What are the dealbreakers?
In a conversation an hour ago, Ed Davey insisted that if it wasn't for their participation in the government then things would have been much worse. We act as a brake on the Tories and are able to introduce a lot of policies that we are proud of.
Look, I said. I voted against the Tories, but thanks to you, I've got a Tory government.
No, you got a LibDem MP and we've done a lot to look after people. He gave me some examples. We've raised the income tax threshold and it's benefitted a million and a half more people. We've helped disadvantaged children...He continued.
Blunket, and Reed and others came on TV and ruled out the possibility of a coalition with the Labour government anyway. And it would have been a minority government.
What we see, I said, the people on the left who supported the LibDems because of their green policies and tuition fees and so on, is that you are all like Nick Clegg. You have no red Lines. There are no deal breakers for you. Look at the reform of the NHS. Look at your policy on tuition fees.
I can only apologise for tuition fees he said, but on the matter of the NHS we are the ones who are making Andrew Lansley stop and pause for reflection and consultation. That's us.We don't think it's a good idea to concentrate all the power in the hands of a few stakeholders.
What about privatisation? Are you happy with that?
He looked away and avoided answering the question.
I said, Vince Cable scuttles around Twickenham nowadays because he's too afraid to face his own voters. A friend of mine usually greets him, but Vince Cable, knowing what the friend would say to him, almost ran into his house before the friend could say a word.
Well Vince and I both use public transport, Said Ed Davey, unlike other MPs.
That's good, I said, but let me give you some advice. I think you are a good politician, effective and moral. Stand up to the Tories. You need red lines. We need to know what the deal breakers are for the LibDems in the coalition.
Well when you are in government you can't go around announcing these things he says, but it's on the record. The Telegraph entrapped Vincent, but they entrapped me too into saying I disagreed with the Tory policy on housing benefit.
Look, save your career, I suggested. Join up with Charles Kennedy and Vince Cable and Simon Hughes and stand up to the Tories and show some backbone because you have lost the left who voted for you. Show us you have a spine and the Tories can't do just anything they like with you.
Read the coalition agreement, he said. It's a comprehensive document. An achievement. A lot of our policies are in there. We are introducing a lot of good policies.
But they are just sops, I said, not substantive. Essentially, this is a reactionary government making unnecessarily radical and unfair cuts that reflect their anti-egalitarian priorities, and you are propping it up. You should leave the coalition and form a new coalition with Labour.
Ed Davey, didn't sound convinced and said. The cuts would have happened anyway.
Show us your red lines, show us your deal breakers. I repeated.
And with that Ed Davey left.
Ed Davey, LibDem MP and Undersecretary of State for Business
In a conversation an hour ago, Ed Davey insisted that if it wasn't for their participation in the government then things would have been much worse. We act as a brake on the Tories and are able to introduce a lot of policies that we are proud of.
Look, I said. I voted against the Tories, but thanks to you, I've got a Tory government.
No, you got a LibDem MP and we've done a lot to look after people. He gave me some examples. We've raised the income tax threshold and it's benefitted a million and a half more people. We've helped disadvantaged children...He continued.
Blunket, and Reed and others came on TV and ruled out the possibility of a coalition with the Labour government anyway. And it would have been a minority government.
What we see, I said, the people on the left who supported the LibDems because of their green policies and tuition fees and so on, is that you are all like Nick Clegg. You have no red Lines. There are no deal breakers for you. Look at the reform of the NHS. Look at your policy on tuition fees.
I can only apologise for tuition fees he said, but on the matter of the NHS we are the ones who are making Andrew Lansley stop and pause for reflection and consultation. That's us.We don't think it's a good idea to concentrate all the power in the hands of a few stakeholders.
What about privatisation? Are you happy with that?
He looked away and avoided answering the question.
I said, Vince Cable scuttles around Twickenham nowadays because he's too afraid to face his own voters. A friend of mine usually greets him, but Vince Cable, knowing what the friend would say to him, almost ran into his house before the friend could say a word.
Well Vince and I both use public transport, Said Ed Davey, unlike other MPs.
That's good, I said, but let me give you some advice. I think you are a good politician, effective and moral. Stand up to the Tories. You need red lines. We need to know what the deal breakers are for the LibDems in the coalition.
Well when you are in government you can't go around announcing these things he says, but it's on the record. The Telegraph entrapped Vincent, but they entrapped me too into saying I disagreed with the Tory policy on housing benefit.
Look, save your career, I suggested. Join up with Charles Kennedy and Vince Cable and Simon Hughes and stand up to the Tories and show some backbone because you have lost the left who voted for you. Show us you have a spine and the Tories can't do just anything they like with you.
Read the coalition agreement, he said. It's a comprehensive document. An achievement. A lot of our policies are in there. We are introducing a lot of good policies.
But they are just sops, I said, not substantive. Essentially, this is a reactionary government making unnecessarily radical and unfair cuts that reflect their anti-egalitarian priorities, and you are propping it up. You should leave the coalition and form a new coalition with Labour.
Ed Davey, didn't sound convinced and said. The cuts would have happened anyway.
Show us your red lines, show us your deal breakers. I repeated.
And with that Ed Davey left.
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