Call for Tories to 'come clean' on what they are really thinking

4.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 12th Apr 2005

Liberal Democrat candidates and activists will today mount a demonstration in front of one of the Conservatives latest campaign posters to highlight what they see as the Tories hidden agenda in this election.

The demonstration will take place outside the Tory poster 'It's time to put a limit on immigration' in Castle Station car park at 3.30pm today.

Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Northampton North Andrew Simpson said "These posters are making a lot of people very angry as they are simply pandering to prejudice and people's fears. We want the Conservatives to say why they are raising this issue and to clarify what they are really thinking about immigration. Immigration and asylum are complex issues but both the Tories and Labour are playing to people's fears about immigration instead of dispelling the myths.

Liberal Democrats believe the real failure is Labour's mismanagement of the asylum and immigration systems. We need an asylum system which processes people fairly and quickly. We need an immigration system which meets the needs of our economy.

• The Tories' policies are unprincipled and unworkable.

• Liberal Democrats would take asylum away from the Home Office and set up an independent agency to process claims. We would put in place an annual immigration quotas based on an independent assessment of economic needs, not on arbitrary political targets or the views of the tabloid press.

• Liberal Democrats would introduce a sector-based 'Green Card' scheme to run parallel to the mainstream work permit system. Individuals would be granted the right to reside and work in the UK for a fixed period, limited to working in sectors where there was a significant demand for labour.