Ready When You Are, Mr Brown - Brent Lib Dems

5.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 8th Oct 2007

Only Sarah Teather or the Labour party can win in Brent

Local Liberal Democrats in Brent are ready and prepared for a General Election whenever it comes. Prime Minister Gordon Brown had been considering calling a General Election this October, but has now been forced into an embarrassing climbdown.

Popular local Brent MP Sarah Teather has already declared her intention to stand for the newly created constituency of Brent Central. Liberal Democrats in Brent were also buoyed by the prospect of entering a General Election campaign on the back of the Stonebridge by-election, which saw a 9% swing from Labour and a 15% swing from the Conservatives.

Brent's Labour MPs have backed Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's Government on virtually every major issue, including health, education, and Iraq. Brent Labour have also been rocked by Councillor Bertha Joseph defecting after 21 years as a Labour Councillor. This followed news that Mohammad Zakriya a former Labour Councillor had joined the Liberal Democrats earlier in the year.

Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East Sarah Teather said:

"Gordon Brown has lost his nerve. He has been acting in the interests of the Labour Party and not in the interests of the country.

"We want to see a clear change in policy towards Iraq, not more photo shoots, spin and evasion. Our brave men and women have done all they can in Iraq and it is time to bring them home.

"The Government should introduce fixed term parliaments to avoid the kind of debacle we have seen from the Labour party over the past few weeks.

"The Liberal Democrats in Brent are rightly proud of their record of campaigning to save local Post Offices, fair funding for Brent's schools and our fight for more police here in Brent. Whenever Mr Brown is ready then so are we."

Sarah Teather's Election Agent Peter Hannon said:

"In recent by-elections voters have been turning away from both Labour and the Conservatives in their hundreds. People are really responding to Sarah Teather's positive campaign for change in Brent.

"The Stonebridge by-election showed that the Liberal Democrats are the only challengers to Labour in Brent. Local Liberal Democrats will be ready for a General Election whenever it comes."