Liberal Democrats vow education boost

Nick Clegg is putting education at the centre of Lib Dem manifesto plans by promising an extra £2.5bn of spending on schools and colleges a year.

The plans would see the education budget for two to nineteen-year-olds in England rise to £55bn by the end of the parliament, protecting spending per pupil even as the number of children enrolled in classes increases.

The Lib Dem leader said: “The manifesto has one simple ambition and word at its heart: opportunity.

“It’s a very old, liberal idea, the idea that everybody should be able to live out their life to the full regardless of the circumstances of their birth, regardless of the income of their parents, regardless of where they come from.

“Education is the great liberator of people’s potential so we need to make sure we support the education system in the next parliament to give every boy and girl the chance to thrive.”