Stephen Fry, once a staunch Labour supporter, has already dropped hints during this election campaign that he’s thinking of voting Lib Dem … After the rightwing press’s desperate smear tirade at the height of ‘Cleggmania’ he declared “Frankly I’m tempted to vote Lib Dem now. If we let the Telegraph and Mail win, well, freedom and Britain die.”
Well, Mr Fry didn’t quite make it onto the Lib Dems’ list of celebrity endorsements announced yesterday, but he has thrown his weight fully behind one Lib Dem, Oxford West and Abingdon’s Dr Evan Harris. Neil Fawcett’s Liberal Dose blog quotes his statement of support:
On one front alone I would absolutely urge you to vote LibDem and that is if you live in the Oxford West and Abingdon constituency. Your incumbent member, now under threat because of boundary changes, is Evan Harris MP, far and away the most persuasive and impressive parliamentarian in the cause of good and open science and enquiry that we have had in the past decade.
He has been central to mould-breaking and inspirational multiparty cooperation in issues of scientific concern since 1997. It seems to me (almost!) that he should be elected unopposed like the Speaker.
If you have any interest in the promotion of science and evidence based policy-making and a voice to oppose superstition, religious vested interest and new age nonsense, then do check him out and get those Oxonian Abingdonians working for his re-election.
As Neil notes, Stephen Fry joins other Evan-supporting celebs keen on good-quality decision-making, Ben Goldacre, Dr Simon Singh and Richard Dawkins.
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4 Comments
Good stuff. I love Stephen Fry – QI is the best program ever!
Evan Harris is the best MP in the country.
Sausage and pancakes is the best breakfast in the morning!
From Japan I have been following the ins and outs of the crucial decision to be made by Nick Clegg.
It seems that if the Lib Dems want to be safe and seen as responsible, they might vote to let the Cons have a minority government and agree to disagree on most points, but would have to agree on the economy and how to deal with the debt. Carries some risk of being dropped by left-leaning Lib Dem supporters,
If they want to take a gamble: the other two options carry their own special risk. Lib-Con: might get them nowhere and they could be voted out in the next election, and no longer useful if the Cons get a decent majority.
If they go with Labour, the Irish MPs and The Welsh and Scots Nats: they will break new ground in creating a broad centre left coalition and will certainly keep Scotland and Wales happier. But if the coalition pulls apart, they will get hammered by the electorate in England.
Which is more important: the immediate national interest or a long-term change in politics perhaps?