Saturday, January 05, 2008

Nick Clegg's first speech drives Labour councillor out of politics

I suppose this has to count as a result of a sort.

The News & Star reports that a leading member of Carlisle City Council’s Labour group is to quit the party and stand down as a councillor because he has become disenchanted with mainstream politics.

John Reardon, who was the Labour candidate when Tim Farron gained Westmorland & Lonsdale at the last election, told the paper:

“The defining moment for me was when I read a transcript of Nick Clegg’s speech [when elected leader of the Liberal Democrats].

“It was indistinguishable from the speech Tony Blair gave when he became Labour leader and that of David Cameron when he became leader of the Conservatives.

“Verbless sentences and vacuous sentiments totally dominate British politics now. No one is prepared to challenge society’s self-destructive and materialist ethos.

What Nick has to do now is prove Reardon wrong.
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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous06 January, 2008 00:56

    I have to say I agree with Reardon!
    Verbless sentences packed with platitudes make me cring too. Sorry Nick, you're better tahn this, I suggest your New Year's resolution should be to get some of your image obsessed PR types out of the Leader's bunker!

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  2. Anonymous09 February, 2008 11:05

    Might be worth giving some background information to this story. Reardon has since endorsed the BNP.

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  3. John Reardon15 March, 2008 21:02

    I have not endorsed the BNP; they BNP used the comments I made for their own ends in a leaflet that is currently with solicitors. Since I am helping to co-ordinate the campaign in Carlisle against this nasty bunch of thugs, with their racist and fascist views, I find these allegations deeply upsetting.

    The point I am attempting to make is that all the political parties have endorsed the neo-liberal agenda of privatisation and asset stripping. Nobody is prepared to address issues of social justice or climate change in any meaninglful way. Nick Clegg is absolutely right, however, to call for large sclae constitutional reform. However, a hung parliament is unlikely and wouldn't necessarily lead to change anyway. Moreover, Labour and the Tories are hardly likely to destroy the system that guarantees them the prospect of unlimited power on 36% of the vote, are they?

    ReplyDelete