tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post6217914613603004579..comments2024-03-27T16:39:43.522+00:00Comments on Liberal England: Some unsolicited political advice for Nick CleggJonathan Calderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730157683743989696noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-24764468482310333842012-04-04T18:58:34.159+01:002012-04-04T18:58:34.159+01:00Phil Hunt tells me he has tried to leave the follo...<i><a href="http://cabalamat.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow">Phil Hunt</a> tells me he has tried to leave the following comment a couple of times without success.</i><br><br /><br />"But like every other Lib Dem I have heard from today, I cannot<br />support him over email snooping."<br><br />Sadly -- and I say this as a former Lib Dem myself -- Nick Clegg<br />doesn't stand for Lib Dem values.<br /><br><br />I suggest that people who don't like this leave the Lib Dems and join<br />the <a href="http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/" rel="nofollow">Pirate Party</a>. Civil<br />liberties on the internet is a core issue for us: we're totally<br />against the online surveillance regime this would institute.<br><br />And in truth, if you did join the Pirates, you wouldn't be leaving the<br />Lib Dems, it's the Lib Dem leadership that has left you. The policies<br />that Nick Clegg supports in cabinet are not Lib Dem policies.Jonathan Calderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00730157683743989696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-89561656154152863852012-04-04T16:13:31.599+01:002012-04-04T16:13:31.599+01:00As I posted on another blog, who the hell picks th...As I posted on another blog, who the hell picks these utterly utterly useless "SpUds"?? <br /><br />Some of us will be dusting off the LibDem constitution if Clegg doesn't get his act together quite soon and looking at the various clauses, particularly 10.2(f)Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10089679573384155226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-48387690993019488032012-04-04T10:16:42.642+01:002012-04-04T10:16:42.642+01:00Watching this unfold I had the same thought.
This...Watching this unfold I had the same thought.<br /><br />This has the potential to destroy the LibDem core vote (as tiny as it is).<br /><br />It looks from here like LibDem ministers have gone native and will only listen to the mandarins who push this sort of thing no matter what the government (like ID cards - I'm sure that those civil servants who wanted them are calling for them still).<br /><br />Personally I am incredibly disappointed - it is the one area where I trusted the LibDems to stay firm. I am glad to see the membership and some MPs are opposing this, but that will not come across to voters.Tristanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15395992764678278326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-60403586622206821562012-04-04T01:01:37.751+01:002012-04-04T01:01:37.751+01:00Adam,
As someone who has voted for the Lib Dems i...Adam,<br /><br />As someone who has voted for the Lib Dems in the past (though not in 2010) but not been a party member your "dual role" comment is indicative of Jonathan's point about Clegg being subservient to Cameron... the public don't see it as being a dual role. Anything Clegg says as DPM he is also saying as LD party leader. <br /><br />Of course I realise he'd be doing and saying different things if he was PM in a majority LD government but LDs and Clegg can't innoculate their party from what he in particular and the party in general does and says in government.<br /><br />I wholeheartedly agree with you that he needs to start with no comment rather than flip-flopping or (equally bad) looking as if he is not listening to the party.<br /><br />It's a pretty shambolic way to conduct oneself in government if the Home Office can release a statement that seems to go so fundamentally against liberal values.Simonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-38566403612100695622012-04-04T00:03:00.030+01:002012-04-04T00:03:00.030+01:00Jonathan,
Very clearly written, thank you. I hop...Jonathan,<br /><br />Very clearly written, thank you. I hope the LD party leadership is listening. Strengthening the core vote is an essential - and that requires a clear definition of what the Liberal Democrats stand for and sticking by it. Everything I understand of the LDs tells me that this proposal is the antithesis.<br /><br />Paul McKeownAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-41392308946692266372012-04-03T22:52:03.736+01:002012-04-03T22:52:03.736+01:00I think it's partly the fundamental problem of...I think it's partly the fundamental problem of Nick's dual role as DPM and LD Leader (as well as MP and mind-of-his-own). He's commenting on Govt proposals as DPM but then once he gets feedback from the party and public he might have to say something else as LD Leader (or else unsuccessfully try to change the minds of party members). Cameron's euro-veto springs to mind as another example.<br /><br />These spads need to find a way for his office to say to the press, "No comment - my party and I first need to study the details of A and B to make sure it's in accordance with the liberal values of X, Y and Z." It's not the best of images but it's far better - for him and for the party - than any more flip-flopping.Adamnoreply@blogger.com