Author Archives: Simon Hebditch

Opinion: Creating a new Alliance

There has always been a need to blend parliamentary, representative politics with the social activism of extra parliamentary movements. Recent examples of informal action outside the confines of the parliamentary system include UK Uncut on companies avoiding corporation tax and the Occupy movement. Liberal Democrats and their antecedents have an honourable history of involvement in single issue campaigns and community movements.

Indeed, it can be argued that “community politics” grew out of the widespread social campaigning movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Given this history you would expect Liberal Democrats to be at the forefront of such campaigning today but we …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 38 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Iain Donaldson
    Matt, I think my article actually agrees with parts of what you are saying. In particular, I accept that housing policy operates over long timescales and that l...
  • Mohamed BENALIA
    A thought-provoking article. The debate over greyhound racing raises important questions about animal welfare, public opinion, and how traditions should evolve...
  • Caracatus
    My theory is that the new divide in politics in not left vs right, not libertarian vs authoritarian but between people who see the value of collective action an...
  • Caracatus
    I am stunned by the hostility to the green party which indicate to me that Lib Dems just don't get it. Bristol is mentioned, a City where the Lib Dems had 38 c...
  • Matt Wardman
    I think Iain makes an interesting challenge, but we are not in a position to judge Labour nationally. 1 - We cannot expect to see "change" work through in le...