The Liberal Democrats have been saying some surprisingly sensible things at their conference:
- replacing the National Curriculum in schools with a significantly slimmed-down version
- getting rid of at least 2 Whitehall departments, including the elegantly-titled Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
- cutting £20 billion from public spending
- taking 4p off the basic rate of income tax
OK, there's still a long way to go. But it just looks as though they might be the most committed of the 3 main parties to small government (except for their continued baffling Euro-enthusiasm).
Also Nick Clegg has said he will not rule out sending his children to private schools, which shows he considers his children's welfare to be more important than his own career and electoral success.
He's still a little bit too much like David Cameron, who's a bit too much like Tony Blair, but let's go one step at a time.
4 comments:
I nearly fell off my chair...
They'd have to become a whole lot more conservative on issues like marriage, sexuality and abortion before I'd consider voting for them.
Miserable shower.
Of course there is much still to be desired. But they're not vastly different to New Tories on social ethics, are they?
Not very different at all!
The question of course is in terms of a political party, where its make up, philosophy etc takes it. You've got to think -who else is in the coalition and who are they speaking to.
So the leading lights in the Lib Dem coalition may sound good on tax -but as with the right wing of the Labour Party, they have to keep their left wing on side. The Left wing of the Lib Dems and Labour is much further to the left than the left of the Tory Party. Plus that is where their natural centre of gravity is. So even if they got into power and delivered these promises -the appeal to gravity means that they would still put up the tax burden somewhere else.
The Tories may at the moment be appealing to the left of their party but it is at best in the same place as the Lib Dem/Lab right -and beleive that they have to sound like they wont cut spending. But the gravity of the party is to the right. So the unofficial nod is that the tax cuts will come (they can afford not to commit to specifics here).
On Social policy -Tories nowhere near where we want them to be overall. But Cameron is moving pro family, Duncan Smith influence. Individual Tories generally speaking when elected are more likely to be where you are on most social ethics. MP for MP you are more likely to get a Tory that is pro marriage, anti abortion etc than a Lib Dem
Don't worry Dave, I still doubt I'd ever vote for them, but they're moving in the right direction.
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