| "Liberals: Shopping Lists of Pledges Don't Wash Any more." |
Posted on 11th January 2010 @ 12:52:34 |
George Ashcroft
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Comment: I welcome these comments from Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats. I was talking to a long-standing Conservative activist the other day. Like me, she is disillusioned with the Tories, citing their "arrogance" as a major factor. Also like me, she cannot bring herself to vote Labour. I did vote for a Labour candidate once - for my long-standing friend and colleague David Edwards at Cuckoo Oak in 1999. He proved to be a very good councillor and helped me with a number of issues when I was chair of Sutton Hill residents association.
Now, on the basis that I don't actually run in the election in Telford myself, I can forsee circumstances where I might vote Liberal Democrat. Don't get me wrong - there are some aspects of their political platform (mainly some aspects of their foreign policy) with which I disagree but the same was true with the Conservative Party and I supported them for the best part of a decade. At least the Liberals actually state their policies in black and white. Have a look at the Tories website under Foreign Affairs and you will see with your own eyes the moribund condition of the Tories world-view.
A number of friends have recently urged me not to run at the general election as an independent or under any other minor party banner and instead concentrate attention on Telford & Wrekin Council. To be frank about it, I am coming round to that view. I do not want to see another term of Andrew Eade's leadership at Telford & Wrekin Council and it is very much a question of how best to acheive that objective in 2011. Anyone who calls multi-million Pound investors in our borough "purile" is not worthy of leadership or support. Pots and kettles anyone?
"Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, potentially a pivotal figure in a hung parliament, said on Monday he would keep spending pledges to a minimum in the election because the indebted country could not afford it.
Clegg refused to be drawn on whether he would support a minority administration in the event of an inconclusive election result, saying he would not sacrifice his core policies for the sake of power.
He told a Reuters Newsmaker event in London that voters had no time for "implausible promises" when Britain faced the greatest financial crisis in generations.
Opinion polls suggest the Conservatives will beat Labour in an election due by June, but may fall short of an outright majority, leaving Clegg's party holding the balance of power.
Both the larger parties have been wooing the Lib Dems in recent weeks, emphasising areas where policies overlap.
Britain's budget deficit is running at a record 178 billion pounds in the wake of the global financial crisis.
"Shopping lists of pledges don't wash any more," Clegg said, ditching earlier Lib Dem commitments on childcare and pensions.
"The politics of plenty are over. Voters will have no time for implausible promises and no interest in attempts to buy their favour with cheap trinkets.
Instead the Lib Dems would campaign on just four priorities -- fairer taxation, a boost for primary school education, a programme of infrastructure investment and political reform.
"The heart of our manifesto will be short, direct and to the point. We have stripped away everything that is not essential because the country cannot afford it."
Clegg also said Britain's largest banks should be broken up to ensure that the riskier activities are separated from the more conventional retail operations.
Markets are concerned the election could produce a "hung parliament" with no absolute majority for either main party, or a government too weak to take the tough measures needed to cut a deficit totalling a record 12.6 percent of GDP.
Conservative leader David Cameron says his party would cut the deficit faster and further than Labour, but has yet to detail spending cuts.
The government plans to halve the deficit over four years but is reluctant to cut spending until recovery is assured."
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