Light the Blue Touch Paper and..........

OK, it looks like I have been a wee bit inactive for the last few months. That would be true! Having spent a great couple of months in the States I came back and threw myself into the thankless task of job hunting. But that doesn't mean I haven't been completely silent elsewhere. 

Today I followed up my February CiF piece with one raising the question about whether Nick Clegg should stand down as leader........if the LDV poll is to be believed that should annoy and please members in equal measure! To be honest, when I got the call from the Guardian this morning I knew it wasn't going to be easy to write and I hope even those who disagree with me will appreciate my attempt to be balanced. 

I have always been very fond of Nick and as my CiF piece explains, supported him because of his unquestionable liberal values. But those issues which used to be the hairline fractures in our theoretical discussions and policy disagreements, have, over the past two years become chasms. The leader who promised to double our presence in parliament over two parliaments now faces the possibility of achieving the opposite. He is a good man who I know believes he is doing the right thing, that it is a price worth paying for the country and the party. But I am afraid I disagree profoundly with him. Our erstwhile supporters feel betrayed that the party who promised a new kind of politics has slipped itself into the mire.


Elsewhere I have contributed to The New Statesman, Shifting Grounds, Lib Dem Voice and have my own Children and Young People Now Blog commenting on youth issues. 

Today I have also submitted my application to be the Lib Dem PCC candidate in Bedfordshire - gives a whole new meaning to lighting the blue touch paper.....

To quote Nick Clegg - Hold your Horses!

There has been a rather tetchy debate going on over at LDV, so I thought I would put me 10penneth in. In The Sunday Telegraph today they tell us that Mr Clegg has announced that he will cut £20 billion from public spending, which will be ploughed into tax cuts for middle earners. "We are now in a process of identifying what I believe will be the most radical package of tax- cutting measures for people on middle incomes," Now, as others have pointed out, I don't remember Nick having this as one of his objectives in the leadership campaign. Also he is going a lot further than what is promised in Make it Happen. I have no problem with Nick showing his leadership, but I do believe if he is going to pick a fight with a large cohort of the party now is not the time to do it.

As I have said before, I backed Nick because in terms of nearly all his objectives I am totally on the same page. But that doesn't mean I think his methodology is right. Of course no one can be against tax cuts in principle, but please please let's not make the means to an end an end in itself. What is it we want to achieve, what is our number one objective? If it is just "cutting taxes" then why bother with any public services at all? If it is about redistributing the tax burden in order to address the inequity that sees the poorest paying the highest proportion of tax, that is a noble aim. But that isn't what he is saying.

I would argue that if we did a proper cost benefit analysis of all public expenditure we could make long term gains that could be ploughed back into reducing inequality. Of course there are savings to be made, the vast sums spent on consultants, PFI, privatising public services, Trident. But I don't see these highlighted in Nick's proposals. Are we seriously suggesting that there is not a need for greater investment in neglected services? That we honestly think all our public services are adequately funded?

So, to quote Nick back to himself, my plea to him is "hold your horses!"

Conference ...... what's the point?

I have just voted in the LDV poll. Of course I would have preferred a poll that allowed us to prioritise, I also enjoy the socialising, fringes, general buzz..........but of course the highlight for me is the debate. Despite my occasional :-) moanings about stuff, I am rather proud that we do still have a process in policy making that involves the membership. If political activism is about anything it is surely based on the premise that collectively we can achieve more than we can on our own. When we lose the link with our grass roots to my mind we not only lose our legitimacy we also make worse decisions. I know there are some in our parliamentary party (because I have heard them) who would rather cut the feckless activists out of the process altogether, life would be so much easier wouldn't it. Yes, but we would fast turn into a think tank of the great and the good who never go near the great unwashed but presume to have something to say on how to make their lives better.....oh yes, just like Labour and the Tories!

There are flaws in the current process that I would like to see something done about. For example, I don't like the fact that parliamentary spokespeople can effectively block any motion/amendment they don't like. I believe we should have a system where the membership has a say in the policies they want to debate. This could either happen by sending out all competent motions to local parties to prioritise, or by reserving the last day of conference to debate motions prioritised by conference reps (rather as we do with emergency motions). Of course this would give some in the party the heeby jeebies - heavens we might have to debate a really controversial issue.........but I believe it would engender more involvement in the policy making process. As someone who has never had a motion accepted by FCC, I know how demoralising and demotivating it is. In fact the only motion I have ever had debated was one submitted for emergency where the activists prioritised it. Of course FCC may counter by accusing me of writing crappy motions (!)

So, let's see what happens with my various amendments......

What I am pleased about is that an apparent drift towards less policy making and more chatting a la Labour/Tory, seems to be off the cards. At the moment we seem to have it about right.

So, of course I am looking forward to a lively and interesting conference. Will it be possible to amend the motion on Making it Happen? Will we support the status quo in Afghanistan? Will Nick Clegg send us off with fire in our bellies and a song in our hearts???!