schools he said: "Some of the best schools I know are faith schools. The only thing we need to watch out for is that they never become kind of silos of segregation but catalysts for integration."

He said banks should be more strictly regulated and promised to convert 250,000 empty properties into 'affordable houses' . However he did warn his party would have to make some public spending cuts.