tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208109612299827.post672784573506633552..comments2023-12-06T23:58:59.189+00:00Comments on ffranc sais: What we stand forFrank Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12447989626809704972noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208109612299827.post-86695671449899999842016-04-09T07:54:57.913+01:002016-04-09T07:54:57.913+01:00It was hardly a vanity project. We knew when we we...It was hardly a vanity project. We knew when we went into it that we would suffer at the polls as a result. Unlike Labour and the Conservatives, we do not blindly follow the directives of the leadership, so <a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/lib-dem-special-conference-overwhelmingly-approves-lib-dem-conservative-coalition-agreement-19561.html" rel="nofollow">the final decision</a> rested with the party in the country. Most of us know our history of coalitions, including the fate of the Free Democrats in Germany, but nevertheless voted about 50 to 1 in favour of the coalition.<br /><br />As to rationalisation, only a <a href="http://www.markpack.org.uk/129190/what-the-lib-dems-have-stopped-the-tories-doing/" rel="nofollow"> few of the most extreme things we stopped the Tories doing</a> were reported at the time. I can add forcing the Treasury to permit 1% pay rises in the public sector when Osborne wanted to freeze them. <br /><br />The more positive aspects, most of which marked us out from the Labour government which went before, are <a href="https://whatthehellhavethelibdemsdone.com/" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br />Frank Littlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12447989626809704972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208109612299827.post-61920263575869611472016-04-08T11:29:09.508+01:002016-04-08T11:29:09.508+01:00
BOLLOCKS. A lot of people let down and suffered b...<br />BOLLOCKS. A lot of people let down and suffered because of that vanity project.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208109612299827.post-36806361466881226612016-04-08T11:27:20.905+01:002016-04-08T11:27:20.905+01:00
Rationalization/justification. Unforgivable.<br />Rationalization/justification. Unforgivable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208109612299827.post-21341218395953009782016-04-08T09:36:02.773+01:002016-04-08T09:36:02.773+01:00People forget how much the United Kingdom had lost...People forget how much the United Kingdom had lost the trust of international finance after 2008. It was essential to demonstrate that a stable government was in place after the general election.<br /><br />The crash in 2008 was not a global economic crisis as Labour continues to pretend. It was a plunge in confidence in banks and financial institutions in the UK (Labour's loose oversight of the City was a major contribution) and the USA (the loosening which started under Clinton coming to a head). Other European countries which had a high debt to GDP ratio were caught in the backwash. In 2010, Italy (with an economy similar to ours), Spain and Portugal were having difficulty financing their government debt at less than 7& interest and the instability of their governments did not help. At the same time, nations which were not tied into transatlantic banking particularly Brazil, India, China and Canada motored on regardless.<br /><br />After the 2010 election, I was initially one of those in favour of a "supply and maintenance" arrangement with a minority Conservative government. The failure of Greece could be seen as an out-lier. It was the crises in Italy and Spain which convinced me that the Liberal Democrat special conference had taken the right decision in voting overwhelmingly for a binding coalition agreement.<br /><br />I still believe that the UK as a whole is better off now as a result than it would have been after a shaky minority government or (more likely) a swift dissolution and an early election in which the Conservatives would have achieved their desired majority - and applied the <a href="http://aberavonneathlibdems.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/to-be-read-in-conjunction-with-ed-balls.html" rel="nofollow">extra £15bn of cuts</a> they promised in their manifesto.<br /><br />The major reason we still have a deficit is because Cameron and Osborne have consistently avoided tackling the income side of the government profit-and-loss account, in particular tax avoidance and fraud. This is symptomatic: <a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/what-cameron-and-osborne-said-about-vince-cables-proposals-on-corporate-transparency-50081.html" rel="nofollow">www.libdemvoice.org/what-cameron-and-osborne-said-about-vince-cables-proposals-on-corporate-transparency-50081.html</a>.<br /><br />Oh, and I believe Nick Clegg should not have renewed the coalition agreement when its first four years came to an end. <br />Frank Littlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12447989626809704972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208109612299827.post-50712528471672212622016-04-08T07:25:20.250+01:002016-04-08T07:25:20.250+01:00
Sorry Ffranc, but the LDs will NEVER be forgiven ...<br />Sorry Ffranc, but the LDs will NEVER be forgiven for going into coalition with the Conservatives. All that stuff about defending the UK from the worst of Tory excesses honestly sounds like an attempt at rationalization/justification. The reputation of the party is forever tarnished; and that comes from a former supporter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208109612299827.post-79667730654599366812016-04-07T12:49:25.795+01:002016-04-07T12:49:25.795+01:00
Sorry Ffranc, but ALL credibility went out of the...<br />Sorry Ffranc, but ALL credibility went out of the window with the coalition.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com