Posted in Lib-Dems

Rennard’s Syndrome

What is it about powerful men, sexual assault allegations, and the inability of ostensibly democratic parties to treat such accusations with due weight and carry through proper investigations? I suppose to pose the question that way is to answer it. The Liberal Democrats’ handling of the Lord Rennard enquiry has been a proper shambles, involving cock ups and conspiracies, accusations passed over for the “good of the party”, legalistic burdens of proof, refusals to apologise, bizarre defences of conduct and, latterly, blood-curdling threats. Far be it for me to point you at Dan Hodges two days running, but his piece is the best summation I’ve seen.

You can almost understand why the higher ups covered for this – ironically – untouchable LibDem. He is/was a “genius”. It was Rennard who came up with the LibDems’ turn to so-called pavement politics in the 90s, of appearing to be all things to all people. I also think it was Rennard who came up with the stirring slogans “it’s a two horse race!”, “winning here!”, and the sublime beauty of the LibDem bar chart. Give him his due, Rennard’s strategic nous was very useful for the LibDems. One should not overplay him as a factor in the party’s successes between 1989 and 2009. After all, by that point the respective declines of Toryism and Labourism had sent in. But Rennard took the advantages the circumstances afforded and ran with them. If anyone can take the credit for building the yellow party into the third political force, it’s him. Continue reading →

Labour and coalition talk

Balls & Cable at No11Have I just hopped off the TARDIS? Everywhere I look there’s talk of Labour Labour going into coalition with the Liberal Democrats. It looks and smells oddly like the lead-up to the last general election. As politicians tend not to look back at their party’s second-ever worse electoral defeat with fondness, what then has prompted Ed Balls “conciliatory” comments towards the Yellow Party? Why is talk of renewed Lib-Lab nuptials in the air?

The political economy of our media plays a role. Continuous coverage fosters a dull conformity among politicians. Government and opposition MPs alike drone into the camera and evade questions without a hint of colour or verve of independence, lest they be found off-message and cause their respective bosses headaches. With column inches and broadcast slots to fill, when a politician does say a few warm words, such as the friendly conversation Ed Balls and Nick Clegg had in a mysteriously unstated location, or entertains the mere possibility that the next Parliament could also be hung, the comments get blown up. The discipline party leaders expect of their troops and lieutenants feeds the likelihood of the media running away with a non-story. Continue reading →

Will future Labour conferences be as boring as the Lib Dems?

Nick CleggWhy does the Liberal Democrat conference look so boring? In the bare basics of their procedures and practices, the Lib Dems probably crack down on dissent and debate less than Labour or the Tories. And yet as middle aged white men with horrendous jumpers take to the podium on TV, I can’t help thanking god Labour’s not like that. Even if Clegg’s lot do seem to have a more laissez-faire party machine.

Maybe it’s because when you see this bunch vote for a mild-mannered “investigation” into the bedroom tax, you know that it’s the same lot who voted overwhelmingly for the coalition agreement that props such measures up. But it’s bigger than that. You look at them and you wonder what binds them together. And it turns out it’s only the membership card of an increasingly irrelevant organisation. No common principles other than wishy-washery and opportunism. No class solidarity. And a tradition that was always confused and contrived to begin with.

Continue reading →

The coming Lib Dem – Tory war

Vince Cable yellowBelieve it or not, there is one time of the year the political commentariat are more insufferable than the nonsense of the silly season. And that’s when it’s Liberal Democrat conference. And it is painful, I mean, really painful. Let’s look at the exhibits.

Underneath the demand-destroying cuts and general laissez-faire attitude to economics, Vince Cable has been hinting that he’s a bit of a lefty (again). There are “red lines” he tells us. Matters of principle that would have him up sticks from the cabinet should the government do especially appalling things. I wonder what they are. Continue reading →

What do Lib Dems believe in? Take your pick

Duncan_Hames_at_Sheffield_2011As the Liberal Democrat conference unfolds, it has given me cause for reflection of my own experience over the last few weeks, speaking to voters in the towns and villages that make up the Chippenham constituency, particularly Bradford, Chippenham, Corsham and Melksham, I have been struck by how many voters feel personally betrayed by Lib Deb MP, Duncan Hames.

I spoke to one woman from Corsham, a life long Labour supporter, who was persuaded to vote Lib Dem in 2010 after meeting Duncan Hames in the street, and him looking her in the eye and assuring her that the only way to stop a Conservative government was to vote for him. Since then Mr Hames has been staunch supporter of the Conservative led government. Continue reading →