Goodbye Liberal Conspiracy - a conspiracy against liberals indeed...

The left have never been very good at disguising their intentions for long. And when 'Liberal Conspiracy' emerged, claiming to be a place where the progressive left could;

1. Have a intelligent conversation about liberal-left ideas and values;

2. Campaign for liberal-left policies and causes; and,

3. Help people get organised,

I was fairly suspicious. Firstly, given the record of the Government over the past twelve years, liberal is not a word that sits comfortably with the notion of 'Labour supporter', as most of the founders claimed to be. Yes, there were a few liberals I could recognise as such, Alix Mortimer, Jennie Rigg and Mat Bowles, people whose views I respect and who brought credibility to the project.

However, I waited patiently for the signs that this was just another attempt to rebuild the 'big tent' of progressive forces under the banner of the Labour Party. You see, they just can't resist. They don't understand that we are members of another political party because we don't agree with them. Yes, we might want some of the same things, and we aren't Conservatives, but that doesn't make us willing playmates.

And so it is with 'Liberal Conspiracy'. Publishing articles attacking our campaigning techniques, or articles presuming that all participants should naturally be supporting Labour makes our continued involvement self-defeating. And so my decision to pull out pending clearance from Jennie or Mat that I should give them a second chance is now a permanent one. My only wounding rejoinder is to remove their link from my blog, which I will be doing in the next five minutes.

Just one message for Sunny Hundal as I close the door behind me though. You really messed up there, another blow for the cause of those, like myself, who are willing to work across Party lines to change this country for the better where we have common ground. It's so much harder to persuade the partisans when the pluralists are so badly let down, so often...