tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22057922.post6951030470733127580..comments2023-10-30T14:03:37.394+00:00Comments on Lindylooz Muze: Nick Clegg wins the battle, but will he win the war? (or is it the other way round?!)Linda Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05155438246679688058noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22057922.post-17535624844306976772008-09-20T00:36:00.000+01:002008-09-20T00:36:00.000+01:00Linda, I beg to differ. How could the amendment ha...Linda, I beg to differ. How could the amendment have been misrepresented? It was there on the order paper in back and white (presumably). It read as follows:<BR/><BR/><I>“Conference further resolves that any reduction in overall levels of public expenditure should be a lower priority than measures to reduce inequality in British society, improving public services, including in particular health, education, child care and public transport, and making the urgent investments needed to tackle accelerating climate change.”</I><BR/><BR/>If that was supposed to be a unifying amendment, then it would surely need a complete rewrite. To say that reducing inequality and tackling climate change should take priority over tax cuts is, in effect, to say that there will never be tax cuts. We could massively increase public expenditure and arguably still not be doing enough on inequality and climate change. Those things are endeavours virtually without limit.<BR/><BR/>I’m so sorry we disagree Linda. I wish there was something I could do to make us all one big happy family again. But Alix makes an interesting point. We need each other more than ever!Laurence Boycehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17838530535994771528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22057922.post-20092582702486493802008-09-19T23:47:00.000+01:002008-09-19T23:47:00.000+01:00I hope she doesn't leave. I'll tell you why (tell ...I hope she doesn't leave. I'll tell you why (tell her next time you see her!): I am a self-identifying liberal who backs the tax cut idea over and above the blank-cheque-for-the-state idea. But I need her to inform my point of view.<BR/><BR/>I wouldn't like to be part of a party which wasn't informed by both the liberal instinct AND the social democratic instinct. They can't function properly apart. The two ideologies need each other, to keep each other honest.<BR/><BR/>I sometimes wonder if it's a generation thing, in the sense that I can't really remember a world without the Lib Dems in it, so I don't see what you describe as a "fault line". To me it's just the way it is, and it's why our policy-making process is so robust. I just can't see this in terms of a split. Disagreement is healthy (in spite of what other political parties think, with their lack of genuine debate) and it promotes strong, rational policy discussion, with genuine challenges from both sides. This is a good thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com