Being a Liberal Democrat frequently entails (as I’m sure it did in the past) a good dosage of self-deprecation. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve said (probably to my shame) “someone’s got to do it” as a nervous adjunct to the declaration of my political allegiance. I’ve little doubt that being a Lib Dem has always attracted ridicule; think of Mrs Thatcher’s “this parrot is dead” ode to Monty Python in a party conference speech. However, the challenge now is quite different; as a party of government, they are on the back foot.
In times gone by, the Lib Dems may well have been disregarded by the political establishment, but as a party comfortably in third place, they had the opportunistic luxury of opposing anything and everything that was unpopular. This isn’t to question their integrity, quite the opposite; their opposition to the Iraq War in 2003 when Labour and the Conservatives were in full support (not to mention the substantial media pressure) was full of conviction. However, Tony Blair’s view of them in A Journey was that of an unwillingness to take tough decisions. Read his quote here, and take in the irony of it in the context of the Coalition now:
"The Lib Dems seemed to be happier as the ‘honest’ critics, prodding
and probing and pushing, but unwilling to take on the mantle of responsibility
for the hard choices and endure the rough passages”.
The tuition fee debate has been done to death, but it’s worth another referencing point. The Lib Dems of course believe (and believed) in free education and were against tuition fees, but could also oppose them in past manifestos due to not being a party of government. Now the tuition fee increase is a stick used to beat the party with. It’s far harder to defend a record than to attack one, but at the tender age of 21 I can’t moan too much; imagine what the transition from opposition to government was like for Liberal Democrats (and formerly Liberals) up and down the country who’ve seen generations pass.
In times gone by, the Lib Dems may well have been disregarded by the political establishment, but as a party comfortably in third place, they had the opportunistic luxury of opposing anything and everything that was unpopular. This isn’t to question their integrity, quite the opposite; their opposition to the Iraq War in 2003 when Labour and the Conservatives were in full support (not to mention the substantial media pressure) was full of conviction. However, Tony Blair’s view of them in A Journey was that of an unwillingness to take tough decisions. Read his quote here, and take in the irony of it in the context of the Coalition now:
"The Lib Dems seemed to be happier as the ‘honest’ critics, prodding
and probing and pushing, but unwilling to take on the mantle of responsibility
for the hard choices and endure the rough passages”.
The tuition fee debate has been done to death, but it’s worth another referencing point. The Lib Dems of course believe (and believed) in free education and were against tuition fees, but could also oppose them in past manifestos due to not being a party of government. Now the tuition fee increase is a stick used to beat the party with. It’s far harder to defend a record than to attack one, but at the tender age of 21 I can’t moan too much; imagine what the transition from opposition to government was like for Liberal Democrats (and formerly Liberals) up and down the country who’ve seen generations pass.
It’s not the case that there’s little to defend; on the contrary. Forgive the ‘Gordon Brown shopping list’ approach, but some of the Lib Dem achievements listed are potent; an increase in the income tax threshold to £10,000, halving detention without charge, triple lock on state pensions, the multi-billion pound pupil premium, a banking levy, ending child detention for immigration purposes, scrapping ID cards, commitment for overseas development at 0.8% GDP, fixed-term parliaments, shared parental leave and no like for like replacement of Trident (to name a few). As a Coalition, the deficit has been cut by a third, 1.2 million new apprenticeships have been added along with 1 million new jobs since 2010. The problem is that these achievements are often ignored and slapped with the reply of “you sold out” and “I’m never voting for you again”. It’s futile to hope for any positive Lib Dem message on the comments page of any article from The Guardian, and normative cries of “never trusting that weasel and his toast party” curiously gain credibility, at least on the Facebook 'like' level. As a Lib Dem, there’s sometimes a horrible sense of inevitably when trumping successes in government that a verbal backlash will follow in due course.
I recently represented the Lib Dems on a Question Time-style debating panel at the University of Manchester Debating Union. I’m not ashamed to say that I was bricking it prior to the debate. Public speaking wasn’t necessarily the problem; I have given talks before. However, the difference before was that, more than not, the audience were sympathetic and of the wish for me to do well. With no other Lib Dems in a room of around 100 people, I felt like I was bringing a knife to a gunfight. Joining me on the panel were representatives from the Conservatives, Labour (whose speaker was, it must be said, a doppelgänger for Damon Albarn), Greens, anti-capitalist students and the liberty league. I felt that I didn’t slip up, but I didn’t deliver any knock-out blows or raise applause from the audience. Briefly taking tribalism out of the issue, the other members of the panel spoke with great conviction. Whilst there was some political banter, the panel was relatively cordial, and there was little (if any) talking over each other or interrupting. As before, I did my best to highlight our achievements, and to the credit of (what seemed to be) a predominantly left wing audience and the panel, the tuition fee debacle wasn’t thrown back in my face. The questions were mercifully straightforward, and structured like this:
1) Question on proposed privatisation of the student loan book
2) Would you agree that the UK economy is back on track?
3) What should be done about rising energy prices?
4) If we were to leave the EU, would jobs suffer?
5) With so many cuts to vital services, should we really be wasting so much money on renewing Trident?
The debate highlighted the back-foot scenario; I was lucky not to be jeered and was able to list some of our achievements, but ultimately the opposition on the panel (i.e. the whole panel bar the Conservatives) had the potent retorts on the economy and gained the applause as a consequence. However, if we are to read back to the Tony Blair quote, this is the approach that the Lib Dems relished prior to 2010, and did they get policies into government in return?
This article may have painted a bleak and negative image. It highlights the tasks faced by Lib Dems around the country. However, as Lib Dems we are fighting for convictions and, for the first time in generations, policies in government. Uncomfortable compromises and decisions have had to be made, but it’s a sign of maturity. Surely if the Lib Dems had rejected government altogether in 2010 for the ‘pure’ approach, what would be the point in voting for them? Parties are unfortunately tainted by government, sometimes by selfish and foolish means, but often by necessity and pragmatism. UKIP are the populist ‘none of the above’ party today, and in the debate the Greens filled that platform (although unlike UKIP, they have some good policies); if they were to ever reach power in government, they too would have to make uncomfortable deals and drop cherished policies.
The Lib Dems can always find encouragement. I love the quote from an unnamed Tory after the Eastleigh by-election of our “sheer bloody resilience. They just won’t lie down and die”. James Kirkup of the Daily Telegraph said “If UKIP is the hammer that has come crashing down on David Cameron, the Lib Dems are the anvil”. The joke is sometimes made that in the aftermath of nuclear destruction, the remaining survivors would be cockroaches and Lib Dem activists carrying focus newsletters. There are proud policies to fight for both from the 2010 manifesto and for the prospective 2015 manifesto; plans to raise the income tax threshold to the minimum wage level should be shouted from the rooftops.
It’s very daunting to be a Liberal Democrat, and it’s far from easy. However, if we can extract noble stoicism from this, the Liberal Democrats can leave their mark on British politics.
I recently represented the Lib Dems on a Question Time-style debating panel at the University of Manchester Debating Union. I’m not ashamed to say that I was bricking it prior to the debate. Public speaking wasn’t necessarily the problem; I have given talks before. However, the difference before was that, more than not, the audience were sympathetic and of the wish for me to do well. With no other Lib Dems in a room of around 100 people, I felt like I was bringing a knife to a gunfight. Joining me on the panel were representatives from the Conservatives, Labour (whose speaker was, it must be said, a doppelgänger for Damon Albarn), Greens, anti-capitalist students and the liberty league. I felt that I didn’t slip up, but I didn’t deliver any knock-out blows or raise applause from the audience. Briefly taking tribalism out of the issue, the other members of the panel spoke with great conviction. Whilst there was some political banter, the panel was relatively cordial, and there was little (if any) talking over each other or interrupting. As before, I did my best to highlight our achievements, and to the credit of (what seemed to be) a predominantly left wing audience and the panel, the tuition fee debacle wasn’t thrown back in my face. The questions were mercifully straightforward, and structured like this:
1) Question on proposed privatisation of the student loan book
2) Would you agree that the UK economy is back on track?
3) What should be done about rising energy prices?
4) If we were to leave the EU, would jobs suffer?
5) With so many cuts to vital services, should we really be wasting so much money on renewing Trident?
The debate highlighted the back-foot scenario; I was lucky not to be jeered and was able to list some of our achievements, but ultimately the opposition on the panel (i.e. the whole panel bar the Conservatives) had the potent retorts on the economy and gained the applause as a consequence. However, if we are to read back to the Tony Blair quote, this is the approach that the Lib Dems relished prior to 2010, and did they get policies into government in return?
This article may have painted a bleak and negative image. It highlights the tasks faced by Lib Dems around the country. However, as Lib Dems we are fighting for convictions and, for the first time in generations, policies in government. Uncomfortable compromises and decisions have had to be made, but it’s a sign of maturity. Surely if the Lib Dems had rejected government altogether in 2010 for the ‘pure’ approach, what would be the point in voting for them? Parties are unfortunately tainted by government, sometimes by selfish and foolish means, but often by necessity and pragmatism. UKIP are the populist ‘none of the above’ party today, and in the debate the Greens filled that platform (although unlike UKIP, they have some good policies); if they were to ever reach power in government, they too would have to make uncomfortable deals and drop cherished policies.
The Lib Dems can always find encouragement. I love the quote from an unnamed Tory after the Eastleigh by-election of our “sheer bloody resilience. They just won’t lie down and die”. James Kirkup of the Daily Telegraph said “If UKIP is the hammer that has come crashing down on David Cameron, the Lib Dems are the anvil”. The joke is sometimes made that in the aftermath of nuclear destruction, the remaining survivors would be cockroaches and Lib Dem activists carrying focus newsletters. There are proud policies to fight for both from the 2010 manifesto and for the prospective 2015 manifesto; plans to raise the income tax threshold to the minimum wage level should be shouted from the rooftops.
It’s very daunting to be a Liberal Democrat, and it’s far from easy. However, if we can extract noble stoicism from this, the Liberal Democrats can leave their mark on British politics.
