Vince Cable is no longer an MP, but if he is being remotely representative of his party on The Westminster Hour, then the Liberal Democrats are going to vote against the lockdown. They needed a new USP, and here it is.
Iraq and Remain were both big, easy to understand vote-getters for the Lib Dems in their time, and this could be another one. Are they being cynical? Well, were they then? Yes and no.
Sir Graham Brady Chairman of the 1922 Committee says: “The freedom of association, the freedom of assembly, the right to a family life are being undermined. We even have the Government telling people who they are allowed to sleep with or not depending on whether they are deemed to be in an established relationship or not.
ReplyDeleteIf these kinds of measures were being taken in any totalitarian country around the world we would be denouncing it as a form of evil and here the removal of people's fundamental liberties is going almost without comment and I think it is very important that we focus on those basic human rights and find ways, of course, to deal with the serious threat of Covid 19 but do it working with people rather than doing things to people."
His party is going to vote for it, though. What with being the Government, and all. The balance seat in this debate will henceforth be filled by a member of that whole parliamentary party which had voted against the lockdown. Opportunistic? That's called politics.
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