We often fail to match our words with deeds, Campbell admits

Liberal Democrats often fail to match fine promises on decentralising power with effective action, Menzies Campbell, the party's foreign affairs spokesman, said last night.

Speaking at a fringe meeting on "Who are the Liberal Democrats for?" sponsored by The Independent, he called for a "freedom audit" for every policy the party produced to see whether it would help individuals to break free of the grip of the state. Mr Campbell said: "We argue too often for devolution from the centre but when it gets to the level where we think Liberal Democrats are properly organised and represented, then it stops."

He said the party was often "prescriptive, rather than permissive" and said: "In our zeal to do our best for our fellow citizens, we forget our liberal heritage." Suggesting how that could be rectified, he said: "We ought to have a 'freedom audit' every time we produce a piece of policy. It ought to be a requirement to say at the end whether it will enhance the freedom of the individual."

Mr Campbell also risked the wrath of animal rights activists by adding: "As a Liberal, I cannot find it in me to declare that fox hunting should be a criminal offence."

Simon Hughes, the Home Affairs spokesman, said the party had steadily expanded its reach from "being for the Celtic fringes ... to being much more for suburban England and subsequently being for urban England".

He said the party's instinctive supporters had an internationalist outlook, interest in the environment, enthusiasm for constitutional reform, lack of dogmatism on the economy, and belief in "liberty and human rights".