For someone who was effectively forced to leave the Liberal Democrats in 1996 I found the behaviour of the Party during the coalition heartbreaking at times.
Hearing Nick Clegg embracing social mobility and seeming to somehow equate it with liberty, equality and justice rang alarm bells in that first summer in 2010 but things then rapidly went downhill as far as this lifelong Liberal was concerned.
In 42 years of being regularly re-elected as a Councillor the one lesson I really have learnt is never, ever to make promises that you either cannot, or do not intend, to keep. Indeed it was the vociferous objections of my late husband Mike when Hereford and Worcester CC Lib Dem Group betrayed an election pledge not to privatise OAP Homes in 1995 that led to our leaving the Party in the first place so to see the totally unnecessary car crash over tuition fees was like a horrendous case of déjà vu.
When this was compounded by support for the “bedroom tax” I seriously began to wonder if there was anyone with “streetwise” experience offering advice. Although sitting as a Liberal Party Councillor I have been in a joint Group on Worcestershire CC with Liberal Democrat Cllrs. (most of whom were “twin hatted” since 2007 and I was frankly amazed when I found that none of them had been asked for their detailed advice as to the likely impact of the Bedroom Tax on Social Housing tenants and their landlords! Any experienced Cllr could tell you that:
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