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The Tory embrace may well split the Lib Dems in two
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Party
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| Contributor | Ralphie |
| Last Edited | Ralphie Jan 18, 2011 02:18am |
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| Category | Analysis |
| Author | Jackie Ashley |
| Media | Newspaper - Guardian |
| News Date | Tuesday, January 18, 2011 08:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | How many parties are the Liberal Democrats? They know it's a real question. You can hear the anxiety in their voices as Nick Clegg, Simon Hughes and others insist they are staying together, staying true, staying put. If it was so certain they wouldn't need to keep saying it. For the longer the coalition goes on, the more they seem to be two parties, not one.
There is the coalition liberal party, which has a coherent world-view and programme. It is centred round Clegg, Danny Alexander and David Laws. It emphasises suspicion of the big-spending state and finds common ground with the Conservatives on the economy. I am not saying they are Tories themselves – they disagree about Europe, certainly, and civil liberties, often – but they are comfortable with David Cameron, and want him to succeed.
Then there is the left-liberal or social democrat party, which claims the allegiance of Hughes, former leaders Menzies Campbell and Charles Kennedy, rising star Tim Farron and probably poor Vince Cable. These people are miserable about propping up Tory Thatcherites, yearn for an alternative strategy and share Labour instincts about fairness, spending and cuts. Cable's ill-advised words about taking on Rupert Murdoch, which cost him part of his department, were a private scream of pain. |
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