The comment here attacks the Lib Dems for having too much infuence over the Tories in comparison to our mutual Parliamentary sizes.
It states:
"We appreciate that our political leaders are in uncharted territory and will sometimes find it difficult to plot a consistent course. None the less, there is undoubtedly too much of the Lib Dem tail wagging the Tory dog".
Well all I can say, is thank God for that.
The Torygraph complains about Nick Clegg's comments this week about the "outrageous plans to force Universities to accept quotas of pupils from state school on pain of a huge fine". Well if Universities are going to be free to charge higher tuition fees than before then damned right they should be forced to ensure that pupils from state schools have the opportunity of taking up degrees.
It bemoans the fact that the Lib Dems are 'banker-bashing' - again, hell yeah. It's totally unacceptable to see such large bonuses for executives in banks that have been bailed out by us the tax-payer.
It chastises the Lib Dems because we're a party that "doesn't like Trident". Again, why should we? It's a waste of money to spend tax-payers cash on a defensive set-up that was built for the Cold War. Our conventional forces in Afghanistan could well do with better resources and the savings made by not renewing Trident would help us to better support our front-line forces.
More Power to the Lib Dem Tail
This is why the UK is benefiting from having the Lib Dems in Coalition. Imagine how reactionary a Tory-only Government would have been?
There's a real liberal hue running through this government and whilst not every policy or decision made is to our liking as liberals, we must accept that this is a coalition where two disparate political groupings have come together in the national interest. But it's clear that without our positive, progressive and compassionate input, things would be a lot tougher for the country
If the Daily Torygraph are complaining about our influence in government then the Lib Dems must be doing something right.
I have been a wholehearted supporter of the coalition because:-
ReplyDelete1. There was no other alternative that could ensure strong Government after the mess left by Labour, and
2. Every policy announcement coming out seems to have a Lib Dem flavour to it, to a strong degree. Its taken 9 months for the right wing Tory press to realise that the Lib Dems are punching well above their weight.
Those who criticise us, for example on the tuition fees vote, fail to realise that we are in coalition and we are the junior partner with just 57 MP's, compared to 309 Conservatives. I think I got the numbers right. Its not a Lib Dem Government any more than its a Conservative Government.
The Lib Dems are making one hell of a difference and had the Conservatives had free rein to do as they wish, I dread to think what the news headlines would be.
What I do know is that we are setting the agenda as a party and as a Government.
Labour are just a complete waste of space and are only doing well in the polls as they haven't made any useful proposals that could be considered by the Government. They just oppose for the sake of it and populism and they have not apologised for their actions and the mess.
Long may the Lib Dems tail continue to wag the Tory tail.