Our lovely friends in the Lib Dem Press Office have been keeping tally. They have found twenty policies that the Government has U-turned on in the last year. And here they are:
- Northern Powerhouse: It was reported last August that Theresa May had decided to ditch the Northern Powerhouse from her plans for an industrial strategy, she later back-tracked and made clear she was fully behind it.
- EU nationals: Theresa May reversed her stance towards EU citizens living in Britain (£), after her rivals accused her of treating them as “bargaining chips” in exit negotiations.
- Hinkley Point: The PM paused the deal around Hinkley Point – but then unpaused it with almost nothing changed.
- Foreign doctors: Theresa May appeared to suggest foreign-born doctors will not be welcome in the United Kingdom beyond 2025. The Prime Minister then backed down and admitted that foreign doctors won’t have to leave the NHS.
- Lists of foreign workers: Amber Rudd announced at Conservative party conference that firms should “be clear about the proportion of their workforce which is international”. Theresa May was forced to back down after the scheme was slammed by businesses and the public.
- Pharmacy closures: Plans to implement £170m of cuts and close thousands of local pharmacies were shelved after one million people signed a petition calling on the Government to think again.
- Workers on company boards: During her campaign to be leader and at the Conservative Party conference, Theresa May announced plans to force companies to appoint workers to their boards. She then confirmed the policy had been dropped, following lobbying from businesses.
- Brexit White Paper: Theresa May finally agreed to publish a White Paper on Brexit only after being threatened with a rebellion by Conservative MPs.
- Taking in refugee children: Theresa May announced plans to shelve the scheme to take in unaccompanied refugee children from Calais.
- National Insurance rise: Plans announced in Theresa May’s first full budget as Prime Minister to hike National Insurance for self-employed workers were dropped after they were criticised for breaking the Conservative’s 2015 manifesto pledge.
- Holding an election: Theresa May repeatedly said she wouldn’t hold an election, arguing that it would risk the stability of the country. She then called a snap election when the polls were in her favour.
- The Dementia Tax: The Prime Minister was forced to U-turn on proposals to make people pay more for their care, branded as a “Dementia Tax”, within days of it being announced.
- Energy price cap: Theresa May had pledged a price cap on energy bills for 17 million families during the general election campaign, but the policy was missing from the Queen’s speech. Instead, the business secretary, Greg Clark, wrote to the energy regulator asking it to safeguard “customers on the poorest value tariffs”.
- The European Convention on Human Rights – Theresa May was reportedly planning to make the case to leave the ECHR a central aspect of her 2020 election campaign before she called for an early election. She then confirmed the UK will remain signatories to the European Convention of Human Rights for the next Parliament.
- Triple lock: Theresa May scrapped a manifesto commitment to drop the State Pension ‘triple lock’ after signing a deal with the DUP.
- Winter fuel payments: Conservative plans to means test winter fuel payouts were also scrapped under the party’s deal with the DUP.
- Grammar schools: Theresa May ditched plans to expand grammar schools from the Queens’ Speech.
- Free school lunches: Controversial plans set out in the Conservative manifesto to axe free school lunches and replace them with breakfasts for families on low incomes were dropped last week.
- Public sector pay: The Government appeared to U-turn after Downing Street suggested it was ready to abandon a 1 per cent cap on public sector pay rises, only to insist hours later that the cap remained in place.
- Fox hunting: Theresa May has ditched plans to hold a parliamentary vote on bringing back fox hunting, the Government confirmed last week.
One thing we do know about Theresa May is that she can never say “This lady’s not for turning”.
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15 Comments
Out of interest, are we saying that changing your mind is good or bad?
Personally, I’m in favour of good policies* and against bad** policies. If someone proposes a policy that’s bad, and then changes their mind after people point out problems, then that’s a good thing.
*Ones I like.
**Ones I don’t like.
Andrew, I think many people would agree that Theresa May changing her mind would be a good idea. But where would she be able to find anyone to give her a decent trade=-n price on her old one? 😉
Andrew, I think many people would agree that Theresa May changing her mind would be a good idea. But where would she be able to find anyone to give her a decent trade-in price on her old one? 😉
If you change your mind after listening to reasoned argument from others that is sensible and good politics. However according to Lib Dems who were in government with her listening to others was never her forte. She is more likely to change her mind because she is forced to (Election), realises it is bad for her party, or an appeared inability to make it up (Northern Powerhouse).
If a plan is a bad one, then it is better to do a U turn, but if the pla is a good idea, then it is bad to do a U turn! If an idea is good or bad, does not depend on wether or not you agree with it!
Fo an example, the Tory plan to means test the winter fuel payment is a good idea, as why should a millionaire get this benefit, when we have people living on very low income? This is unpopular, but it is a good idea.
The problem isn’t that she U turns it is she U turns again and again on the same policy and just ends up going round in circles. More like an O turn than a U turn.
Reassuring to know that we never ever did a U turn on, for example, student loans/ fees or VAT……. no, of course not….. we’re far too principled to do that.
I’d be more impressed if the Press Office produced something positive that gave people a good reason to vote Lib Dem.
Does anybody know if the Party employs a proper policy research officer ? I do remember Harry Cowie did this in my young days and Jo G. Set up a series of research working parties drawn from some distinguished academic sources. I seem to remember Richard Wainwright and the Rowntree Trust funded it.
@David Raw “I’d be more impressed if the Press Office produced something positive”
This is pretty positive … for the Conservative Party. 🙁
Given that it’s not credible for a much-weakened Lib Dem party to claim responsibility for forcing these U-turns on an unwilling government, any uncertain Lib Dem supporters are now being told by the Lib Dem Press Office that they could switch to a Tory party that is no longer so committed to grammar school expansion, fox-hunting, etc., etc.
You couldn’t make it up!
Obviously the context for this list is May’s claim to be strong and stable when she epitomises irresolution. I haven’t heard her claiming that recently so any Lib Dem literature quoting from this list would need to start ‘You remember Teresa May claiming to be strong and stable, well, what she’s actually done is ….’
Otherwise I’m with those who are critical about the effects of using this list against her. First and foremost we need to have a positive message of what we would do to create a Lib Dem society.
Out of interest, are we saying that changing your mind is good or bad?
I think we would generally prefer a Prime Minister who got it right the first time, and therefore didn’t have to change her mind.
I am in favour of the Government changing its mind in the face of rational argument and public pressure. I am also in favour of members of the House of Commons using their position to improve government policy. And I am in favour of the House of Lords joining in.
EU Citizens are still being used as bargaining chips. May proposes to remove their rights to vote in local election and some kind of new 2nd/3rd class “Settler” status. After a year there is still no clarity and hard to plan a family life even for families who may have been here over a decade, the new system is still just a proposal. There are still millions of bargaining chips, not just those from the continent but their partners and children
Surely the point is not to discuss U turns, but outline LibDem policies in these areas.
And Theresa May also said in a thoughtful pre-referendum speech
” I believe it is clearly in our national interest to remain a member of the European Union.”
Surely that’s the biggest howler of all!
To be balanced I think you should list the things she did do… er, wait a minute, what was it?