Re: Nick Clegg - why believe a word he says? : Thu Sep 19, 2013 7:56 am
DaveO wrote:
... Any idea the Lib Dems have put a significant break on Tory excesses is joke. They have enabled much of the bad policy this government has enacted... <snip> ...We have the stupid situation where the Lib Dems vote with the Tories because they are both part of the government and have no option to do otherwise, not because they actually agree with the policies.
Quite so.
100% capitulation (as in the 15-minute U-turn on the economy) is not compromise.
A deal could have been done involving abstention on various issues rather than simply voting with the Tories.
Which bits of the bedroom tax, the NHS, tuition fees, welfare reform (for which read "reduction"), etc etc are "compromises" that a genuine Lib Dem could support?
What support on electoral reform and House of Lords reform did the Lib Dems get in return?
There are even instances where the Lib Dems have simply been ignored, e.g. the "Illegal immigrants go home" van episode happened without the Lib Dem Home Office minister (Jeremy Browne) or Nick Clegg even being informed of it (or so Browne says).
Some compromise.
The only good bit that comes to mind that Clegg has achieved is the increase in the tax threshold for the low-paid ... and even that was to a large degree, and for many completely eliminated, by welfare reductions and increased VAT.