We just can’t win.

Vince Cable has ‘revisited’ Mansion Tax, which has been coined the ‘Lib Dem price’ for the party to remain a ‘willing coalition partner’ by the media.

The policy would mean that those who own properties worth £2 milion would have to pay tax on that property, which would also go hand in hand with a reform of the Tax System altogether. The content of the article rather than the context is why I am writing this post.

In relation to the Mansion Tax policy the article discusses the reasoning behind pressing for a policy which was not in the Coalition Agreement following the 2010 General Election. The ‘Lib Dem price’ is, apparently, the party’s terms on which they would apparently remain as Coalition partners for the duration of Parliament. As Cable reinforces a strong party and party supporter argument;

“No, I’m not threatening to walk out, I don’t think that’s the approach we should adopt. We have got a massive task and we have got to work on it and as Liberal Democrats we’ve got to fight our corner in the arguments, but that’s a national problem that we’ve got to deal with as a team.”

The word ‘price’ implies that the party leadership is bargaining with the Conservatives in order to gain power and selfishly implement policy – which is a common rhetoric of the media and opposition. It’s important that the Liberal Democrats do implement long-standing Liberal Democrat policies – such as the tax cut for those on lower incomes (which we have already implemented and intend on furthering) and the mansion tax. When the economic situation is stable, it’s vital that the party presses ahead with alternative Liberal policies (not just acting as a buffer to Tory policy) to demonstrate what the party stands for and that we are able to form a credible, accountable and reliable party in government.

“We are where we are – we’ve learned lessons from this campaign, and we’ve got to stay where we are within the Coalition, make it work, get the economy moving, promote the Lib Dem policies and values within the Coalition Agreement – we shouldn’t be embarrassed about that. We’ve achieved a lot, we’ve got a lot still to achieve.”

We entered government with the Conservatives on the basis that we would ensure that the country’s economic situation was addressed and stability was re-established, and many will see the stabilising of the economy as a sign for the Liberal Democrats to leave government, but we also have a duty to ensure that Tory policy is progressive – not ‘revolutionary’; as Nick Clegg put it over NHS Reform – and to demonstrate what the Liberal Democrats could achieve in government. Our chance to prove that we can be an accountable, responsible and credible part in government and in opposition.

‘What Nick can do next…’

‘What Nick can do next…’ is a blog post over on Lib Dem Voice by Stephen Tall, the site’s Editor. The article looks at a question posed by The Guardian’s Michael White on the future of Nick Clegg as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick’s image and the next General Election in 2015.

The original article – “Nick Clegg is doing better, but will it be enough?” – looks at Nick’s speech to the Parliamentary Press Gallery (including what the press did and didn’t include about this well received speech), and puts it in context in terms of Nick’s image as a Leader, politician and Deputy Prime Minister, and the affect of this on the party, in terms of the next General Election.

Opposition parties, the media and all those looking in on UK politics and have scrutinised Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg for his and the party’s ‘u-turns’ and failure to implement the party’s election manifesto as part of a Coalition government. However, as most Lib Dems believe – and some political commentators – when the extent of Lib Dem influence on Government policy comes through, people’s view on the party will – hopefully – change.

You can read the Lib Dem Voice article, with all it’s links and references, here.

1 Year of Praise for Nick Clegg: His strengths and achievements in 1 year of being Deputy PM

Just a quick link to an external article on Nick Clegg’s first year as Deputy Prime Minister and the positive things that the press has been saying about Clegg over recent months – although we have, as a party, had a battering from the media, there are positive things being said by the media that have gone unnoticed to those who would love – more than anything – to rant about what they see as the ‘u-turns’, lies and general disgrace of the party.

1 Year of Praise for Nick Clegg: His strengths and achievements in 1 year of being Deputy PM.

We should not be declaring victory on NHS reforms.

As Norman Lamb said on the Politics Show, the concerns over Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s proposals, have been addressed, and there have been significant changes to the reform bill after concerns from Liberal Democrat MPs. The BBC has already released an article claiming that Nick Clegg will “claim NHS changes victory for Lib Dems”. The opening sentence of the article is;

“Deputy PM Nick Clegg is next week expected to claim the Lib Dems have got their way in coalition battles over a planned shake-up of the NHS in England.”

Without going into detail over the changes that have been made to the original reform, it’s clear that there have been significant changes to the reforms. Eleven of the thirteen demands (including democratic accountability and preventing private firms “cherrypicking” services) – have been secured, and alternative solutions need to meet the remaining two concerns.

“This is not a case of triumphalism. This is a case of improving the policy”

Whilst these changes have come following demands and pressure to ensure that the changes address the concerns people had of the reforms, declaring ‘victory’ and becoming triumphant will do nothing for party support. It would be easy for opposition to label the whole thing as hypocrisy. Whilst we judge Labour for their triumphalism and tribalism (particularly in Wales) we do the same.

This is the opportunity we have been looking for since joining the Coalition; to prove that we are a party that can be trusted on key government policy, that we can be counted on to act responsibly on key government policy and we can form a credible part of governing both as part of a coalition and as a single ruling party. As a party, we have repeated that the reason that we are in government is to address the key issues such as addressing the economic situation and reform of public services, and to act as a ‘buffer’ (or ‘safety valve’ as Norman Lamb called it) against Conservative policy, and we have achieved that – and that is what we should be talking about; the improvement of the NHS reforms and our achievements in government.

“I think actually this is a good demonstration of why the Lib Dems are currently in government. We can be effective in government achieving changes and acting as a sort of safety valve.”

Party members have outlined what they believe should form the party’s strategy in the 2015 General Election, which includes the need to demonstrate where the party has had an affect on government policy, how we can be trusted to act responsibly, and how we have made real progress and gained real achievements in government. And the moment we claim victory over policy reform and become triumphant, is the time when those arguments become flawed and we lose support.

Can you really blame someone for that?……..

You’ll have to ignore my bad wording on this one. If it makes no sense then, I apologise – it’s 14:20 and its already been a very long day. And this is my personal view on the matter.

The Coalition (or the Lib Dems, seeing as it’s a LD policy) have announced that they want to open up internships to individuals who would otherwise not be able to access such opportunities. But for some reason people are calling Nick Clegg hypocritical for endorsing a policy like this when his father helped him achieve his first internship. At least Clegg has been open and honest about it!

From my perspective, unfortunately that’s how the system works. If you know someone, it’s going to help you get places. It’s never going to change. Anyone who knows anything about sociology in education will have heard of Bourdieu’s Cultural Capital. It’s a given.

If your background, or parents, are able to assist you, why should you not make the most of that? Everyone should take any extra help they can get. What this policy tries to do is enable individuals of a different social background to those who are usually accepted for internships to have easy access to them – again coming back to the old Lib Dem ‘fairness’. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with the fact that, based on your family’s background and social status, individuals are given priority over others of a different social background and are, to put it in simple terms, given everything. Things like internships should be readily available to everyone – why should it matter if you’re accepted based on the fact that you could get it through a family connection, or through an application form?

People should not be blaming Clegg, or anyone else for that matter, for the family he was born into. This policy is all about fairness and giving everyone an equal start, either from birth or when they’re sat in an interviewing office; it’s high time people stopped picking at anything and everything in order to ridicule individuals and influence how people think.