THE REVOLVING ORANGE
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
To Hell with modernity!
Julian Astle has written a rather depressed sounding article on Comment is Free arguing that the Liberal Democrats are not the best place for an "ambitious" liberal politician. To my mind, his whole thesis reveals a surprising lack of ambition. The modernising wings of Labour and the Conservatives are simply that - modernisers. They are groups of people who are trying to catch their parties up with where society is today. By contrast, the Liberal Democrats, like the Liberal Party before them, should always be the party of the future.
If Nick Clegg is to justify the place of the Liberal Democrats in the coalition then he must set what they're doing in government in the context of a long term vision for society. Until the game plan is made clear to the party and the public the grumbles about having ditched principles for power will continue. As long as our post-coalition plans are sufficiently radical, the Tories will oppose them and the pressure on the party will ease.
The Liberal Moment is a good starting point. The likes of Julian Astle should be helping to push these ideas forward rather than whinging to Guardian readers about short term difficulties.
¶ 1:22 pm
