Category Archives: Op-eds

John Marriott

One particular “fear” could decide the result of the EU Referendum

By John Marriott | Fri 4th March 2016 - 10:55 am

BMW writes to its UK employees highlighting the dangers of Brexit. A French minister threatens to wave through migrants at Calais en route to Dover and to roll out the red carpet to welcome financial services to his country if we leave. Boris and others say none of this will happen. Great Britain still is great. From his residence across the Channel Lord Nigel Lawson tells us not to worry. The EU needs us more than we need them. Confused? I bet many people are.

Like Lord William Hague, I’m an EU pragmatist. Better inside the tent etc. Unlike our former leader I don’t think that the EU will be ‘about the same’ in ten years’ time. The remarks from Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, following last week’s summit were very apposite. The ‘negotiations’ undertaken by David Cameron, while casually dismissed as ‘thin gruel’ by Eurosceptics like Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, have whetted the appetite of many recent, and not so recent arrivals in the EU for a fundamental change of direction for a project that started life in the aftermath of WW2 when many parts of the world were on their uppers and the numbers of nations actually making things was a shadow of what exists today.

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David Buxton

Our failure to improve diversity has driven people away

By David Buxton | Fri 4th March 2016 - 9:26 am

Should I support the diversity motion at the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in York next week? My initial reaction is, yes, this is right, but it will be a hard decision to support something that will probably hurt many within the party.

I suspect some will argue the motion is not legal. I remember at conference many years ago when an all women shortlist motion was debated and lost. I saw highly respected women speaking against the motion because they believed local party members should choose the right candidate based on skills and experience. It seems things haven’t changed and we are still a long way from being a truly diverse party.

On a personal level, I had very high hopes for a good friend who is black, a very experienced community campaigner and politician and a strong supporter of diverse communities. However he was not selected in spite of having lived in the area for some time. It is people like him who have the potential to be a future leader who are not being given a chance. They selected a candidate who barely knew the area.

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Paul Walter

We have a moral duty to welcome people fleeing to Europe

By Paul Walter | Thu 3rd March 2016 - 5:25 pm

I’m catching up on telly. Last night I watched the first episode of Simon Reeve’s Greece series. It was a corker. You can see it on BBC iPlayer for a further 6 days.

I’m quite a fan of Simon Reeve. He’s evolved from being a sort of back-packing TV reporter into an intelligent and compassionate observer of the world. His programmes are part-light travelogue, part-incisive documentary.

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Caron Lindsay

Belinda Brooks-Gordon on Today talking about making sex work safer

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 3rd March 2016 - 12:57 pm

Belinda BG at BBCDr Belinda Brooks-Gordon, who led on the development of our policy on sex work, was on the Today programme this morning debating whether managed zones for sex workers are effective. She cited huge amounts of evidence which suggests that they are. The retired police officer was pretty aggressive in the way he made his points and was really patronising to Belinda who has done so much academic research in this field.

The police officer said that we should be looking to eliminate rather than enable sex work. Belinda cited how this makes life much more difficult and dangerous for sex workers with actual examples. The occupant of the blue Police Box would have given a much more sensible answer, I’m sure.

You can listen to the debate here at about 2:31 in.

Belinda referred to a paper she had given at the British Psychological Society about the effects of the then Government’s action to crack down on sex work. You can read that paper by clicking here

You can read a letter signed by Belinda and other academics,arguing against the so-called Nordic Model, which

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Caron Lindsay

SNP’s Council Tax reform: timid, unfair and ill-thought through

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 3rd March 2016 - 11:34 am

Back in December, the Local Tax Commission in Scotland published its report which looked at various ways of raising local taxes. Political parties were urged to bring forward their own proposals. Scottish Conference had a consultation on a well-researched and thorough document. An indicative vote at the end favoured a progressive, fair property and land based tax, which, if formally adopted, would replace our proposal for a local income tax.

The basic principles that you would expect from a local tax is that it’s fair, progressive and takes into account the ability to pay. I have to say I’m not entirely sold on the idea of a property tax, although I can see the arguments for taxing property as opposed to income.  The proposals outlined in the Scottish Lib Dems’ policy document do mean that those in the least valuable properties paying significantly less.

The SNP announced their preferred solution yesterday. They have the choice of so many new powers and all they did was tinker at the edges, putting up the rate for the four highest bands.  Is this really the best they can come up with, embedding the inherent unfairness of the Council Tax yet further?

Let’s look at my street as an example. Under the SNP’s plan, a professional couple in a band D house earning two substantial incomes would pay no more yet a family in a slightly larger property up the street with one worker on a much lower income would pay more. That doesn’t make sense. There has to be a way to deal with that sort of anomaly.

Secondly, the Council Tax is based on property values that, by 2021, will be 30 years old. This is not the fundamental reform that the SNP promised. 

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Joan Walmsley

Joan Walmsley writes…Planning for a healthy future

By Joan Walmsley | Thu 3rd March 2016 - 9:16 am

Hooray for Sir Simon Stevens, Head of NHS England, for putting into practice what I was proposing at last year’s Party Conference! In my keynote speech I maintained that the NHS cannot tackle the country’s current and future health problems by itself and we need a “whole government” approach. The Department of Health must be supported by policies from the Department of Communities and Local Government, the Department of Education, the Department of Transport, The Department of Culture, Media and Sport and, of course, local authorities, since it will not be able to tackle the increasing demand for healthcare by itself. Prevention of avoidable illnesses should be the responsibility of every Government department.

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Tad Jones

More carrot, less stick in improving diversity

By Tad Jones | Wed 2nd March 2016 - 1:45 pm

I’m generally supportive of the diversity motion introducing all women shortlists (AWS) at the next federal conference in York, (this argument is particularly persuasive), but will AWS permanently solve the problem of our party being too male and pale? If the proposals are passed and are successful, we might look in the Westminster bubble like we have addressed the gender disparity, however, as a party that relies on its local activists and councillors we ought to embed this cultural change more broadly. As Mark Pack has pointed out, we don’t have enough women councillors, council candidates and local party officers (all about a third of total). And, as noted in one of the reports to conference, the percentage of female approved candidates is 27%.

The motion doesn’t address this except to say-

Conference acknowledges that: 

d) Proposals will be coming forward on wider party diversity, including in party structures and local government, as part of the Federal Executive-led Governance Review to the Autumn Federal Conference

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Elizabeth Adams

How West Midlands pastoral care initiative hopes to change the party’s culture

By Elizabeth Adams | Wed 2nd March 2016 - 12:23 pm

West Midlands pastoral careDiversity is in the spotlight ahead of Spring Conference in York and there are many discussions taking place around the best way to get progress in the party. Much of the focus is on the party’s representative bodies and selection processes. However, we need to remember the culture changes and improvement still needed at grassroots level.

With the passion that our members and supporters show for campaigning and democracy, it is easy, at an organisational level, to forget a crucial fact. Our party must also be passionate about people. About recruiting them, investing in them and taking care of their wellbeing.

Just a few years ago the party was headed for calamity with regard to recruitment. This was turned around by reforming how membership recruitment should be fundamental to campaigning. Those who led the charge to change attitudes and implement structural incentives, should be congratulated. We can all see the difference and the morale boost that this has given to everyone.

Now it is time to do the same with the latter two actions.

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NewsHound

Greg Mulholland wins award from road safety charity

By NewsHound | Wed 2nd March 2016 - 9:15 am

Greg MulhollandLeeds North West MP Greg Mulholland has won the charity Brake’s Parliamentarian of the Year Award for his campaign for justice for victims of criminal driving.

From the Yorkshire Post:

Mr Mulholland said: “I am very honoured to have been named Brake’s Parliamentarian of the Year. For many years now, I have worked with Brake and its fantastic staff, who have been very supportive of my campaign to get better justice for victims and families of criminal driving.

“It has also been a real pleasure to have worked with families and campaigners determined to get that justice. This award represents the work that we have all done together, and no doubt we will continue campaigning until we get the changes that we need to see. Until we get there, I look forward to continuing to work with Brake, so a huge thank you for this award.”

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Baroness Cathy Bakewell

6 things we’re fighting for on the Housing Bill

By Baroness Cathy Bakewell | Tue 1st March 2016 - 6:31 pm

The housing crisis is going from bad to worse in many parts of the country. Action is desperately needed to make housing more affordable for people. We need to ensure we have enough homes in the right places, and that homes are sustainable and decent quality for people to live in.

Terraced housing

I am leading a large team of Lib Dem peers who are fighting hard to amend the Housing and Planning Bill. We have serious concerns that the Bill will make things worse for people in need of affordable housing, will lead to an increase in homelessness, and will drive up the housing benefit bill.

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Joe Otten

Free movement in the EU and control of our borders

By Joe Otten | Tue 1st March 2016 - 4:43 pm

One or two very welcome guests below the line at Liberal Democrat Voice have challenged us to talk more about immigration in the context of the EU referendum. Because people want the UK to “take back control of our borders”. So here we are.

Of course we do have control of our borders. We are not part of Schengen, and there is nothing they could do to make us join. We have our own immigration policy, subject, as with all policy, to treaty obligations. The specific treaty obligation of interest here is the provision in the Treaty of Rome to …

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Mary Reid

Rare diseases are not so rare, but are rarely well-researched

By Mary Reid | Tue 1st March 2016 - 1:52 pm

rare-disease-day-logoYesterday was Rare Disease Day, although I missed the opportunity to write about it here. It does happen every year, in spite of it being on Leap Day this time.

But the report today that linked the Zika virus to an increased risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome has brought rare diseases back into the limelight. Rare diseases and disorders are defined as those which affect fewer than 1 in 2000 people, and there are over 6000 conditions that qualify.

And, counter-intuitively, a lot of people do suffer from rare diseases, just because there are so many of them. It is estimated that 3.5 million people in the UK have a rare disease, and half of them are children.

Eric Avebury was a great champion of rare diseases, and I enjoyed some stimulating email conversations with him about it after he wrote this post. He suffered, and eventually died from, a rare form of leukemia, which must have sparked his interest in rare diseases, although he was such a wonderful campaigner for all sorts of minority issues, from caste to gay asylum seekers.

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Katy Gordon

Scottish Liberal Democrats set radical new tone for a modern, diverse Liberal Party

By Katy Gordon | Tue 1st March 2016 - 9:59 am

I’ve been worried for weeks about how the vote would go on our crucial Diversity motion at Scottish conference on Saturday. I’ve spent the past 4 years as Convener of Scottish Women Liberal Democrats and Convener of Campaigns & Candidates (Scotland) driving forward all the measures we say as a party should ensure we get equal numbers of women elected to men: talent spotting, encouraging, running targeted training sessions, mentoring and supporting women across the party to get selected and elected.

Just like at Westminster now, we had an opportunity 5 years ago when we lost 11 of …

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Mark Argent

Referendum or election?

By Mark Argent | Mon 29th February 2016 - 7:03 pm

Just over a week ago, on the Saturday, we had the news that it’s on 23 June. The following Sunday’s papers seemed to say that “it” is a Tory leadership challenge: depending on the paper, Cameron was “declaring war on the rebels”, others painted it as Gove versus Cameron, and then Boris Johnson joined the fray.

The problem with referenda is the danger of people voting on a question other than the one on the ballot paper, but this seemed particularly extreme. It left a sense of the referendum being primarily about the internal mechanics of the Conservative party.

Also on that Saturday, …

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Paul Tyler

Paul Tyler writes: Boundary changes focus the minds of Tory hopefuls

By Paul Tyler | Mon 29th February 2016 - 5:21 pm

If you think Tory rivalry is at fever pitch, you ain’t seen nothing yet.  The accidental coincidence of the forthcoming constituency boundary changes with the aftermath of the EU Referendum campaign may come to haunt David Cameron or his successor.

The imminence of the boundary review – with its planned reduction of Commons Members from 650 to 600 – means that almost every single Conservative MP will be facing his or her new “selectorate” in a  matter of a few months’ time.   The volume of Tory MPs siding with “LEAVE” is hardly surprising in that light.  Tory activists are increasingly Eurosceptic and the Daily Telegraph rates them currently 75% for “LEAVE”. This makes them even more unrepresentative of Conservative voters, and of the electorate as a whole, than previously.

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David Cooper

South Central Regional Conference- Can we muster Euro enthusiasm?

By David Cooper | Mon 29th February 2016 - 2:50 pm

catherine bearderThe European in-out referendum dominated the South Central Regional Conference last Saturday. Speakers included Catherine Bearder, our own MEP, who spoke of the complete negativity of the large contingent of UKIP in the European Parliament.

Not everyone accepted that the EU is a force for good. As one questioner asked, how can our party muster enthusiasm to campaign for an organization that is obviously undemocratic and very deeply flawed? Perhaps the Outers are right; there really are sunlit uplands outside the EU, where the UK can benefit from truly representative democracy, run companies uninhibited by red tape and carry out extensive worldwide trade.

As a Libdem member who is lukewarm about the EU, I have found this a tricky question.

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Phil Aisthorpe

Remain is losing momentum – time to change tack

By Phil Aisthorpe | Mon 29th February 2016 - 12:51 pm

 

With Boris declaring for Leave at a point where Remain has finally played its less than decisive hand, there is a distinct feeling abroad that the referendum momentum has shifted from Remain towards Leave.

As I see it, the Remain camp is stuck with five problems.

  1. People have had enough of a constant stream of dire warnings about life after Brexit and are coming to the conclusion that the Remain argument is based on scaremongering.
  2. We face a largely hostile press that will continue to urge the public to support Leave.
  3. The ‘what have the Romans ever done for us’ view of our EU membership has produced a list that is good but not compelling.
  4. The Dad’s Army ‘us and them’ view of Europe creates an atmosphere of suspicion that favours a Leave result.
  5. Most crucially of all, the Remain case lacks passion and vision.
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Rebecca Plenderleith

Casual sexism undermines the drive for gender balance

By Rebecca Plenderleith | Mon 29th February 2016 - 11:20 am

“Bright, intelligent and brave” those are the words that Willie Rennie used to describe me in his speech to Conference. My direct messages on twitter were somewhat different. I had to disable the function to receive messages from anyone but my followers – but that didn’t stop those who already followed me. One man even suggested I’d made up the story for the attention. Because that’s all women’s experiences are to some men. Nothing but a ploy to get attention from men in any form of power.

The same people cry out “We need more women in politics but in a fair way and we need a meritocracy” and “We don’t need positive action, we need to encourage more women to put themselves forward”.

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Simon Parker

Is it possible for us to “take back control of our borders”?

By Simon Parker | Mon 29th February 2016 - 9:32 am

 

A number of problems spring to mind as we plan to “take back control of our borders” in the event of Brexit. Inevitably envisioning various scenarios demands a degree of speculation, but the following causes me a good deal of concern.

I suspect Calais may become less of a flash point, though I have an inkling Cherbourg may develop as more of a destination de choix.

Four times a week a giant ferry leaves there for Rosslare. For desperate people that have trekked across a continent and a half I doubt it’ll be seen as too great an added imposition.

Once there the UK border is now approx 277 km away, all 500km of it!

Crossings are available by motorway, country roads, dirt tracks, rail, boat and any number of random fields and….yes.. bogs.

The border was policed, often quite officiously and occasionally with bullets, between 1923 and 1993. It is one of the great triumphs of late 1990s diplomacy that this is no longer the case. Once breached, a trek north to Antrim brings the wretched traveller to within 12 miles of the Scottish coastline,

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The Voice

In Full: Willie Rennie’s speech to Scottish Conference: We stand with the weak against the strong, and will use the power of government to tackle the social and economic injustices that limit freedom.

By The Voice | Sun 28th February 2016 - 2:26 pm

Willie Rennie must have been reading Lib Dem Voice because he opened his speech by quoting from Becca’s blog which we featured 10 days ago. He got in touch with her and she gave him permission to share her story.

He argued that it was time to see major investment in mental health and for it to be given party with physical health.

He also set out what the party would do with the £475 million generated for nurseries, schools, colleges and a pupil premium.

I want to talk to you about a new member of our party.

Becca Plenderleith.  She is a bright, intelligent and brave young woman.  We are fortunate to call her a fellow Liberal Democrat. She has given me permission to tell you this story.

What she did was something simple.  She told her story.  She wrote about her experience of the health service.

Only a few years ago she was suffering from depression and following a break up from her boyfriend she considered suicide.

What happened next is something that must be condemned to the past.
She was told by a doctor at accident and emergency that she was a drain on the NHS.

No support, no treatment, just a lecture.

But Becca is making a difference.  Making a difference by speaking out.

And the response is encouraging.

Every time I now mention mental health on a public platform the silent nods around the room fill me with hope.

Hope that the stigma is fading, hope that there is a growing demand for change, hope that this will lead to the unstoppable change to our NHS so that mental health is given the equal support it deserves.

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The Voice

Jo Swinson: Why I now back all women shortlists

By The Voice | Sun 28th February 2016 - 1:18 pm

12496325_10207909151261642_614223791405517749_oBelow are the two speeches Jo Swinson made to Scottish Conference yesterday. The Diversity Debate took place in two halves. The first was on a constitutional amendment which would allow the Scottish Party to implement arrangements on gender balance which had been approved by conference. One amendment to that was submitted, and supported by the movers, changing gender balance to the much wider “diversity”. The risk of such an approach was that a 2/3 majority was needed for it to pass, but the working group had been advised that a constitutional amendment was vital to enable any new arrangements to be implemented.

It’s worth pointing out that in the intervening period, Jo has done so much to encourage and support women candidates, running training events and supporting so many as they embarked on selection campaigns.

Here is her speech proposing the constitutional amendment:

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Caron Lindsay

Caron’s Sunday Selection: Must-read articles from the Sunday papers

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 28th February 2016 - 11:55 am

sundaypapsToday’s Sunday newspapers make interesting reading.

The Independent covers a report which suggests that drone technology could be a threat to nuclear submarines, meaning that our nuclear deterrent could be “rendered irrelevant.”

Paul Ingram, the chief executive of Basic, said: “In the past anti-submarine warfare has been carried out by a small number of highly capable ships and manned aircraft. Their task has been like that of a handful of police looking for a fugitive in a vast wilderness. Lacking the manpower to cover the whole area, they have to concentrate their forces on the most likely paths and hideouts, and hope for a lucky break.

With the advent cheap drones, the police are joined by thousands more searchers, who are less well-equipped but have the numbers to walk shoulder to shoulder and sweep the entire area. Escape becomes impossible.”

You know how the Department of Work and Pensions likes to encourage people to report their neighbours for benefit fraud? Well, the Observer finds that they spend time investigating them and find 85% of these reports to be completely false. Tim Farron is quoted:

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Caron Lindsay

Bold policies, lively debates, controversy, diversity and new members – the highlights of Scottish Liberal Democrat conference

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 28th February 2016 - 9:28 am

As pre-election conferences go,  the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ gathering in Edinburgh was a strange one. Conferences taking place within weeks of a major national elections can be a bit bland with no hotly contested debates. This one was very different. We had some really controversial subjects up for discussion, with amendments on smacking, fracking and a long motion on diversity to get to grips with, with the leader taking a massive risk on the latter, needing to take 2/3 of the hall with him to pass a constitutional amendment.

Also, pre-election conferences can be little more than a procession of smartly dressed candidates getting as close to the party line as possible. This time they had to share the stage with so many of the new members who have already been such assets to the party. It was so good to walk into the room and see people I didn’t recognise make such brilliant speeches.

Members left the Assembly Rooms last night with more confidence that we were getting things right than I’ve seen in years. We’re under no illusions about the opportunities and threats that polling day in 9 weeks’ time brings, but we are pleased that we are going out there with a set of policies and well-articulated values that resonates with voters’ concerns.

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Paul Walter

Immigration: pride over our policy, the importance of words…and a mea culpa

By Paul Walter | Sat 27th February 2016 - 2:07 pm

A little while ago I was incensed with being bombarded day and night by media stories about Cameron and negotiations about benefits for EU migrants. This is a blog, at the end of the day (good blogging term there), so I blogged about it. What came out was a knee-jerk rant (“Migrants’ benefits debate is a proxy channel for xenophobia in some quarters” (the last three words being added after publication)). Some of the best blogging is based on knee-jerk rants. Not this time. On this occasion I should have been a little more careful with my words.

In the end, I raised the white flag in the ensuing debate and modified my article to emphasise that I was only talking about xenophobia “in some quarters” and that “I acknowledge that many have genuine and sincere concerns about this policy area for legitimate reasons.”

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Joe Otten

Playing chicken with a 27 headed opponent

By Joe Otten | Fri 26th February 2016 - 2:33 pm

The game of chicken involves driving head on towards your opponent, as they do the same, and the loser is the one who swerves out of the way first. If neither swerves, then both lose in a much bigger sense. I was reminded of this as Michael Howard was trotting out the usual arguments for Brexit on the Today programme this morning

Howard argued that a trade deal with the EU would still happen, bringing us continued access to the Single Market, because it is in their interests. He even suggested that following a vote to leave, the rump EU should …

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Catherine Bearder

Catherine Bearder MEP writes…Government U-turns on EU flood funding in victory for Lib Dems

By Catherine Bearder | Thu 25th February 2016 - 6:35 pm

As many of you know Tim Farron and I have been fighting for months to persuade the government to apply for EU solidarity funding for flood victims. The European Commission had confirmed to me last December that this money was there for the taking, so it was flabbergasting that the government had so far refused to apply on the flimsy grounds that it would not offer immediate help (an application takes a few months to process). The real reason I suspect was that the government was worried about upsetting its eurosceptic backbenchers by asking for help from the rest of Europe in a time of need.

So it came as something of a shock to find out today that finally the Conservatives have U-turned and will be making a last-minute application. This is a huge victory for the Liberal Democrats, who have been piling the pressure on the government on this issue from day one. And of course it is fantastic news for the communities across the North of England and Scotland whose lives were turned upside-down by the floods and who will finally get the additional funding they deserve.

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Caron Lindsay

Action needed on bullying in the workplace

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 25th February 2016 - 1:12 pm

Seriously, what is the world coming to when in the Mother of Parliaments, the most powerful politician in the country invokes his own mother to castigate the Leader of the Opposition.

Here’s their exchange:

The Prime Minister: I am very proud of the NHS in Oxfordshire and everyone who works in it. Having met the head of the Oxford Radcliffe trust recently, I know that he supports the move towards more seven-day services. That is absolutely vital.

Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab): Ask your mother!

The Prime Minister: Ask my mother? I know what my mother would say. She would look across the Dispatch Box and say, “Put on a proper suit, do up your tie and sing the national anthem.”

Jeremy Corbyn: If we are talking of motherly advice, my late mother would have said, “Stand up for the principle of a health service free at the point of use for everybody.” That is what she dedicated her life to, as did many of her generation.

Corbyn comes out of this with some credit, but this rather personal criticism comes from the Prime Minister comes just two days after the Commons collapsed in hilarity over a Tory MP’s jibe.

Corbyn heckled during EU debate“Who are you?”A Conservative MP berates Jeremy Corbyn in the House of Commons during EU debate.

Posted by Channel 4 News on Monday, 22 February 2016

Labour MPs are more than capable of being just as rowdy. Remember what they used to do to Julian Huppert every time he got up to speak. I’ll never forget the time when Willie Rennie was called a “Scottish Git” by Tory MPs while a Labour frontbencher smirked. He was introducing a bill enabling driving instructors to be suspended from the national register and explaining how he’d been motivated to do so by his constituent’s experience of being sexually assaulted by her driving instructor.

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Mathew Hulbert

Cuts to youth services? You couldn’t make it up

By Mathew Hulbert | Wed 24th February 2016 - 3:12 pm

 

You really couldn’t make it up.

A senior Tory Cabinet member has bemoaned a local Council for making cuts to its Youth Service.

Iain Duncan Smith, yes the Work and Pensions Secretary, who according to reports believes people with debilitating and life-limiting illnesses can still work, has told a local newspaper that the “vitally important” provision must be saved. Read the story here.

I think the nail has finally been hammered in to irony’s coffin and it is being lowered into the ground.

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Jonan Boto

What is at stake: A photo of a young boy and the US President

By Jonan Boto | Wed 24th February 2016 - 9:34 am

Obama hand

Clark Reynolds, 3 years old, greeted by President Obama, Feb 18 2016 at the White House. (Pete Souza/Washington Post)

We have been struggling with the representation issue for years. Our party leaders strongly believe in broadening the look and feel of our MPs. Our members instinctively seek parity between men, women and other backgrounds: a desire to open up opportunity should be in our blood. But we aren’t quite sure how to achieve that and so far, as Josh Dixon sets out, our success has not been much to write home about. The Elect Diverse MPs motion to be debated at Spring Conference gives us a critical chance to retake the initiative.

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Katharine Pindar

Fear and loathing at the coalface: how to combat it

By Katharine Pindar | Tue 23rd February 2016 - 2:55 pm

Taking charge of the Stay in the EU campaign, David Cameron was accused of using the politics of fear: claiming Britain will have greater security staying in, while leaving would expose us to unknown hazards. It’s ironic, though, that his actions caused an astonishing split even in his own Cabinet. Are the British people expected to feel safe and secure while seeing our Government and the ruling Party split from top to bottom? How much effective business can such a Government enact in the next fraught few months?

Meantime our own Party has had its share of turmoil and trauma in the past five years. Internally, the comprehensive 2015 Election Review from the Campaigns and Communications Committee shows that a fatal dislocation arose between our Party in Government and the Party in the country. Externally, strong negative emotions against us were simultaneously roused in the British public. Anger among many that we joined with the Tories in the Coalition at all became disgust and even hatred when our Government Ministers broke the Manifesto pledge on abolishing tuition fees, and went on to back austerity measures to reduce the Deficit. As the Review reminds us, our Poll ratings dropped like a stone, our activists departed and our councillors fell from power. While the Lib Dem Ministers achieved much good and prevented some harm, there was little recognition of this in the country.

During the build-up to the Election, the Review points out the inadequate ‘messaging’ from our Centre: ‘Stronger economy, fairer society’ was a slogan not distinctive for us. Then came ‘Look right, look left, then cross’. This though more specific was surely worse, for it suggested the truth that we were willing to enter another coalition with either Tories or Labour. That could be seen as opportunistic and unprincipled, the Lib Dems out for a bit more power and ministerial salaries. Cue renewed hatred from sections of the public, especially if we looked likely to ‘let in’ a candidate from the Party they most detested.

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