(In fact, it’s almost 11 weeks now, as the Voice inadvertently missed the Lib Dem deputy leader’s article when it first appeared …)
Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free website last week, Simon Hughes launched a vigorous defence of the Coalition Government and its initial achievements … especially the Lib Dem ones. Here’s an excerpt:
In the last 10 weeks we have seen three refreshing changes in the politics of Britain. There has been change from a government which had lost direction and run out of steam, to a government clear about its direction and full of energy. There has been change from one party government to coalition government for the first time for 65 years – doing what many of the public often say they want and bringing political leaders to work together in the interests of the nation. And thirdly, we have seen Liberals enter government for the first time since the second world war. This is a huge opportunity for Liberals and Liberal Democrats.
Our great party at last has the chance to make sure we build for the first time in decades a truly liberal Britain.
You can read Simon’s article in full here.
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5 Comments
The Liberal policy wins, enumerated by Simon Hughes, to be fully implemented from the seminal `Coalition Agreement ‘ are already substantial gains, over the initial 10 weeks.
Lord Eric Avebury wrote in 1996 in `Why I am a Liberal Democrat’-essays collected and edited by Duncan Brack,
`I believe that the Liberal Democrats have a duty to break the silly taboo against coalitions,and to break the stranglehold of minority rule which has lasted far too long’.
Good for you Simon. It’s good to see someone thoroughly defending the coalition rather than parrotting labour’s lines.
Its interesteing this. I always thought Simon Hughes was an arse since his awful bermondsey campaign to defeat Tatchell. A man who he is unfit to lick the boots of. Then I thought he might be the lib dem hope in the face of this awful government. In fact it has turned out that the voice of reason is Ken Clarke. Shame on all you liberals. You are now finished as a policital party. Labour is the only progressive opposition. I am one of many in lib dem/ con marginals who voted for you to stop the tories. NEVER AGAIN. YOU ARE THE SAME AS THEM. The financial crisis is being paid for by the poorest and it is your faullt. You have made it worse. I hope your party dies slowly and painfully
Mr Hughes, you are making a fool of yourself. You do not believe in this “coalition”, the great majority of your party do not. Clegg and Law are both, politically, fully paid-up Tories; most of the rest of you are not. Since I too voted Lib Dem to keep the Tories out and in view of the travesty of what has happened since the election, I believe and sincerely hope we are witnessing the self-destruction of the Liberal Democrat Party.
The comments posted underneath Simon’s article are rather more relevant than his unconvincing attempt at being an apologist for this hideous coalition:-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/21/ten-weeks-revitalised-british-politics?showallcomments=true#comment-51