The European elections in June will be the first fought under the lash of recession. MEPs will campaign on issues like the environment, justice and foreign affairs, but the economy tops the list of citizens concerns. The parties that are seen to have the best solutions will prosper at the polls. EU liberal democrats must rise to that challenge collectively - and within our own member states too

At a liberal rally on 24 April, Watson said that Britain was 'Europe's critical friend' (Image: ©European parliament) by --> The first thing we must do is be very clear about where responsibility lies. Our opponents like to band about the word `liberal' when apportioning blame for the financial crisis. This is utterly unfair, and must not go unchallenged. Extreme laissez faire economics and a refusal to ensure transparency in the financial sector are not the hallmarks of liberal democrats: they are policies traditionally favoured by the right, and adopted by a left which had no workable alternative of its own. Looking at the names of those politicians most associated with the extravagance of the last decade - former US president George Bush, and former and current UK prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown prominent among them - it is clear that the boom and bust we have experienced has been at the hands of those who blanche at the very word liberal. Liberal democrats must show that rather than cause the crisis, we have the policies that will keep the recession as short and shallow as possible and put in place a framework designed to prevent it happening again. How?