A letter to The Guardian about the Lib Dems
I’ve been getting letters published again, this time in The Guardian:
Far from being too cautious, the Liberal Democrats under Ed Davey have shown incredible boldness (Lib Dems are being too cautious, say senior party members, 29 November). We are the only party committed to 0.7% on international aid, to proportional representation and to combating climate change. Above all, we are the only party to have a real plan to transform our broken relationship with Europe.
With Ed Davey as leader, our plan to get this Conservative government out of power is working, the team is united and we are winning again. Since 2020, we have taken the fight to the Conservatives – in record-breaking byelections in former safe seats from Buckinghamshire to Shropshire. We have added swathes of councillors across the country.
The Liberal Democrats are the only party that wants to radically change the system from vested powers to fairer votes. We can only achieve this change through winning elections, with more MPs, more councillors, more assembly members in Wales and more MSPs in Scotland.
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Sorry, Mark. The issues you raise in defence are not those that voters care about. The real problems that will be the talking points at the next election are: the economy; inflation/price rises esp in utility prices and mortgages; the continued driving down of income pushing more and more people into deep poverty and maybe the corruption in government and of course the NHS. These are the subjects where radical policies need to be articulated by the leadership. On your assertion about the EU, Ed Davey mentions it, if he mentions it at all, only in passing and isn’t talking about rejoining the single market and the customs union. I could go on, but you seem to have finally joined the establishment and don’t seem willing to recognise that serious changes are needed to get us out of the rut we have been in since the coalition. With poll ratings stubbornly stuck at around 10%, we will not make any serious gains, because people have no reasons to vote for us except that we are not the Tories. Our leaflets seem to consist of candidate x is a good person and only we can beat the Tories. Didn’t work too well in Mid Beds dis it?
Mick – I agree with you about the importance of cost of living and the NHS in particular. The reason for mentioning other issues in my letter was the context of the letter it was responding too (which itself was also talking about other issues).
I don’t always agree with Mick Taylor, but I think he’s hit the nail on the head there. I can understand the leadership not wanting to repeat the mistake of GE 2019, when they alienated a lot of potential voters by going full-on revoke, but the messaging of the current safety- first approach is that the party is simply an anti-Conservative protest vote, in seats where they are either the incumbent, or the established credible challenger. There’s little reason to vote LD in the remaining 90% of constituencies, and it does not provide a basis for a post-election strategy, when the public may well be looking for a credible alternative to a Labour government that is beginning to lose public support.
unusually, I tend to be with Mick on this.. Despite copious evidence to the contrary the population seems to think that the country is fair and the government looks after us.. the blame for all the ills they experience is directed at anybody but the Tory party.
There needs to be a commitment from Labour that whatever the result that as soon as they get into Downing St the reforms will start. Immediate voting reform, with no diversionary tactics to referendum(whoever started that idea as a solution to our corrupted so-called democracy should be shot), followed by changes in Parliament, devolution within the first term, scrapping the whip system, votes at 16, etc.. But as Mick says, the voting public don’t think about such things, they don’t join up the dots. So our marketing has to be on topics that matter to them. Brexit was won solely because they were pitching EU against the NHS, and we all care about the NHS so that should be made top priority.. with more funds to local govt and the police a close second… why do you think the Tories are blathering on about money for potholes, they have suddenly realised we were right all along.. yet we have stopped pointing.!