SIR MENZIES CAMPBELL signalled a shift in strategy to target disaffected Labour voters yesterday as he made tackling poverty and inequality central themes of the Liberal Democrats’ message.

Taking votes and seats from Labour will now form the overwhelming thrust of the Lib Dems’ election planning as the party positions itself to gain from bitterness and divisions over Tony Blair’s departure plans.

A new policy report launched by Sir Menzies yesterday explicitly commits the Lib Dems to the principle of redistribution of wealth from the richest to the poorest citizens and to reversing social divisions and inequalities.

It argues that trends in the 1960s and 1970s, in which inequalities in wealth steadily narrowed, have now reversed, leading to a widening gap between the highest and lowest income groups and declining opportunities and social mobility.

The report was the product of a year-long policy review begun under Charles Kennedy in an attempt to spell out a “narrative” of what the Liberal Democrats stand for and the values and themes behind their individual policies.

First drafts produced when Mr Kennedy was still leader laid the chief emphasis on freedom of the individual as a core Lib Dem value.

But under Sir Menzies the review was refocused to make tackling poverty and unfairness core policy themes.

The document states: “A fair Britain is one where progressive national and local taxation, based on people’s ability to pay, redistributes money from the richest to the poorest. It has public services that work for everyone, not just the educated and well-off.”

It adds: “The pursuit of a more equal society, not as an end in itself but as a precondition of freedom, will be a major political goal for the Liberal Democrats in the approach to the next election and a major plank of our campaign.”

The new Lib Dem emphasis on poverty and social justice represents an obvious attempt to appeal to former Labour supporters in traditional inner city and working-class seats.

Some voters in these seats have felt neglected by Tony Blair’s strategy of targeting swing voters in marginal constituencies.

But it also reflects an attempt by the new generation of economically liberal Lib Dem MPs from the party’s so-called “Orange Book tendency” to distinguish themselves from Thatcherite free-marketeers and highlight a dimension of social policy that some admit they have failed adequately to set out.

In the general election last year about half of the Lib Dems’ target seats were held by Conservatives and half by Labour. But the party made a net loss of two seats to the Tories while making a series of gains in Labour areas.

Senior Lib Dems admit that they may lose a handful of seats to the Conservatives under David Cameron in the next general election, but believe these could be largely offset by gains from Labour.

Sir Menzies is also planning a big campaign emphasis on the Lib Dems’ proposals for a series of green taxes, notably on aircraft flights, as a means of fighting back against the Tories, who under Mr Cameron have made environmentalism a new priority.

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