One of the things that initially drove me away from the LibDem party was a loss of faith in it. Where had its soul gone? In the 2010 general election I was going to vote SNP as I wanted a voice for Scotland in Westminster. I could not hear it from the Tory's or Labour & definitely not from our party, the LibDem's. Calman was the only option on offer. So far as I was concerned the LibDem's no longer spoke for Scotland.
I then met the local MP, John Thurso and he persuaded me to vote LibDem. I was excited that we would have a strong voice in Westminster, there was an outside change of leading the government. Yes, maybe a dream but for someone who had been voting LibDem for decades one I longed for.
As the result of the election unfolded reality was shattered, we were to go into government with the party I have always despised, the Conservatives. Not only for what it did to Scotland but also to my native NE England. The scars of which have still not healed. I thought we were a party of principle and we would have red lines that we would not cross. One by one those red lines have been crossed, the last two were the privatisation of the English NHS & the Welfare Bill. How could anyone from our party vote for these? They were not in the coalition agreement, so why support them? Voting to take money from dying cancer suffers, LibDem's? Yes, our MP's & Peer's have.
With that happening in Westminster how can we trust a party led by Clegg & these measures supported and advocated by Alexander, even Vince, the people's hero, not from just within our party but all parties? I for one can't. I voted for that party and my vote helped for these measure be brought in. I feel as if John Thurso & the rest conned me as well as the rest of the party members. Yes, if we had to go into coalition with the Tory's we would have to do things we did not like but maybe we would get a change in the voting system to allow the MP's to be more representative. This is usually a deal breaker in any talk of coalition but we were out manoeuvred and got to vote on AV which even Clegg had decried previously. It was always going to fail, we all knew this, no one wanted it not even us.
"In you we trust", not so far as the UK parliament is concerned. Can we trust in our dealings with Scotland? Again No. We have always been the party of Home Rule or we had been. The Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999 as a result of a demand in Scotland for more power and the growing influence of the SNP and independence. Labour & the Tory's thought by setting it up, it would stop the road to full independence. Our party thoughtfully set up the Steel Commission to look at what further powers needed to be devolved. What happened, the party forgot about Scotland and kicked it into the long grass, never to be seen again. So much for Home Rule. Instead it joined with Labour & Conservative to see how little power can be devolved to Scotland, to stop the growing voice for independence. Calman was not, "what did Scotland need?" but "how little can we give away?". This was not the path to Home Rule no matter how hard out leaders tried to tell us. That was starkly shown in last May's election where our party was almost wiped out. The electorate had spoken, they did not trust the LibDem's with Scotland & did not want Calman.
What have we done to rebuild our trust with the electorate in Scotland. Well we have a new leader in Willie Rennie, who may turn out to be good but I feel he has not much wriggle room. So much for a federal party. The Scottish party has no control on how the Scottish MP's & Peer's vote, they are controlled by Westminster. Is this the type of Federal system our party advocates, control of Scotland from Westminster? Even the other 2 parties have nominally abandoned this system. You can't even join the Scottish LibDem's, it is the UK party you join.
Do we see our party involved in a adult debate, using facts instead of scare stories in the Independence debate, no we don't. Do we stand apart from the Tory's & Labour giving a LibDem view on Scotland and how it should progress? No, we do see a certain amount of reigning in of Cameron by Moore but it is still Cameron & Osborne who are setting the agenda, not that party that knows Scotland best. We have lies such as companies won't invest in Scotland when we see huge investment happening. The Scottish CBI is cited by Moore & Alexander but not the IOD or any of the other bodies who say the referendum is having no affect on investment. The Scottish people can see this and hate being taken as fools.
Moore said last year he would not stand in the way of the referendum vote and now we get Moore & LibDem after LibDem saying Scotland cannot have the Referendum unless it follows Westminster's line. Yes a concession has been made why by the Electoral Commission will now report Holyrood instead of Westminster. Because of this the Scottish Government is now happy with having the Commission oversee the vote. Can anyone blame the Government for being wary of Westminster after the rigged vote of 1979. Then to have to cheek to say, the SNP wants to rig this vote is rich. If you want a legal vote in Scotland then give the powers to Scotland. Michael, Don't say you will give Scotland the powers but most times never mention that you have put strings on it, this just makes you look untrustworthy.
The latest Citigroup report which says that in all likelihood a independent Scotland would be better of than the UK is not mentioned but the previous one stating investment is being harmed was. How come one report is correct but the other is not? They are both from the same company. Does this help us believe what is being said by our party, No.
To continue saying Scotland can not be Independent is an insult to the electorate. It was tried in the past 2 Holyrood elections and rebuffed by them. Why should they believe it now? Is it not better to say, "yes, an independent Scotland would be viable but look at what we would lose by it. These are the powers we want devolved and this is how we see Scotland in the future". That is being honest and believable.
The only way to get the electorate to vote for us again is to get them to believe in the party. To show that what we say is true and we are not just saying it for party gain as it seems now. This needs to happen both here in Holyrood and in Westminster. Not just in the independence debate but in social justice, care for the sick and the poor. We have to regain our roots and follow the principles that made me follow the party & proud to be associated with it. I know the members for a large part have not lost this but the leadership has. Let them prove me wrong and show it. Show me and the country the liberal principles are still strong within the party and that we are not the puppy dogs on the Conservatives.
Let us be able to say again "In You We trust".
I then met the local MP, John Thurso and he persuaded me to vote LibDem. I was excited that we would have a strong voice in Westminster, there was an outside change of leading the government. Yes, maybe a dream but for someone who had been voting LibDem for decades one I longed for.
As the result of the election unfolded reality was shattered, we were to go into government with the party I have always despised, the Conservatives. Not only for what it did to Scotland but also to my native NE England. The scars of which have still not healed. I thought we were a party of principle and we would have red lines that we would not cross. One by one those red lines have been crossed, the last two were the privatisation of the English NHS & the Welfare Bill. How could anyone from our party vote for these? They were not in the coalition agreement, so why support them? Voting to take money from dying cancer suffers, LibDem's? Yes, our MP's & Peer's have.
With that happening in Westminster how can we trust a party led by Clegg & these measures supported and advocated by Alexander, even Vince, the people's hero, not from just within our party but all parties? I for one can't. I voted for that party and my vote helped for these measure be brought in. I feel as if John Thurso & the rest conned me as well as the rest of the party members. Yes, if we had to go into coalition with the Tory's we would have to do things we did not like but maybe we would get a change in the voting system to allow the MP's to be more representative. This is usually a deal breaker in any talk of coalition but we were out manoeuvred and got to vote on AV which even Clegg had decried previously. It was always going to fail, we all knew this, no one wanted it not even us.
"In you we trust", not so far as the UK parliament is concerned. Can we trust in our dealings with Scotland? Again No. We have always been the party of Home Rule or we had been. The Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999 as a result of a demand in Scotland for more power and the growing influence of the SNP and independence. Labour & the Tory's thought by setting it up, it would stop the road to full independence. Our party thoughtfully set up the Steel Commission to look at what further powers needed to be devolved. What happened, the party forgot about Scotland and kicked it into the long grass, never to be seen again. So much for Home Rule. Instead it joined with Labour & Conservative to see how little power can be devolved to Scotland, to stop the growing voice for independence. Calman was not, "what did Scotland need?" but "how little can we give away?". This was not the path to Home Rule no matter how hard out leaders tried to tell us. That was starkly shown in last May's election where our party was almost wiped out. The electorate had spoken, they did not trust the LibDem's with Scotland & did not want Calman.
What have we done to rebuild our trust with the electorate in Scotland. Well we have a new leader in Willie Rennie, who may turn out to be good but I feel he has not much wriggle room. So much for a federal party. The Scottish party has no control on how the Scottish MP's & Peer's vote, they are controlled by Westminster. Is this the type of Federal system our party advocates, control of Scotland from Westminster? Even the other 2 parties have nominally abandoned this system. You can't even join the Scottish LibDem's, it is the UK party you join.
Do we see our party involved in a adult debate, using facts instead of scare stories in the Independence debate, no we don't. Do we stand apart from the Tory's & Labour giving a LibDem view on Scotland and how it should progress? No, we do see a certain amount of reigning in of Cameron by Moore but it is still Cameron & Osborne who are setting the agenda, not that party that knows Scotland best. We have lies such as companies won't invest in Scotland when we see huge investment happening. The Scottish CBI is cited by Moore & Alexander but not the IOD or any of the other bodies who say the referendum is having no affect on investment. The Scottish people can see this and hate being taken as fools.
Moore said last year he would not stand in the way of the referendum vote and now we get Moore & LibDem after LibDem saying Scotland cannot have the Referendum unless it follows Westminster's line. Yes a concession has been made why by the Electoral Commission will now report Holyrood instead of Westminster. Because of this the Scottish Government is now happy with having the Commission oversee the vote. Can anyone blame the Government for being wary of Westminster after the rigged vote of 1979. Then to have to cheek to say, the SNP wants to rig this vote is rich. If you want a legal vote in Scotland then give the powers to Scotland. Michael, Don't say you will give Scotland the powers but most times never mention that you have put strings on it, this just makes you look untrustworthy.
The latest Citigroup report which says that in all likelihood a independent Scotland would be better of than the UK is not mentioned but the previous one stating investment is being harmed was. How come one report is correct but the other is not? They are both from the same company. Does this help us believe what is being said by our party, No.
To continue saying Scotland can not be Independent is an insult to the electorate. It was tried in the past 2 Holyrood elections and rebuffed by them. Why should they believe it now? Is it not better to say, "yes, an independent Scotland would be viable but look at what we would lose by it. These are the powers we want devolved and this is how we see Scotland in the future". That is being honest and believable.
The only way to get the electorate to vote for us again is to get them to believe in the party. To show that what we say is true and we are not just saying it for party gain as it seems now. This needs to happen both here in Holyrood and in Westminster. Not just in the independence debate but in social justice, care for the sick and the poor. We have to regain our roots and follow the principles that made me follow the party & proud to be associated with it. I know the members for a large part have not lost this but the leadership has. Let them prove me wrong and show it. Show me and the country the liberal principles are still strong within the party and that we are not the puppy dogs on the Conservatives.
Let us be able to say again "In You We trust".
Well, despite very difficult circumstances, we've delivered a tax cut for the poorest when the Tories wanted to cut taxes for rich, dead people, we've secured a decent increase in the State Pension after years of insulting sub £1 increases, we've made sure benefits went up in line with inflation when the Tories wanted not to do that. We've stopped some of the worst changes to Housing Benefit. However bad you think it is, it would be many times worse if we were not there.
ReplyDeleteYes, there have been some spectacular muck ups along the way too. Tuition fees for a start. The AV Referendum too. The Scotland Bill is, as Mike Moore said many times, is only a stepping stone in a devolution process, but now the momentum seems to behind further change which I have to say I agree with.
I loathe and detest being described as a unionist. I am not - I'm a federalist. Each part of the UK joining together in a federal arrangement like the German Lander. That model clearly works and you have benefits of autonomy and of being part of something bigger.
I suspect Alex Salmond would be quite happy with years of legal wrangling over a referendum to stir up anti-UK resentment and I don't think that would be good for anyone. I think Mike Moore's been quite right to offer the power to hold the referendum. While Cameron and Osborne, who, frankly should be locked in a cupboard any time they feel the urge to mention Scotland, bluff and bluster, Mike has been doing the reasonable thing and trying to up the quality of the debate.
All that he and Willie have been doing is to try to ensure a fair playing field.
I think there have been two many issues with a multi-option referendum, but I see no problem with, for example, as was reported in the press, having two separate polls, the second happening if independence is rejected, on status quo vs devo max/home rule whatever you want to call it.
I think you'll find when you come to our conference that there's a passionate and radical soul to the party.