They can maybe save the country from a national disaster, but they have set themselves on a path of destruction if they succeed.
When the Liberal Democrats made the fateful decision to join forces with the Tories in a coalition in 2010, they turned their back on the values that were once so integral to the party.
Under the leadership of Nick Clegg, they abandoned many of the social democratic policies that won them popularity, including their pledge to abolish tuition fees, and it proved a costly fault as they lost a whopping 48 seats in the House of Commons during the 2015 elections.
Since 2015, the party has slowly been trying to build itself back up from the eight seats it was left with, and now holds itself as an alternative solution to Brexit.
While the Conservatives face knock-back after knock-back on negotiations and juggle inner-party turmoil, the Liberal Democrats have made their stance so very clear: let’s not do Brexit. A simple thing to do when you have only 18 MPs.
However, can the party really be trusted?
After all, just today they made a 180 turn and moved away from their campaign for a “People’s Vote”, with members voting to cancel Brexit if they win the general election at the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth that the party would be campaigning for Article 50, the bill which notified the EU of the UK’s departure, to be revoked.
Following the vote, Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson said that they would “do all we can to fight for our place in Europe, and to stop Brexit altogether.”
Now I, and probably all of you reading this, really do not want to leave the EU. I’ve never known any different and the thought of medicinal shortages, food shortages, hard borders, and other disastrous events are quite terrifying.
The Liberal Democrats are offering the perfect solution I can get behind, but their history, as well as the current moves are concerning.
The onboarding of Conservative defects such as Sam Gyimah and Phillip Lee is disturbing, especially Lee, who has historically campaigned against LGBT+ progression, including same-sex marriage.
They may have to “go through a process with our chief whip” to ensure they share liberal values, according to Swinson, but the Lib Dems will risk turning into a party that only focusses on one issue: Brexit. And what happens if they do get elected, stop Brexit, and then they have a cabinet falling apart at the seams because they can’t agree on any other area of politics?
They can maybe save the country from a national disaster, but they have set themselves on a path of destruction if they succeed.
Meka Beresford is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Twitter.
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6 Responses to “Can we trust the Lib Dems?”
Tom Sacold
The 2010 coalition government with the Tories is a good place to start. – “You will know them by their fruits.”
From my old Labour campaigning days the Liberals were always underhand and dirty. Say anything and do anything for attention and publicity. When they got a councillor elected they were usually lazy and useless. As we saw back in 2010 when they got into power they just morphed into Tories for 5 years.
Patrick Newman
Why ask the question? Clegg said the LD’s would not allow the deficit to be dealt with on the backs of working people – we got 5 years of severe austerity. He also made promises on tuition fees which generated a pop song when the promise was comprehensively broken. The Lib Dems enthusiastically supped with the Tory devil with a short spoon and it was not long before they were wearing Tory clothes and sleeping at the foot of the Tory bed. Swinson enthusiastically embraced her Tory contrived role. Party hopping Umunna will fit well in the Lib Dems!
clive Baulch
NO. They not only threw out all their values for a pile of potage known as the Tory/Lib coalition back in 2010 (halcyon days weren’t they.Not) But historically don’t they always do the same. ‘What about these values. Dump ’em and we could have a go at Power’. And don’t get me started on the manoeuvring and the lies that went on with the Libs after The Labour Party decided that they could go it alone without the help of the Liberals. Some of us have very long memories where the Lib Dems are concerned!
Heather Edmondson
Yes we can trust the LIBERAL DEMOCRATS ITS THE Tories and labours JEREMY CORBYN YOU CANT TRRUST. All parties make mistakes and Nick Clegg made a huge one others have been forgiven. LIBERAL DEMOCRATS FOR REMAIN.
steve
Liberal Democrats are Tories by another name.
But so was New Labour with its NHS privatisation and, let’s not forget, Brown went into the 2010 general election promising cuts (i.e. austerity) “worse than Thatcher”.
Forget the ‘Peoples Vote’ nonsense. Why on earth would anyone want to remain with the neoliberal status quo? Instead, go for a radical alternative. And remember, the pro-market EU Commission and EU Court will always block any move towards a ‘people first’ solution or even a Green New Deal.