I like Chris Huhne. And I like Nick Clegg as well. Actually, my likes and dislikes have little impact on what is going to happen, since I only have one vote. Chris and Nick were in action on Saturday at the first official Liberal Democrat leadership hustings, which took place at the Benn Hall in Rugby. Right now Nick Clegg is the bookies favourite, but seeing the two in action on Saturday suggests to me that the campaign will turn and turn about as they each develop their own unique voices and challenge the party.There are three things at stake here.
- Who will be the Liberal Democrat leader?
- What will the campaign do to energise the party?
- What will the new leader do in his first hundred days to challenge the country?
To some, this may all seem as a distraction.Actually it is much more than that. Britain’s post-war democracy functioned reasonably well up to Margaret Thatcher and Michael Foot. But from that point on, we have seen two major parties which between gather 90% of the seats but only 60% of the vote (and less than half of all the votes that could be cast), and a third party which captures one quarter of the vote, and for it gains just one tenth of the seats.But neither of the two major parties are really comfortable with themselves. Part of the Conservative party would happily move into UKIP’s territory, while another part would be glad to occupy traditional Tory territory, and yet a third — Cameron’s part — wants to occupy the centre ground because it is desperate to win an election. Labour, on the other hand, has a large socialist group which has nowhere to go, and a smaller group of social-democrats who happen to run the country. As a country, if we had any sense, we would recognise that this situation is not sustainable.Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne need to wake up the Liberal Democrat party, and together they need to wake up the country.
BBC NEWS | Politics | In full: Sir Menzies resignationWith false-election fever out of the way, Menzies Campbell has picked the right moment to bring questions about his leadership to an end. There is now the maximum amount of time for a leadership contest and for the new leader to to take control of the political agenda before a 2009 election — which is really the earliest that a damaged Brown will dare go to the polls.Menzies Campbell could have chosen to stay on and fight off the critics. He has chosen not to, for the sake of the party. All credit to him. Ming has not impressed everyone as leader, but he has done a great deal to take the party forward. Once the dust has settled, he will be remembered warmly.
Gordon Brown expected to rule out snap election.
Personally, I blame the Tories. For all their taunting of Gordon Brown, they gave him the perfect get-out. By demanding that he went to the polls, they opened the door for him to stand up to them and rule out an election, or to be a brave man and call one. Either way, Brown will finish up with the credit.
But let us not forget that Gordon Brown has played fast and loose with our constitutional arrangements. In a modern democracy, it is quite simply unacceptable for the Prime Minister to hold the nation to ransom while he chews over the latest poll, brings forward spending reviews, and attempts a string of popularist actions in order to see if he can get himself into a winning position.
It is time that we solidified all the best of the British way of doing things into a written constitution. And ruled out of court the shambolic low politics of election-chicken.
As fencing goes, the season began well. I made 25th at the Essex Open — one of the UK’s 4 top competitions — and came third in the Shropshire Open. The result was, as of 1 October, I finally made the UK top fifty for men’s foil, and am currently ranked 42nd.But enough of fencing, and back to politics. What about General Election fever? Will Brown bite? And does he need to?The truth is that every day that goes by increases the discomfiture of David Cameron’s Tories. They don’t have any policies, and the increased pressure of a likely General Election exposes this. This week we have seen a promise of massive cuts to inheritance tax paid for by a £25,000 levy on people who work in the UK but don’t pay UK tax. It’s certainly true that these people profit from legal loopholes. But there are not remotely enough of them, confined as they largely are to the London Square Mile, to pay for enormous tax breaks across the entire country. If it shows anything, it shows that Cameron’s advisors have virtually no understanding of the Britain outside London. And, of course, it also shows that they have given up on any hope of ever being in a position to make good on their promises. Brown may have the Tories dangling nicely, but he is not above criticism. It may be all very well (actually, in my opinion it isn’t) for opposition parties to constantly play low politics and stoke up rumour for the sake of causing trouble. The government, however, has a duty to the country. If Gordon Brown believes he does not have a mandate, or believes that his majority is insufficient, he should call an election. If he believes that he does have a mandate, and he thinks he has a working majority, then he should announce that there will be no General Election until the parliamentary cycle is complete. General Elections are not a free good. There is an economic cost to the country and a direct cost to the taxpayer. When we have just barely ridden out a financial crisis in the markets, and additional uncertainty is not going to benefit anyone. The uncertainty of an uncertain electoral cycle is a powerful argument for the oldest of Liberal Democrat policies: constitutional reform. Blair came to power promising to reform our constitutional affairs. After several abortive attempts to reform the House of Lords, and a single attempt to examine a fairer electoral system, and a very severe mauling on the notion of regional government, Blair left office with virtually no constitutional achievements to his name. He proved just one thing: half-hearted reform is doomed to failure. For the sake of Britain’s long term democratic future, it is time for a written constitution, a fair voting system, fixed term parliaments, and a bill of rights. Any less, and we sell ourselves short.Brown may continue to play games with the electorate. For now. But he would be better to end the confusion and announce an election. Or no election.