article: In his closing speech, Mr Farron will say the NHS needs to be put on a sustainable footing to save it "lurching from crisis to crisis". He will also call for a merger of NHS and care services to ensure people "don't slip through the net". And on education, he is expected to pledge to abolish primary SATs. Mr Farron will also seek to put pressure on the government to spell out "what Brexit really means" and demand a new referendum on the terms of the final deal. Addressing party delegates in Brighton, on the final day of Lib Dem conference, Mr Farron will say more money is needed to put the health service on a sustainable footing and ensure that patients, now and in the future, can get the treatment and care "that they deserve". "We need to face the hard truth that the NHS needs more money - a lot more money - not just to stop it lurching from crisis to crisis but so that it can meet the needs and the challenges it will face in the years ahead," Mr Farron will say. The party has put together a panel of senior doctors and experts to examine the case for a "dedicated NHS and care tax". Mr Farron will tell conference: "If the only way to fund a health service that meets the needs of everyone is to raise taxes, Liberal Democrats will raise taxes." Tim Farron will seek to use his keynote conference speech to position the Lib Dems as the only alternative to the Conservatives. The Lib Dems are celebrating a surge in people joining the party. But that increase hides the huge task they face to rebuild their parliamentary representation at Westminster where they currently have eight MPs. The Lib Dem leader is expected to recall his own experiences battling for a better home for his grandfather, who had Alzheimer's, and call for a merger of NHS and care services. "We all deserve to know that, no matter what happens, we will be cared for properly and treated with dignity and respect," he will say. "It's not civilised to let people slip through the net." He will add: "If the great Liberal William Beveridge had written his blueprint today, when people are living to the ages they are now, there is no doubt that he would have proposed a National Health and Care Service. "So let's today decide to do what Beveridge would do. Let's create that National Health and Care Service." On education, the Lib Dem leader will say the current system is not focused on developing young people for later life but rather "on getting them through the wrong kinds of tests". He will say he wants schools to be places "where children are inspired to learn, not stressed out by tests". "So I want to end the current system of SATs in primary schools that are a distraction from the real education that professional teachers want to give their children; that weigh heavy on children as young as six and add nothing
summary: The Lib Dems are prepared to raise taxes to fund an NHS "that meets the needs of everyone", Tim Farron is to tell his party's annual conference.