Elliot Keck has an entertaining Critic piece on the Lib Dems and the remarkable level of political irrelevance they have achieved.
What on Earth is the point of the Lib Dems?
With neither power nor principles, the party is an absolute waste of space
Power versus principles — it is the trade off that is at the heart of politics. To what extent should a political party sacrifice its deeply held principles in the pursuit of winning an election?
It is not a new question, or one that has only appeared in the context of democratic politics. It was the central theme in the first part of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, which was published during the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century. In a discourse between More and the fictional philosopher Rapheal Hythloday, More argues: “You must not abandon the ship in a storm because you cannot control the winds… You must strive to guide the business as well as you can, and what you cannot turn to good, you must at least make as little bad as you can.”
The whole piece is well worth reading because at the moment, polls suggest that about 12% of UK voters would vote Lib Dem. What do they think are they voting for? More paddle board stunts from Ed Davey?
So what is the excuse of the Liberal Democrats? There is no party in British politics more guilty of slavishly and pathetically following public opinion than Ed Davey’s and his gang of do-gooders. I remember sitting next to one of them on the Politics Live sofa — a bloke called Ben Maguire. In 45 minutes not a single intelligent word came out of his mouth. All he could manage was absurd and unrelated outbursts about Liz Truss, Tufton Street and anything else his staffer had no doubt mentioned to him prior to going on national television to humiliate himself in the belief that these almost Tourette’s-like tics might appeal to a certain slice of middle England.
So what is the excuse of the Liberal Democrats? There is no party in British politics more guilty of slavishly and pathetically following public opinion than Ed Davey’s and his gang of do-gooders. I remember sitting next to one of them on the Politics Live sofa — a bloke called Ben Maguire. In 45 minutes not a single intelligent word came out of his mouth. All he could manage was absurd and unrelated outbursts about Liz Truss, Tufton Street and anything else his staffer had no doubt mentioned to him prior to going on national television to humiliate himself in the belief that these almost Tourette’s-like tics might appeal to a certain slice of middle England.
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