Orange ambition is travelling blind
Clegg and Cable: principles as thinly spread as a smear of paint?
It is inconceivable that the Liberal Democrats can do a deal with the Conservative party without losing an historic opportunity to change the electoral system and making unacceptable compromises on all of their policies.
Some of the Central policies of the Liberal Democrats are:
1. Introducing a system of Proportional representation
(The Tories are against this as it would establish a natural coalition of the left which would not easily change.)
2. Closer ties with Europe
(The Tories are dead set against closer ties with Europe.)
3. Getting rid of Trident
(The Tories are dead set against this.)
4. Normalising the situation of long stay immigrants
(The Tories are dead set against this.)
5. Not introducing Tory style cuts
(The Tories want to start cutting public spending drastically including 6 billion from education.)
6. Against nuclear power
(The Tories are fully in favour of nuclear power.)
7. Against fox hunting
(The majority of Tories are passionately in favour of fox hunting.)
8. Cutting class sizes
(The Tories will take 6 billion out of education and end the school building programme.)
9. Reducing the cost of university education and scrapping fees
(The Tories will allow universities the freedom to set their own fees.)
10. More tax for the rich and less for the poor
(The Tories want to provide tax loopholes for the rich: e.g. raising the inheritance tax.)
11. Strong Obama style regulation for the City
(The Tories want only symbolic punishments and light touch regulation of the bankers.)
12. A dignified distance from the United States foreign policy
(The Tories are Atlanticists to the core.)
Will personal ambition lead to alliance with the Tories and lead to the destruction of at least 80% of the Liberal Democratic platform? Worse. Will the Liberal Democrats lose this historical opportunity for electoral reform as a result of the personal ambition of their leaders?
For Clegg and Cable to ally themselves with the Conservatives is purely and simply a case of personal ambition trumping any principles the Liberal Democrats are supposed to hold. How else can you explain an alliance with a Conservative party that seems to be diametrically opposed to the majority of the Liberal Democrats' key policies?
I think it is highly unlikely that the Liberal Democrats can make an alliance with the Conservatives. Unless the Conservatives, like starved political rats hungering for power, offer a referendum on proportional representation which they later renege on.
If the Conservatives do offer proportional representation, they will lock themselves out of power. A natural coalition of the centre left will take shape. It's not in their long term self interest. With proportional representation the Conservatives would never have been able to form a government in the last 63 years.
The truth is that Nick Clegg and Vincent Cable are wasting time. The Tories can't offer them what their party must have. If the impending economic crisis is as severe as they say then they should stop messing about. They should behave responsibly, put aside this very unseemly personal ambition and form a coalition with Labour and the SNP and Plaid Cymru in double quick time.
The role of Michael Portillo as the arch shmoozer and slippery PR man for the Lib Dem Tory pact should be noted by everybody. The way the crisis in Greece is being manipulated in this sleazy way by the Tories, and Portillo especially, reminds me of a basic technique employed by time share salesmen and used car salesmen everywhere. Create a convincing and urgent need to make an immediate decision.
The Tories hope rests on the Tory press hounding Brown out of Downing Street, Brown accepting a minority Conservative government. An election re-run with the hope of a working Conservative majority in six months and all hope of changing the electoral system lost.
Clegg and Cable can't be that stupid and immoral, can they? What are they doing negotiating with Cameron? What's he doing to them? Is he tickling their tummies? Is he showing them visions of sugar plums and fairies? Can the offer of power corrupt so quickly? And what will their party say when they come home smelling a little blue? Will the Lib Dem leaders find the door triple locked?
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