Lib Dems sleaze‏

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/join-cleggs-leaders-club-ndash-for-16325000-annual-fee-2269225.html

the Lib Dems are a proper governing party now, they even have their own sleaze.
If this was really about debate and all high minded things like that they wouldn't be auctioning off access to the highest bidders. It's not exactly cheap. So only the rich's voices should be heard?

Clegg defiant despite Lib Dems' slump in Barnsley poll‏

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12645090


I personally think this line is hurting rather than helping Clegg:
""In government, nationally, we will continue to do what I think is absolutely vital for the long-term benefit of the country. Namely sort the economic mess we inherited from Labour for the long-term benefit of Britain.""

Lib Dem activists target Nick Clegg over tuition fees‏

But they added: "There is one thing that sets the Liberal Democrats apart from other political parties; this is that when we say we will do something during election campaigns we then do it in government."

I must admit a certain amount of pleasure to see their holier-than-though attitude come back to bite them in the arse. Of course, the above statement is made a lot easier by not being in government, which they did expect to be


Mr Clegg said last week that he "massively regrets" being in a position where he cannot deliver on his election promise. However, he told the BBC that more Lib Dems were becoming "comfortable" with the policy as they studied the details.

Every time he opens his mouth he says something terrible, so let's hear more Mr Clegg. It must be something to do with spending all that time with Tories. He'll say something about breeding next.

Labour to stage Commons debate on tuition fees on Tuesday

I'm really not happy with the hanging an effigy thing. Also, there's a good point about the debate uniting the disparate government

terms of debate

if this is true, and it does seem close to the mark at least, it's very sad. i wrote recently about Ed Miliband being called Red Ed and stupid that is, well:
"Why cannot the Business Secretary seek to address a lightly regulated market, or at least question the merits of unfettered capitalism? The acceptable debate has leapt from concerns about banks and the short-term recklessness of some businesses to one about the inefficiencies of the public sector. Savings in the public sector can and should be made, but surely it must be possible for public figures to highlight other issues without being portrayed as revolutionary Marxists.

Yet the younger Miliband has been christened "Red Ed" for daring to argue that the state has a role in regulating markets, and Cable is called a Marxist. Both are compared to Tony Benn for veering a millimetre away from Cameron/Blairite orthodoxy. It seems that the acceptable perimeters of debate in Britain are very narrow. The wacky reaction to Cable reminds me of a brilliant lecture that Gordon Brown delivered in 2003 in which he argued that while markets worked in most spheres, there were limits in one or two areas. The lecture was widely dismissed as a disastrous return to Old Labour."

blogger startled as internet comment post is found to be sensible and balanced

wow.
"

I wouldn't want to be Clegg. He finds himself wielding power with no mandate for it, which tends to slaughter his own sacred cows of electoral reform. If he chooses to prop up the Tories with just over a third of the vote, not only would the same principle be compromised, but he'd forever taint the Libdems as closet rightwingers who helped the hated Tories gain power after gaining tactical votes from those who wanted to keep them out.

If he worked with Labour, the democratic principle is once again compromised, but at least his progressive credentials remain intact, and he retains the possibility of future support from progressives. This might be his better option of the two, siince he could reasonably claim that the progressive vote outweighed the Conservative one, and that's what shaped his decision.

Realistically, he might be better refusing to work with either side. Whichever side he props up has no mandate, and he'll share in their fragility and in all likelihood get the public order of the boot next time around, along with the losing side he assisted."

good work that poster. think i need a lay down

Liberal Democrats: Are they nothing to do with 'old' politics? | Politics | guardian.co.uk‏

It's a sad indictment that people fall for that bollocks. The Lib Dems are as much part of the picture as the other two, and all this 'change' bollocks is so empty it hurts

General Election Possibilities

oh hope, a cruel mistress indeed.
what if Labour's vote holds up, the pressure on the Tories sticks and the Lib Dems revival continues. Polling day comes, and with the pressure on Cameron, the Lib Dems overtake the Tories as the second party in a hung parliament. oh if only

Why I'm backing the Lib Dems | John Kampfner | Comment is free | The Guardian‏

Yeah yeah yeah, blah blah blah.
The Lib Dems have moved significantly to the right under Clegg, their stupid and patronising attempts to get young people in board, and the Clegg-ite obsession with sound bites means they're far more the children of New Labour than the author wants to realise. And what he doesn't want to realise, he won't.
Labour is the party of the left, in part because Labour is the party than can get into office and get things done. It's easy for the Lib Dems to make promises, they're never doing to be tested on them in office. In this case, I believe in getting your hands dirty trying to change things from the inside rather than carping from the sidelines and maintaining your purity

Liberal Democrats not anti-banker party, says Cable‏

Some good proposals in there. I hope he hasn't been branded as anti-bank or anti-banker as that would be a stupid oversimplification. Means there will probably be quite a few blogs claiming that, the internet seems to overflow with idiots. What do you mean like me?! bastards

Nick Clegg's 2 years

over all, a very decent and thoughtful assessment.
I think the problem in part based on Clegg's attempt at personality politics. His take is to be angry but vacious, using some very strong soundbites but little substance. This is not helped by trying to take ground from the main parties by trying to claim to be the 'true' voice of both, rather than staking his parties' own place in the political centre

Lib Dems urge 10% bank profit tax

"Banks should pay a new 10% tax on their profits in return for the support they received from the taxpayer, according to the Liberal Democrats."

Cool, let's have some of that.
"The tax would raise some £2bn a year".
Yeah, i'm in.
Capital flight? Bugger em.

Question Time

Got to really ain't ya?
I thought Straw and Warsi had a good debate about immigration, but overall none of them really tackled a big issue, which is that people buy the myth that English people have been made into second-class citizens.
The BNP thrive on the idea of a conspiracy, that X, Y and Z are conspiring against X, Y, and Z (the indigenous British in this case).
It's a shame that immigration is not tackled and then it takes the BNP getting 1 million votes before it enters mainstream debate, and then most of the show is about it.
Griffin showed himself as a far-right nasty-man who relies on the idea of this conspiracy, but the issues which force people into his grubby paws were not properly addressed. Straw tried, and I thought did pretty well all night, but didn't make the case forcefully enough. People need to know that it's ok to feel proud to be British without being labelled racist, which is something the Tories have traditionally done far better than Labour. Due, I think, to our more bleeding heart liberal wing (including me to some extent).
Griffin's a right winger, so I don't like him. But if enough people shun pride in their origins (e.g. being British), there is a vacuum created into which the likes of Griffin step.

TV debate

Apparently the TV debates might be off due to squabbling.
Gordy wants one thing,
Cameron wants another.
Whole thing might not happen.
"After only a few weeks of negotiations, David Cameron has rejected the idea of a series of debates between all three party leaders"
Cameron threw his toys out of the pram perhaps?

"Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats are accusing the Tory leader of "backing down" after months of calling for a television debate. "
Who's dithered and bottled it now eh?

"both Labour and the Lib Dems are pressing for a separate debate between the Chancellor Alistair Darling, the shadow chancellor George Osborne and the Lib Dem treasury spokesman Vince Cable, as well as a foreign policy debate between the Foreign Secretary and opposition foreign affairs spokesman. "
Seems like everyone wants to only do the one they think will highlight their strengths. Will it ever get off the ground? Maybe, maybe not.

Nick Clegg and Lib Dem policies

I'm getting really annoyed at Nick Clegg. He seems to be about nothing but really aggressive, negative soundbites. For example:
Clegg rounds on 'conman Cameron'
Nick Clegg is to turn his fire on David Cameron by labelling him the "conman of British politics".

"Mr Clegg called the VAT cut "pointless""
"The government's shamefully inadequate response allows young people to fester on benefits for almost a year before offering real help, while the Tories are typically silent on what they would do."

"He called Labour a "spent force" and the Tories "ideologically barren". "



they have a conference coming up and Vince Cable calling for measures which "include scrapping Trident nuclear submarines and other big defence projects like tranche three of the Eurofighter aircraft - although they are not yet party policy."
Good. The Eurofighter is a nightmare and we should get out of that. It's out of date and not important now.

Now I do like this:
"But the party, which meets this weekend in Bournemouth for the start of their annual conference, say they want to cut income tax paid by most workers by £700 a year through higher taxes on big business and the wealthy."

Good old Vince:
"But he also backed the government's argument - disputed by the Conservatives - that cutting spending immediately could put any economic recovery at risk.

"Contracting government spending and increasing taxation at this moment in time runs the risk of getting us into an even deeper recession". "

Lib Dems Tax and spend

Lib Dems:
raise a tax, spend it on education and training.
Cool, let's have some of that.
i agree with them that unemployment, especially youth unemployment, needs to be the main priority.

Lib Dems = funny

In response to the Lib Dem's thing for women, I remember reading some Lib Dem campaign literature for students, going on about their welfare plans being Well Fair. Pretty much the same level eh?

Apparently: "For what its worth, a quick skim through the content of the paper reveals that its not really a policy paper, as such, its more a loose and, in some places, fairly generic, collection of sound-bites, ideas and proposals which, taken together, set out what I suppose will be the Lib Dems sales pitch to female voters at the upcoming General Election"

Nice one on the men’s version, very amusing.

I personally think everything (men, women) should be included in one place. Not keen on a seperate Woman’s issue. But that’s the way that advertising is going, and politicians love to follow advertising trends