tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post2794566257413435601..comments2024-03-27T16:39:43.522+00:00Comments on Liberal England: Ming Campbell in a hung parliamentJonathan Calderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730157683743989696noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-30255543420880491852007-02-18T19:13:00.000+00:002007-02-18T19:13:00.000+00:00Leo, I can sort of see where you're coming from, a...Leo, I can sort of see where you're coming from, and Linda, I can definitely see why you're disagreeing with Leo!<BR/><BR/>I think there's an overlap between us and both of the other parties, in the sense that there are people of a genuinely liberal persuasion within both Labour and the Tories - and from time to time, both of them have come up with liberal policies that we could happily go along with. But don't let that fool you into thinking that either of them is a fundamentally liberal party.<BR/><BR/>I think Ming is absolutely right not to talk about a hung parliament, and to try and work for "maximum votes and maximum seats" - because if we ally ourselves to one of the other parties before the election, we'll lose the ability to be independent in putting forward new ideas. <BR/><BR/>But if we did, Leo, it would be wrong to refuse to talk about anything bar electoral reform. Electoral reform is important, and could be a key element in a coalition agreement, but if we are in a hung parliament situation, it means we haven't won a majority of seats, and therefore don't have a mandate to introduce our policies in full. It puts the responsibility on us to compromise as best as we can with the other parties, on an issue-by-issue basis, and I think that would be by far the best approach.Jonny Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07414994559548890103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-5507537582097521792007-02-18T17:18:00.000+00:002007-02-18T17:18:00.000+00:00Er.....Leo, really??! I certainly would not agree ...Er.....Leo, really??! I certainly would not agree with your analysis, as Ming himself said "Dave, you're no liberal!" I do agree though that it would be dangerous to align ourselves with New Labour.Linda Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07762261883067898298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-25369741460615346792007-02-17T23:36:00.000+00:002007-02-17T23:36:00.000+00:00It would certainly be foolish for Ming to align th...It would certainly be foolish for Ming to align the party with the doomed New Labour project, and we have to face up to the fact that the Party has far more in common, ideologically, with Cameron's liberal conservatism.<BR/><BR/>That said, the only issue the Lib Dems should be prepared to co-operate on is electoral reform. A hung parliament is arguably the only scenario in which either labour or the tories would even contemplate reforming the electoral system. As it stands, i think Cameron <I>might</I> be prepared to look at AV+. Certainly moreso than Brown.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com