A double dose of LibLink love with two pieces to highlight.
First, an op-ed from (Lord) Chris Rennard for The Guardian with a lesson from history for the Liberal Democrats:
[Being in coalition] leaves the Liberal Democrats shaken by the drop in poll support but not entirely surprised by it. My view is that the drop in support should not be regarded as inevitable on polling day in 2015. In December 1996, the Lib Dems were suffering from too close an association with Labour and a poll rating below 10%. Analysis of the new parliamentary boundaries showed that the Lib Dems were down to 18 seats. Ashdown’s profile differentiating ourselves from Labour (and the Conservatives) raised our share of support to 17% by polling day. More significantly, our campaigns in the new constituencies bucked the national swings and resulted in us more than doubling our number of MPs to 46.
You can read Lord Rennard’s full article here. But remember to come back, because there is also Steve Webb’s interview in today’s Telegraph:
Formally, he is Minister of State for Pensions at the Department for Work and Pensions. A better title might be Minister for Huge, Scary Numbers at the Department of Complicated, Important Stuff…
His relentless focus on “facts” may sound Gradgrindesque, but in person, Webb is no desiccated calculating machine. In conversation he is animated and lively, self-deprecating about his own “nerdishness”, and spikier than might be expected of a leading member of the Lib Dem Christian Forum. He is also linked to the Social Liberal Forum, putting him on his party’s Left wing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some of his spikes are aimed directly at the Conservative Right, especially its increasingly vocal demands to loosen Britain’s ties to the European Union.
You can read the Steve Webb interview here.
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One Comment
No longer being a subscriber to an ever more expensive Guardian, I have settled for the “I”, and at 20p.a shot and 30p. on Saturday, it is value beyond compare. For once,nay twice, two serious and generous articles concerning Nick Clegg and his leadership of the Liberal Democrats have been published on Friday and Saturday. Both pieces were of the highest journalistic order, and hopefully will have found their way into every conference attendees file. Let us hope such journalism continues to be critically and analytically supportive over the next few months and years, leading up to the next election. For me, the content of these pieces brought me back from the brink of resignation from a party that has in many ways betrayed us at street level, where we are still fighting a losing battle.
The “I” should be read by everyone.