"The Conservative Party has not changed since David Cameron became leader last December" - Campbell

4.41.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 18th Apr 2006

The Conservative Party remains "right wing and unpleasant" to its core, according to Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell. He also questioned whether the party had changed since David Cameron became leader last December.

Sir Menzies said Labour and the Tories were essentially "disputing about management" but the Liberal Democrats were "values and principles based". And, in a scathing attack on the Conservative leader, he went on: "Who drafted the Conservative manifesto of 2005? It was David Cameron. "And most people consider it to be one of the most right-wing, unpleasant documents since 1945 and I don't think the party has really changed. "At its core it is still right-wing and unpleasant."

The Lib Dem leader said his party offered "timeless values" that had "stood the test of time and critical judgment", in contrast to their main rivals. "I want our party to be the party of ideas and I want people to be willing and able to indulge in fresh thinking," he said.