THE Liberal Democrats talked themselves up before next year's general election yesterday when the party's campaigns director claimed that it will make "significant gains."
Lord Rennard declared that the Lib Dems are in their best position since the early 1980s, are on track and will target Labour as well as Tory seats in the run-up to the 2005 poll.
The Tories are doing less well than they did under William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith while the Liberal Democrats are "doing better" under Charles Kennedy, he claimed.
The peer also argued that people no longer feel that they trust new Labour over issues like the Iraq war.
But Labour campaign spokesman Fraser Kemp MP warned that "people should be in no doubt.
"A vote for Charles Kennedy and the Liberal Democrats is a vote for Michael Howard."
And rattled Tory chairman Liam Fox accused Lord Rennard of "living in a fantasy land."
Given that, under former leader Paddy Ashdown, the Lib Dems had controlled half of all councils, it was, he said, "difficult to see how they're in their best position for 20 years."
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