On Monday night, Paddy Ashdown took to Reddit to take questions from Liberal Democrat members and supporters. Here are some of the highlights:
Power to the people:
Hi Paddy, How do you think the State should be reinvented? Which parts of the State would you shrink, and which part would you grow? Which Departments and bodies should the party seek to abolish, and which ones should we expand or create? An Example would be the Scotland Office. Should we abolish it or should we merge it with the Wales and Northern Ireland Offices? And what about Departments such as BIS ot Quangos like Tech City UK?
Paddy’s response:
Take power and devolve it closer to the people. The state should deal only with this things at national level (our Defence, Foreign Affairs, Macro-economics). Westminster would do much better of it did much less. All decisions which turn on the delivery of public services (health Education, welfare etc) should be taken, within a framework of national entitlements, at the lower level closer to the citizen. This is what Liberals back to Gladstone have always believed. The fundamental difference between us and Labour and the Tories is that we believe in a state based on powerful citizens, not strong state dependent on powerless subjects.
Pacts:
Hi Paddy, given the scale of the challenge involved in getting rid of the Tories any time in the next 10-15 years, would you support electoral pacts with the Green Party and Labour in certain target seats? Also, what do you think the chances are of Labour putting proportional representation in their manifesto? Do you think they might be more in favour after the drubbing the got in Scotland?
Paddy’s response:
I don’t believe in electoral pacts – they deny voters choice. But I do believe that we on the progressive wing of British politics (and those outside politics) now need to get together in a series of conversations about the things we agree on. I can see what they re. Internationalism, the Green agenda, Civil liberties and Human Rights, how to build a strong economy AND a fair society, Europe, the need to create a state based on the powerful citizen not the strong state. All those things that are now being threatened by what is beginning to look to me like the most dangerous and damaging Government of our time.
If we start quietly with conversations who knows where it will lead.
Poultry:
Why do people do this? When I was Returning Officer for Liberal Youth and first testing out the electronic voting software, I asked for suggestions of stupid questions for people to vote on. There was one which went something like: Who would win in a fight with Paddy Ashdown? a) Caron Lindsay’s hamster Oswin (may she rest in peace) b) a flock of swans c) The Borg d) Paddy Ashdown.
Needless to say, Paddy Ashdown won with Oswin a creditable second.
But people feel the need to ask him this sort of question
Paddy, as a trained military man, would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or one hundred duck-sized horses?
You’ll have to click here to find out what he said.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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5 Comments
There were rumours that Tim Farron MP would stand for the Presidency of the party, so, when i saw him emerging from a meeting with Paddy Ashdown at conference i greeted him with Mr President! This was intended to be friendly. His reply was brief and humble. It would be interesting to know what Paddy Ashdown had said to Tim Farron.
In a huge fringe meeting Paddy Ashdown gave a scoop, or scoops, to Andrew Rawnsley of the Guardian and Observer.
Paddy had negotiated with Labour about coalition terms, but they were tired and had not done much planning. At that time Gordon Brown was in Downing Street, so, to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they were not fully empowered to negotiate realistically, and, of course, a Labour – Liberal Democrat coalition would not have had an overall majority in the Commons.
Paddy said he had tried to ‘phone Tony Blair to discuss Gordon Brown. Tony Blair was awy, and the ‘phone was answered by Mrs. Blair. Tony Blair ‘phoned back, listened to the problem and said “Leave it to me.” Soon afterwards Gordon Brown was on his way to Buckingham Palace.
We should remember that Gordon Brown had said at Prime Minister’s Questions that he “personally” supported the Alternative Vote, which implies that he was unable to commit the Labour Party. AV would have retained single member seats for the Commons, so, in practice, Labour MPs with large majorities had little reason to be fearful.
When Tim Farron came to Tunbridge Wells as President he loyally supported Nick Clegg and the coalition at length.
In passing, he referred to the Liberal – SDP merger as “a marriage which looked like a divorce”. He is therefore aware of the risks about what is happening now, but will, of course, in this party, need to carry others with him when he decides where he wants to lead us in a rapidly changing situation.
The Tory government has acted quickly to do things our MPs had stopped them doing.
Labour is forming a circular firing squad.
A YOUGOV opinion polli n The Times, seen by Newsnight and rival papers, puts Jeremy Corbyn in the lead and allowing for the transfers of preferential votes, the eventual winner.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/22/yvette-cooper-rejects-leadership-poll-predicting-victory-jeremy-corbyn
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/21/snp-opposition-seats-blasting-labour-welfare-bill-stance
Is the Guardian correct to write about a “runoff” between Jeremy Corbyn and Andy Burnham? as the Tories did with David Cameron and David Davis, or is it just sloppy journalism? Is Labour going to put itself through a secound round of leadership election/s, or is it doing one election with preferential transfers?
If the fourth placed candidate and third placed candidates drop out of the leadership race, will Labour be able to elect another woman as deputy leader?
Powerful citizens can only occur if people willingly train their body , mind and spirit in order to become powerful. In the adverts for the Royal Marine Commandos the words used are ” It is state of mind “; qualities required are fortitude , courage, determination, cheerfulness in face of adversity, adaptability, high professional standards, and ability to approach near impossible with grit and determination . Two ex- SAS members aid what was important was t mental strength because it was this asset which enabled rigorous training to b undertaken.
Ancient , Hindu, Daoist, Buddhist and Confucian beliefs are based on training the mind and body so they become resilient , adaptable and can achieve high levels of stamina,self-discipline and self control. The ability to control hate/anger, guilt and fear/worry/anxiety are required to become powerful. Someone who is full of f hate, anger, resentment,envy, jealousy, rancour, fear, worry, anxiety, guilt, has a sense of inadequacy or inferiority are people who easily manipulated.
The ultimate inequality is life and death, some people may endure hardships while others die. The outward bound training trained young sailors to survive the ordeal of surviving their ships being sunk in war. Someone who has been brought in a cosseted environment, is physically weak and has poor stamina can never be powerful; hence the need for rigorous competitive sports. The ability to roll with the punches, cope with the rough and tumble of life , fall on one’s feet, be bloodied and unbowed, take it on the chin, get back in the saddle are all expressions where the ability
to recover from blows, falls and insults are shown to be needed.
Someone who lacks a knowledge of history, a poor memory( therefore poor at remembering facts which are required to win arguments ), poor maths skills, lacks an employable skill and ability to survive hardship is weak , not powerful .
I would suggest that ideas entering western society post mid 60s, has reduced the power of many citizens because many people have become enfeebled in mind, body and spirit. .
“how to build a strong economy AND a fair society”
The Tories are now saying that, which is a kind of compliment, but we meant it.
“a strong economy AND a fair society” also needs to be greener.