We’re just over halfway through the Coalition’s term in office, and the Liberal Democrats have now endured 5 years of Nick Clegg’s leadership. Already, the two parties are attempting to distance themselves from each other in preparation for the next General Election. If you ask me, that would be more appropriate if they were following the traditional 4 yearly election cycle: it’s bad form to move your attention away from government and towards the election a good 29 months beforehand. I’m sure that in other European nations, many of which rely on multiparty coalitions as the sole form of government, such a move would be frowned upon. That said, we are talking about the Conservatives and the Orange Book Lib Dems, so anything that stems the tide of economic, social and environmental destruction that is being inflicted on our great nation is to be welcomed. In his speech marking his fifth anniversary as leader of the Fib Dems (Sorry! I know it’s tabloidy, but I couldn’t resist), Mr Clegg selected the issue of welfare as the means of distinguishing his party from the Conservatives. Hmm. So collaborating with £3.8 billion of welfare cuts announced a fortnight ago on top of £18 billion odd already cut by depriving cancer patients of disability benefits and forcing the working poor out to the fringes of our towns and cities, is, according to Clegg, his way of stopping “draconian” welfare cuts. It is, apparently, the “centre ground” on welfare. It is, in fact, a political move which can’t result in a win. To those who care about the poor, the Lib Dems have done a lot to hurt them. Right-wingers and Blairites (same thing) will see the Lib Dems as the party which blocked attempts at “curbing the welfare bill” properly. There is virtually no middle ground to occupy. The Tories are also hard at work defending their position. Here’s part of an article I read in the Independent: The Conservatives’ new online ad campaign starts with a question: “Who do you think this Government should give more support to?” The gif file then cuts to an image of a family with Von Trapp good looks and teeth that dazzle, and the caption “hard-working families”. We then see a single man with a goatee sitting, feet up, on a sofa –the words “or people who won’t work” hovering, malignly, like a thundercloud above his head. Just how stupid do they think the British public are? This is the most patronising, deliberately misleading pieces of propaganda I have ever seen. But no need to get angry; there are two positive developments: Firstly, the message that it’s workers on low incomes who will be affected by the cuts the most has sunk in. 60% of the public supports Labour’s position that no cuts should take place. It turns out that the glossy “hard working family” featured in the Tories’ advert have been hard at work elsewhere- including appearing in a Danone advert. If you fancy a laugh, have a look at hardworkingtoryfamily.tumblr.com
