Per The Telegraph:
The Guardian claimed that according to senior Lib Dem sources, Nick Clegg would ask whichever party forms the next government to invest extra funds in education through a pupil premium for disadvantaged children, as well as raising taxes on the rich by requiring capital gains and income to be taxed at the rate.
Mr Clegg would also demand changes to the voting system, a democratically elected House of Lords and more focus on a greener economy.
So, good to see Nick Clegg is as committed to those "savage cuts" as I expected him to be.
The above wish list, mostly in devolved areas so irrelevant north of the border, is a bit of a headache for the Scottish Lib Dems who still remain without a big policy to sell to the public.
I don't know what Tavish Scott is banking on to deliver a very ambitious haul of a quarter of Scottish seats for his party but he'd better get thinking or he'll find himself in the past its sell by date section.
Salmond vs Trump
19 minutes ago
8 comments:
The Fib Dems have no policy. They operate on the position of wait until something constructive is announced then pick holes
An irrelevent Party, why do you give them any comment!? They are nuisance with nothing to say about anything that they will only backtrack on later.
I feel some sympathy for the Lib Dems, but they're a Westminster party and London sets the tone for the Scottish LibDems.
The Steel Report they put out a while ago, "Towards a Federal Britain" seemed to argue for significant rights for the Scottish people (and the Welsh, Cornish, and English, as Constituent member states of the UK) but they haven't seemed to pay much attention to their stated ideals of federalization.
If they actually fought for what they say they believe in, I'd support them a lot more.
I would argue that Federalization might save the UK without depriving Scotland of its rights. Most of the Scottish Unionists in 1707 wanted a Federal union, rather than a parliamentary one, in the first place.
-QR
Totally agree Jeff. The Lib Dems big idea should be Devo Max, but they are so caught up in Nat bashing that they certainly wouldn't want to be seen as part of a 'gradualist' SNP strategy. They prefer in fact to hang on in there until their only real big idea - coalition with Labour - comes around again. Pathetic.
Groan.....
yes the Steele report is interesting, often for what it doesn't say as much as what it includes. Unfortunately the orange book liberals dropped any realistic thought of federalism a long time ago. It's just a faux flag that they run up when challenged on devolving power.
In the end, I can't help but wonder if the Liberals would be politically finished by going into coalition with the labour party but I suspect Cable & Clegg are thinking about their 'legacy'.....
Most lib dems I meet are decent enough folk but I would leave them to running the church raffle. Not trying to run the government.
There is something non commital and weak about them.
It is like a group of rejects, misfits and some part time environmentalists who are not committed enough to join the Greens.
Quiet Reckoning:
The Lib-Dems have no big ideas as far as the constitution goes. All they've got is Labour's, "Nations and Regions", devolution policy tarted up as federalism. It's Scotland, Wales, NI and English regions for the Lib-Dems not a federal vision based on the four original nations of the UK.
Give people in England the choice of having directly elected regional assemblies where approved through referendums which would take powers and functions from central government and unelected quangos. In other areas we will encourage local authorities to form partnerships to take on the necessary strategic decision-making roles.
Even the party itself is devolutionary not federal. They've got the British party covering all the UK with Scottish and Welsh opt-outs. For those who argue that it is a federal party can someone post a link to the English Lib-Dems web-site for me?
I'd agree with the other commenters here. The Lib-Dems big, wet dream is a coalition with Labour in Westminster so they can get their bums on Mondeos again just as they did in the Scottish Parliament.
Ha Ha ha Ha! Ha Ha ha ha!
Post a Comment