tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34128264.post394671955676784536..comments2024-03-25T12:55:40.911+00:00Comments on Caron's Musings: Nick Clegg comes out fighting on Andrew Marr - but he must not have final say on Health Reform BillAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04988201531739344840noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34128264.post-37426041153857725622011-05-10T21:53:05.226+01:002011-05-10T21:53:05.226+01:00I too noticed that Nick framed his response on the...I too noticed that Nick framed his response on the reform of the NHS very careful - that he wouldn't proceed with something that *he* wasn't happy with. At the time I thought that opened up a rather wide range of possibilities, in terms of the extent to which what is proposed might command support in the party more broadly.Alex Marshhttp://alexarchives.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34128264.post-61936784617374737972011-05-08T13:37:16.687+01:002011-05-08T13:37:16.687+01:00As a party we've spent years burnishing our cr...As a party we've spent years burnishing our credentials are the standard-bearers for social justice and compassionate politics. Yet when we do get into government we promptly ditch all that and lend our commons votes to policies the likes of which I spent most of my adult life arguing and campaigning against. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that we are doing the exact opposite of what I have worked/campaigned for.<br /><br />And now we know what the public thinks of our collaboration with the lineal descendants of Thatcher and Tebbit. As has been pointed out, this is not a matter of presentation or PR or gloss - people are experiencing DIRECTLY the cuts and communal demolition and restrictions and demeaning assessments which are part and parcel of the Tory agenda, so no amount of explaining the 75%, or babbling the words Liberal or Progressive at every opportunity is going to somehow make people turn around and think kindly of us. We only get to call ourselves progressive if we actually make peoples's lives better.<br /><br />And Allan H is right - it has now come down to Clegg. No matter what election we may face in the next 12 months, all any of our opponents have to do is put Nick Clegg's face on a leaflet or a poster in order to gain some sympathy for their candidate. He has almost single-handedly brought about the loss of 700+ councillors and MSPs, in effect wrecking 23 years of campaigning and hard work. God knows what awaits us next year if he is still in charge.<br /><br />He has been an epic failure, and he has to step down.mike cobleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34128264.post-41704442396088295302011-05-08T12:32:15.470+01:002011-05-08T12:32:15.470+01:00Perhaps 75% of the Lib Dem manifesto is being impl...Perhaps 75% of the Lib Dem manifesto is being implemented but a lot of the headings are civil liberties issues which, although important, are not of vital importance to the electorate. The really big policies that this government are implementing are Tory policies for which they have no popular mandate and, in the case of NHS 'reform', were not even in their own manifesto, far less ours. We had no policy to privatise the NHS, stigmatise the disadvantaged and trash the welfare state. Our main issue is not presentation, it its the perception amongst our core vote that we have betrayed our fundamental principles.KelvinKidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01118042006400401585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34128264.post-66215230408378860472011-05-08T12:05:41.541+01:002011-05-08T12:05:41.541+01:00So it's now got round to Clegg recycling quote...So it's now got round to Clegg recycling quotes from Charles Kennedy.<br /><br />The man has no tactical sense whatsoever - that's been the case from before the coalition and it's not accurate to try and assign our troubles purely to the coalition. Some examples:-<br /><br />- we had seemingly already agreed in February of last year that student fees were negotiable. Despite that we still campaigned heavily on this issue with no wiggle room. All accentuated by our agreement to sign the student pledge approval for which was made by Clegg.<br /><br />- we have yet to provide a satisfactory answer about our volte-face on economic policy. Mervyn King made a liar out of Clegg's first attempt to suggest that the figures were worse than they realised. He then backtracked and suggested that this became clear in the month's preceding the election but after the manifesto had been finalised. Again, where was the wiggle room in the campaign. None whatsoever.<br /><br />- despite the last general election ALWAYS being most likely to end up with a hung parliament the Liberal Democrats as the party in favour of PR and the one accepting of coalitions have seemed to be utterly unprepared for it. And we have also failed both before and after the election to educate people on what this means. Clegg's utterances have been appaling in this regard - some others have been better but their comments are usually kept out of the new by the drivel Clegg frequently comes up with. "We finished third" is the response of a petulant schoolkid.<br /><br />- once the coalition was formed, Clegg's position was that we had to "own" the coalition. Complete and utter nonsense and that weakened our position from the outset. It was also a prime candidate in making Clegg the issue.<br /><br />- having a referendum on AV at all has always been a disaster in my view. Having it on the same day as partisan elections demonstrates the absence of common sense in the Clegg braincells.<br /><br />There is more (I've not mentioned the NHS debacle when a bill for top-down reform appears - and lauded by Clegg for its' considerable Liberal Democrat influence - despite this being explicitly stated in the coalition agreement that this would not happen) but the bottom line is that we have long reached a point where Clegg is the issue. The golden rule is that when the person becomes the issue then they have to go.<br /><br />That's where we are - Clegg needs to go and go quickly. That does not need the coalition to break down and does not even need him to relinquish his role as Deputy Prime Minister. But I don't want him even beginning to attempt to speak for me because he lost that right some time ago.Allan Heronnoreply@blogger.com