Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Liberal Democrats: staring into the abyss, or just another day in coalition

It's been another not particularly great day to be a Liberal Democrat, with one of our Parliamentarians acting in the manner of a kamikaze pilot aimed at the ammunition store of an aircraft carrier, and more unhelpful, if well-meaning, interventions from people who might be better advised to confirm that their journey is really necessary before setting off.

But, for good or ill, in a democratic, loosely controlled, political party, these things are going to happen - it is our strength and, simultaneously, our weakness. We're not control freaks (well, most of us aren't) and we tend to believe in devolving power to the most appropriate level - generally away from the leadership, in my experience. You see, the idea is that people take responsibility for their own actions to some extent, an concept that Liberal Democrats do admittedly honour in the breach from time to time.

In return, the expectation is that people will reflect before they rush to condemn, that they will balance the various consequences of their action before taking action.

So, regardless of your view on the future of the Party, and I'm not particularly interested in the input of those who want to give it a good kicking - you really don't have the interests of liberalism at heart - why not reflect upon whether or not your approach is likely to lead to greater unity. You see, we're all in this together, and whilst we can have an argument about what to do next - new leader, new policy, new message, new relationship with the Conservatives, whatever - we're going to need as many people as we can muster to keep the flame alive.

In other words, play nice, because there is nothing to say that a political party has to survive come what may. And when you find that politics returns to two authoritarian political forces, neither of which really believes in personal liberty or is willing to stand against the siren voices of a reactionary media, you might regret a few of those more unnecessary acts of provocation.

No comments: