More than £43 million would be given to Bradford’s education chiefs to help the poorest children under plans outlined in the Lib Dem manifesto.

Leader Nick Clegg pledged to provide a “fair start for all children” by cutting class sizes, reforming the curriculum and revamping qualifications.

His education centrepiece was a plan for a £2.5 billion “pupil premium” – which is designed to provide about £2,500 in additional funding for each secondary pupil on free school meals – which would add £43.7m extra annual investment in Bradford.

The money would follow pupils around and could be used for cutting class sizes, one-to-one tuition or after- school activities.

Mr Clegg also wants an extra 3,000 police officers employed, with 110 being recruited in West Yorkshire. There would be fewer short-term prison sentences and a “presumption against” jail terms of less than six months, with “rigorously enforced” community sentences favoured.

A Lib Dem government would focus on treatment rather than imprisonment of drug addicts.

The manifesto was built around one word – fairness – and its four steps to a fairer Britain were fair taxes, a fair chance for every child, a fair future and a fair deal, Mr Clegg said.

He accused Labour and the Tories of conspiring to airbrush the recession out of the election and said he was the only party leader who could be honest with the country about measures needed to restore the health of public finances.

Included in the plans were a £700 tax boost for people by raising the National Insurance threshold to £10,000. Costing £17 billion, it would be paid for by raising Capital Gains Tax, cutting pensions relief for high earners, increasing aviation taxes and by a mansion tax on properties valued at more than £2 million.

Child trust finds, tax credits and winter fuel payments to pensioners would all be reduced. ID cards would also be scrapped and innocent people removed from the DNA database.

The Liberal Democrats said they would separate the Post Office from the Royal Mail with Post Office Ltd retained in full public ownership, while 49 per cent of the Royal Mail would be sold to create funds for investment.

Ownership of the other 51 per cent would be divided between an employee trust and the Government.