Chris Huhne

Our political system needs radical change if politicians are to win back the trust of voters. It is not enough just to introduce new limits on MPs’ expenses without tackling the root cause of the problem: safe seats. More than a third of the parliamentary seats have never changed hands since the last world war, which means that they are so safe that MPs have a job for life – and put their fingers in the till.

Almost all the worst examples of MPs’ expense claims – moat-cleaning, duck palaces and non-existent mortgages – were in safe seats where the voters could not discipline the MP. That’s why it is so important that voters can choose not just the party, but also the person at each election. With three to five MPs for each bigger constituency, we will ensure that voters can choose honest, hard-working MPs of whatever party.

Labour’s plan to keep single-member constituencies would leave the party still choosing the candidates. The only way to discipline a bad MP will be to change party, not just person. That is why the proposal just to change x-voting to one-two-three voting is such a small change. It will just allow voters to vote for their first choice knowing that if that choice cannot win, their vote will transfer to another candidate. It will not be wasted.

We need bigger changes elsewhere in the political system too. The whips have too much power in the Commons: MPs need to take back control over Commons business and properly hold the Government to account.

It is also crazy that we still have hereditary Lords making laws. No-one would go to a hereditary dentist or doctor, so why a hereditary law-maker? We need an elected House of Lords, tough rules allowing voters to recall badly behaved law-makers, and a written constitution that sets out the rights and responsibilities of everyone.

After years of Labour cuts in hard-won freedoms – like jury trials, the right to protest, freedom of speech, and knowing of what you are accused –Liberal Democrats will legislate for a Freedom Bill that will scrap ID cards, limit the DNA database to those convicted of crime, put tough limits on snooping and the surveillance society, and re-establish our traditional liberties.