Clegg or Huhne?

Joshua

"He speaks five languages fluently." That's five more than Neil Clark.

Lee Jakeman

Melanie Phillips made the following comment: "Their problem is that they are simply monumentally irrelevant to the life of the nation, other than acting as a handy repository for protest votes that otherwise have no home. Can anyone say what they stand for that is distinctive in British public life? Precisely. They have made themselves irrelevant by positioning themselves on the left of the Labour party: anti-America, anti-Iraq war, anti-Israel, anti-family, anti-capitalism, pro-green fundamentalism, pro-drugs, pro-victim culture, pro-big state. They do well therefore on the metropolitan dinner-party circuit but not so well where anyone has a passing relationship with reality." Ouch. Trust Malanie to go for the jugular.

Patrick

The Lib Dem's are about to embark on an exercise in shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. They have nowhere to go. The whole political zeitgeist on tax and spend has just changed firmly in the direction of value for money in public services. Brown is under desperate pressure to define who he is and what New Labour stand for - the 'vision thing'. Desperate because he has no new vision and can only offer more tax and more waste. The Lib Dems have always been a 'none of the above' party with no clear philosophy. They need to find one and fast. This means that either the big government socialist wing or the libertarian free markets wing must die. Being the front end of a donkey grafted onto a horse's arse has no electoral appeal beyond a maverick few percent of voters. The lefty wing is doomed because, as mentioned, the whole political arena is moving towards challenging the statist orthodoxy. Voters now want to know 'Where's the money gone?'. Becoming more Arthur Scargill than Dennis Skinner is no kind of platform for anything other than political death. This means that long term survival for the Lib Dems means becoming the true libertarian party - economically as well as socially. Some aspects of this such as saying No to ID cards will be easy. Some parts such as deep reform of the public sector will not. The gorilla in the corner for the Lib Dems is that their base of activists and party members are all in the socialist corner. If the only viable way forwards for the new leader is to amputate the party's base then what hope is there for them? The Lib Dems are hopelessly and deservedly up the creek without a paddle. They will continue as nothing more than a fringe irritant to the real business of British politics.

Timothy

Never mind Clegg v Huhne. The real story is that the great John Hemming is considering standing.

Timothy

Lee, isn't Melanie Phillips confused? She says that the Lib Dems don't stand for anything distinctive, and then sets out exactly what they stand for. There is quite a lot of political space to the left of Labour. She doesn't agree with what they stand for, but that's a different issue. She might at least allow that the Lib Dems rise to the dignity of error. Patrick, which party do you say will offer the deep public sector reforms you refer to?

Patrick

Timothy, 'Patrick, which party do you say will offer the deep public sector reforms you refer to?' Well, certainly neither the Lib Dems or Labour. The Conservatives? I hope so. Realistically they will offer some limited reform and a reduction in outrageous levels of waste. The least bad option.

Patrick

Stepehen, You comments facility seems to kill all formatting. Carriage return delenda est!

Steve

"There is quite a lot of political space to the left of Labour." True. Stalin occupied it, Lenin occupied it and the Lib Dems occupy it. So?