They talk of the international situation, the need to increase the size of the British Army and the strange death of the Conservative Party.
As Mike observes, David Cameron suspended cabinet collective responsibility for the 2016 EU referendum, and the Tories never regained a sense of responsibility after it.
They spent a decade fighting a civil war rather than governing the country. Hence many of the problems we now face, including the underfunded condition of Britain's Armed Forces.
Cohen suggests that the media missed the biggest story of the 2024 general election - the gains the Liberal Democrats made in what used to be the heart of Tory England.
Mike Martin's Tunbridge Wells seat is perhaps the most startling example of this, and he says it's easy to imagine the Tories finishing third there in May's local elections, behind the Lib Dems and Reform.
Nothing strange there. Harold Wilson also suspended collective responsibility for the 1975 EU referendum and that led to almost a couple of decades of infighting in the Labour party before Blair became leader.
ReplyDeleteAt least Wilson won his referendum, and the parliamentary party stayed reasonably united until after the 1979 election.
DeleteI am becoming genuinely impressed by the calibre of the new Lib Dem MPs (on the rare occasions they get any extended time in the media, that is!)
ReplyDeleteIain Dale and Alistair Carmichael both remarked on this in another recent podcast. https://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2025/02/alistair-carmichael-marks-75th.html
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