Veronica Watkins Liberal Democrat IT is vital that people can put their trust in a government and know that it will listen to them and be honest and open about what it is doing. People deserve a government that tells the truth and keeps its promises.

Number one priority for Liberal Democrats is quality local public services: a good school and hospital near you.

As a parent, teacher and school governor, education is close to my heart. I believe that we should preserve popular and effective schools. The reasoned arguments put forward by parents when schools are threatened with closure must be fully considered.

We must trust local communities to make decisions about their local services.

Liberal Democrats would scrap tuition fees and top-up fees for students. Education should be based on a student's ability to learn - not their ability to pay. This is fair. In 2001 Labour said no top-up fees. They broke their promise - how can we trust them now?

The ability to live a healthy life is a fundamental freedom. Long waiting times for hospital treatment in Torfaen are unacceptable. We need immediate action to tackle this problem.

Some say you can judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable. There is no doubt that some of the poorest members of our community have been treated shoddily. Elderly people deserve the pensions they have earned. Liberal Democrats would abolish means testing for the over 75s, and increase pensions by £100 per month.

Older people deserve dignity. No one should be forced to sell their home to pay for care. Liberal Democrats would scrap the unfair charges for basic care.

Council tax is unfair. It hurts pensioners and those on low incomes hardest of all. Liberal Democrats would scrap council tax and replace it with a fair system based on people's ability to pay - not on the value of your home.

Crime is an issue which worries many people in Torfaen. Liberal Democrats will fund an extra 500 police officers in Wales. We can reduce paperwork and give police more time on the streets - detecting and preventing crime.

It is so important that we preserve our planet for future generations. All Liberal Democrat policies have a green dimension. We would ensure that the environment is genuinely at the heart of every part of government. The Welsh Liberal Democrats offer people in Torfaen a real alternative.