The Last Temptation of the LibDems
Posted: May 8th, 2010 Tags: ge2010, LibDem Comments: 2 Comments »Most of the press seems to think that some sort of LibDem/Tory deal is almost inevitable, be it a formal coalition or a confidence and supply arrangement. Failing that they reckon Cameron will head up a minority Tory government.
I’m not so sure. Gordon Brown has one trump card which he’s been waving around – PR.
The Tories don’t want true voting reform. They might support tinkering around the edges or even a Commission they can ignore, but they’d never AV or PR for Westminster. The best they’d accept might be something like the Jenkins Commission which, like Blair, they could ignore. If the LibDems want true electoral reform then their only choice is to do a deal with Gordon Brown.
Do they want voting reform? Of course. It’s number one on their wishlist. Without it a Tory pact would be short term gain, long term pain – they’d be wiped out at the next election as voters take revenge. They’d be right back where they were for most of the 20th century, a third party with no significant power or influence.
Add to that the understandable distaste many LibDems have for a Tory pact and the temptation to do a deal with Brown will be very strong. It looks like a better long-term deal: take a bit of flack now from a furious right-wing media in exchange for the chance to get real power in the future.
What’s so wrong with that? Why not prop up Brown for a couple of years in exchange for getting a decent voting system?
The problem is New Labour’s appalling track record on civil liberties. It’s simply not compatible with Liberal Democrat philosophy.
If Brown offers the LibDems the top prize of electoral reform he’s unlikely to add much else to the package. We’d probably get some token declaration that ID Cards would remain “voluntary”, but we already have that and we know it’s a meaningless blind. Would Brown really be willing to scrap the flagship project, let alone repeal the ID Cards Act? I doubt it. The LibDems might, just might, be able to stop Labour taking away any more of our freedoms. I doubt they’d be able to get back any of those already lost.
So the price for PR would probably be giving up on the very social liberalism that defines the LibDems. A deal with Brown without cast iron guarantees on restoring civil liberties would be a huge sell out.
Don’t do it Nick.
This is an incredibly short-minded conclusion. If Labour offer PR, then a deal is:
A) In the best long-term interests of democracy
B) In the interests of our immediate economic stability
C) Gives Lib Dem a chance of restoring civil liberties in the long term
If you want civil liberties the Lib Dem way, you will never get it without proportional representation. It would be cutting off their nose to spite their face, should they refuse that deal when it’s on the table. Honestly, for Nick, and Britain, if he has an offer from either party, where the only compromise is on a PR referendum, he must take it.
Five or six years ago I might have agreed with you. Unfortunately I think things have gone too far – Labour are too dangerous to stay in power a week longer. Voting reform is a Good Thing in the long term but first we need to stop the erosion of our civil liberties.
Our society can survive a few more years without PR, it can’t survive a few more years of attacks on our freedom.
Perhaps a different Labour leader would be able to scrap Blairite policies such as ID Cards but I can’t think of any viable option for the role.