Author Archives: Mark Valladares

I guess that I was never going to evade COVID indefinitely, and thus Liberal Democrat Voice is brought to you from Day 4 of my home isolation. Luckily, I seem, so far, to have gotten off pretty lightly, and I can isolate in our home office, which has its compensations.

The past week has been a descent into fantasy politics, as five Conservative MPs vie to cut taxes, increase spending, level up and crack down, all at the same time. At least Nadhim Zahawi’s notion of cutting 20% of the headcount in all Government departments has bitten the dust, allowing him to spend time with his accountants. Given what is being suggested, he might need quite a lot of time with them…

But what is clear is that, between the five candidates that remain, there is little clue as to how government works, or how things interrelate. In the modern world, decision-making is made complex by international agreements, interaction between pieces of legislation and trade arrangements. And you can’t just go around abolishing statute without consequences. It’s not as though that message hasn’t been relayed to them. Previous attempts to “cut red tape” have faltered when it is discovered that the regulations were put in place for a good reason – customer protection, access to major trading markets, that sort of thing. So, you can cut the regulation on cooked meats, for example, but the producers may then find they can’t sell it into their major export markets. Effectively, they are bound by the regulations of their export markets.

And, just like that, the world changed. Not, I hasten to note, necessarily for the better, especially given the theatre of the grotesque that is the Conservative leadership contest.

But the level of vitriol with which the various contenders seem determined to vent upon each other can only be helpful to Liberal Democrat candidates in the short term, even as it damages the country still further. And all the popcorn in the world doesn’t compensate for the damage that will be done to those already struggling to get by if government spending is squeezed in order to allow tax cuts for business and the wealthy.

Of course, whoever does finally emerge as the anointed one will be inheriting a rather gruesome legacy after three years of chaos in Number 10. Inflation approaching double figures, growth non-existent, debt servicing costs increasing, and no signs of an answer to the long-term problems facing the country, unless being unpleasant towards the trans community is meant to take our minds off of it all. Perhaps the move towards tax cuts and culture wars is just a pretence intended to win the contest, but I doubt it – these people think that this is a vote-winning strategy beyond that somewhat unrepresentative Party membership.

Good morning, gentle readers, as another lively week begins, albeit curiously similar to many recently. A Government mired in sleaze, now reduced to being teased by the Chinese diplomatic corps, caught between multiple political rocks.

You can entirely understand why the Prime Minister would have initially backed his mate when accusations of sexual misconduct emerged. After all, when your own personal record is so poor, you’re hardly in a position to take the moral high ground. But the notion that the Deputy Chief Whip of the governing party requires a minder to keep them out of trouble does make you wonder what sort of behaviour is sufficient to set you beyond the pale.

211-148 does not make for a secure mandate, especially given the scale of the payroll vote. But, at least for the time being, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson continues as Prime Minister.

Liberal Democrat President Mark Pack probably best sums up the outcome from a Liberal Democrat perspective;

Conservative Party deeply split, PM damaged but limping on and a clutch of quotes heading into opposition leaflets all around the country. Not a bad day for opposition parties.

— Mark Pack 🔶 (@markpack) June 6, 2022

Deputy Leader, Daisy Cooper, expresses what many will be thinking;

A whopping 41% of Johnson’s own Conservative MPs don’t want him as PM anymore. He might still be in place – for now – but he is sorely wounded & weakened. #NoConfidenceVote

— Daisy Cooper MP 🔶 (@libdemdaisy) June 6, 2022

Tim Farron makes the point that Boris doesn’t believe in the same rules that the rest of us do;

A person with a sense of shame would see 41% of his colleagues voting against them as a sign that it’s time to leave… but he’s no sense of shame so I reckon Johnson will be encouraged by this and see the result as licence to keep going.

— Tim Farron (@timfarron) June 6, 2022

Every Conservative MP who cares about integrity and decency must do the right thing, resign the whip and sit as an independent.

For the sake of our country, this failing Prime Minister cannot be propped up any longer

— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) June 6, 2022

OUCH. Terrible result for the PM.

But he's shameless. He'll limp on, while the country suffers.#BorisJohnsonMustResign

— Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 (@munirawilson) June 6, 2022

But whilst there is almost certainly political advantage to be had, the country will continue to suffer under his chaotic, dishonest leadership. Anyone who believes in good …

Well, that didn’t take long…

This has been sent to Conservative MPs in the last few minutes: https://t.co/CeXlVIVZBl pic.twitter.com/mkJvELGmY8

— Chris Mason (@ChrisMasonBBC) June 6, 2022

So, what is a good result for Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, how much of a margin does he need to feel safe? And what does it mean for the Opposition parties?

Here’s what Ed Davey has to say;

Every Conservative MP must do the right thing and kick out this dishonest Prime Minister from Number 10.

There is simply no excuse for backing Boris Johnson. He broke the law and partied while millions of people did the right thing and followed the rules during the pandemic, even when it meant being unable to see their loved ones.

…

Not much tends to happen here on a Bank Holiday, which makes the job of a Day Editor a mite easier. And then the Queen has a platinum jubilee and the usual schedule gets disrupted…

And I ought to wish Her Majesty the very best on her big day – it really is remarkable that she has reigned for seventy years, demonstrating her sense of duty and adherence to a code of behaviour and decorum alien to her Prime Minister. She’ll be a difficult act to follow and I do wonder what role a new monarch will have in a post-Elizabethan age.

Mind you, you have to wonder what will be left of ethical governance by the time Johnson has left office. The Gray Report hardly demonstrated any sense of adherence to a moral or ethical code and the reports that, far from being a true reflection of events, it was doctored in order to prevent exposure of the failings and misdeeds of key players at the heart of this administration, suggests that there is no level to which they will not stoop.

I spent part of my weekend in strangely familiar territory, with leaflets in hand. Honiton feels a bit like Stowmarket, my neighbouring town here in mid-Suffolk. For, whilst the surrounding countryside is agricultural, the town itself is not obviously prosperous – we’re not talking “touristy” here. Indeed, a bit like mid-Suffolk, any tourists are likely to heading onwards.

And, whilst the Guardian has discovered that a campaign has already broken out – really, guys, was that a surprise? – Liberal Democrat social media is abuzz with people either in Tiverton and Honiton or working out how to get there and when.

I’m on my way back from an event at the University of Bradford, which might explain today’s very slow start today. And, for those of you who know Bradford, you’ll have recognised the picture. For those of you who don’t, the statue of J B Priestly stands in front of the National Science and Media Museum.

Universities have suffered rather badly under recent Conservative administrations. Brexit has impacted on students coming here via the Erasmus programme, and research has been impacted by arguments over our participation in the Horizon 2020 programme. Throw in the impact of culture warriors with blue rosettes, and it’s been difficult to balance budgets and attract talent from beyond our shores.

It is sometimes hard to appreciate just how broken our politics is. With a Government determined to remove or destroy all of the guard rails that protect us – independent supervision of our elections, an unbiased state broadcaster, limits on campaign spending that prevent the wealthy from buying their way to power – and seemingly able to lie without restraint or conscience about anything and everything, it is perhaps unsurprising that they seem capable of defying what we traditionally thought of as political gravity.

It is as though Wilkins Micawber was not only justified in his belief that “something would come along” but that it always did.

And now, a war somewhere far enough away to not risk our direct involvement but close enough to justify an effort to look relevant has come along just when the Conservative Party was breaking into mutually hostile factions over the lies and evasions of the Prime Minister over events at 10 Downing Street. It is an excuse to persuade us that a man who has had more chances than an English slip cordon puts down in an average year should be given another.