The Lib Dems, with their proposed withdrawal of
pensioners' bus passes, Winter Fuel Allowances, and free television licenses.
The Institute of Economic Affairs was of course founded by Liberals, and it is now directed by the Lib Dems' former Head of Communications, who regularly turns up demanding the abolition of the minimum wage and what have you. Thatcherism has always been a Liberal project, strongly advocated by the Lib Dems' European partners.
The Institute of Economic Affairs was of course founded by Liberals, and it is now directed by the Lib Dems' former Head of Communications, who regularly turns up demanding the abolition of the minimum wage and what have you. Thatcherism has always been a Liberal project, strongly advocated by the Lib Dems' European partners.
The Polly Toynbee Fallacy, that the Lib Dems are any sort of left-wing party, "Labour for Southern posh people", must surely now be finished. Mustn't it? In point of fact, it has always been Labour that has been Labour for Southern posh people.
It is just that, until this year's local elections, most Southern posh people have not wanted to vote Labour. They have in many cases expressed exactly how right-wing they were economically by voting Lib Dem. As, even more forcefully, have the sort of people, posh and otherwise, who have voted Lib Dem in the North.
Yet the Lib Dems are not the only Heirs to Thatcher. It turns out today that so are the UKIP lot. She legalised abortion up to birth under
three of the four circumstances when, with her support, it had been legalised
at all. One of those grounds was, and is, disability. That's called capitalism.
It cannot function without these things.
Apparently, this UKIP candidate who called for compulsory abortion of Down's Syndrome and spina bifida cases in order to help bring down the deficit, mainstream New Right opinion ever since the 1970s, has been removed from his candidacy and "was only expressing his personal opinions" on a party election leaflet.
But the fact that he ever got that far
proves that UKIP is an amateurish operation; as Peter Hitchens calls it,
"Dad's Army". Nor may a candidate just publish his own leaflets as he
pleases. Not in a properly run party, anyway.
I don't think there is one central Lib Dem view. You have people who are libertarian (e.g. economically and free-choice liberal) who want to cut back the state, legalise cannabis etc and people who are don't care so much about the free-choice issues but just want to redistribute, so southern Labour, as well as the falg of convenience people who just want to be local councillors so have to join some party, any party (as they think it would be harder to win as an independent without actual work). It's only because of the electoral system that these people are stuck with each other in the same party.
ReplyDeleteUKIP may be amateurish but at least he was kicked out. Dianne Abbot didn't even have to apologise after her tweets saying white people in modern London were stuck in a 19th century colonial mindset - no idea why Labour thinks she represents ethnic minorities in a country where there is such a high proportion of mixed families.