Originally published @ 10:33 am, Tue 24th Aug 2010
Just what are we supposed to call the coalition? I mean politely or satirically, and not just in terms of abuse.
As a Daily Mirror reader, I thought this argument had been settled a long time ago. Every day they say it - the Con Dem coalition.
But at an Andy Burnham meeting in Nottingham, last week, a colleague ventured the notion that they should be called the Conservative government. Full stop. The Lib Dems are a junior partner and not having any impact.
But this underestimates what the modern Lib Dems in government are about. It was written in their Orange book. Believing in free markets. Drawing upon insurance ideas for social care and then health.
It's interesting that what stopped many of the senior Lib Dems now in government from joining the Conservatives in the early stages of their political life, was their attitude to Europe and their attitude on social matters such as gay rights.
So I think the Lib Dems are more than a fig leaf for the Conservatives; they are willing partners of a reactionary Gov't. No wonder there are stories about Charles Kennedy.
But should I even care about not being rude to the Lib Dems? At a recent by-election, they put out leaflets with outrageous distortions -
- a barchart showing Labour on 42, Lib Dems on 40 and Cons on 12; (the Conservatives went on to win with the Lib Dems coming a clear third);
- claims that the Labour candidate (a young woman standing for the first time) was responsible for the economic crisis and not local (she's lived in the ward all her life); and
- a claim that the Tory councillor had been "booted off" for lazily failing to attend (he has Alzheimer's).
I just find the last story so outrageous. Perhaps they deserve a bit of abuse.
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