LIB-DEMS ARE THE PARTY FOR RURAL MATTERS

2.34.39pm GMT Mon 1st Mar 2010

Thousands of low-paid workers in the Westcountry would be better off under a Liberal Democrat government, Vince Cable, the party's economics spokesman, is to tell an audience in Cornwall today.

Mr Cable joined forces with party campaigners in the region this weekend ahead of the General Election, widely expected in May.

After door-stepping in Redruth on Saturday and meeting local people in Bodmin yesterday, the MP for Twickenham will today use a speech to Westcountry business leaders and countryside campaigners to outline why the party understands rural life.

In acknowledgement of the region's low-wage economy, he is likely to heavily promote tax plans that would mean 20,000 Cornish workers who earn less than £10,000 a year would no longer pay any income tax.

He is expected to add that workers who earn more than £10,000 a year will stand to gain £700 a year under Lib-Dem plans.

Mr Cable, widely praised for his proclamations on the recession, will appeal to voters at the coalface of the Westcountry economy by promising to fight for a "fair deal" for farmers, fishermen and tourism businesses.

He is likely to underline the fact that as the Lib-Dems boast a parliamentary presence from the Scottish Highlands and the uplands of Mid-Wales through to Cornwall, it has the wherewithal to safeguard rural communities and their services.

Elements of this article by Graeme Demianyk appeared in today's Western Morning News