The prime minister is in command of a "shop-soiled" government, Charles Kennedy told his party's conference yesterday.

The Liberal Democrat leader wound up his party's conference by launching a scathing attack on both Labour and the Conservatives.

"Our kind of politics is people focussed - first and foremost. It's no longer a question of people being disappointed with this government," he said.

Under Tony Blair the government's instinct is to "shroud itself in secrecy" he claimed.

"To act like the office of a president instead of as a collective Cabinet government held to account by the elected House of Commons," he said.

Kennedy had harsh words too for the Conservatives, labelling them as "a party of defeat and in retreat. In fact they're increasingly not a truly national political party anymore."