Monday, November 05, 2007
Nick Clegg Welsh launch
I was not at the Swansea launch of Nick Clegg's campaign in Wales last Monday as I was in Malta. However, his speech is here and it is bi-lingual. An impressive exercise in pushing all the right buttons.
The Welsh hustings are on Wednesday in the Marriott Hotel, Cardiff. Both candidates have a meeting with the Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Group first. Perhaps then Chris Huhne can clarify exactly what his policy is on Trident.
The Welsh hustings are on Wednesday in the Marriott Hotel, Cardiff. Both candidates have a meeting with the Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Group first. Perhaps then Chris Huhne can clarify exactly what his policy is on Trident.
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Well, there was one policy in it:
"to stop the absurd cash-only rules on the Severn Bridge".
Otherwise, once again we have from Nick Clegg, platitudes which don't actually say anything in the way of concrete proposals. Sorry, you may be impressed by this, I am not. Nick Clegg still strikes me as all style and no substance.
"to stop the absurd cash-only rules on the Severn Bridge".
Otherwise, once again we have from Nick Clegg, platitudes which don't actually say anything in the way of concrete proposals. Sorry, you may be impressed by this, I am not. Nick Clegg still strikes me as all style and no substance.
# posted by 
: 9:54 PM
: 9:54 PM
It is the job of Conference to set policy not the leader, otherwise we get a lot of ill-thought out ideas and flashy gimmicks like those emanating from the Huhne campaign.
I've already said elsewhere that I see the leadership candidates' setting out of policies as more something which indicates to me the sort of person they are than something they are going to force on the party.
I agree that some of what Chris Huhne has said is ill-thought out and needs refinement, but still I'm very glad to see him say it. I want that sort of debate. What Chris has said so far has turned me from "ugh, I don't like either of them" into someone who would be happy to have Chris as leader because he's said enough to convince me he thinks about various issues that concern me in a similar way to the way I do, even if I'd argue with him over the details.
I've not yet had that with Nick Clegg, in fact quite the opposite. My dislike of him has only intensified with his smoothie presentation which looks at first good, at second meaningless, and at third as if there's some coded messages there we are meant to pick up and which indicate he's going to take the party in ways I don't like. But if I'm angry with him and his more enthusiastic supporters, part of it is that I really do want to be convinced that the Liberal Democrats will be a party I'm happy to remain active in if he becomes leader, and it really wouldn't take much, a few words to indicate the concerns of someone like myself who is to the left of the party won't be entirely ignored, would be enough. So far I haven't had that, only the reverse. The more enthusiastic supporters of Nick have left me feling very depressed about the future of our party under his probable leadership.
Now, if Nick really was happy to be a front man and would speak out for whatever the party through its internal mechanisms decided was policy, and would never ever attempt to impose what were purely his own ideas on the party, I'd be a lot less worried about him.
But, come, come, Peter - I've been a member of this party long enough to know it doesn't happen like that. We do expect leaders to be able to react instantly when necessary, and they aren't going to be able to consult party democratic machinery every time they have to do that. We also know too that leaders and "sources close to the leader" are always dropping policies to the press and then suggesting anyone who quibbles is a "rebel". Has Nick convinced me that he, unlike previous leaders wouldn't do that? Er, no - all this coded stuff about the party being "too inward looking" and his wanting to take it "out of its comfort zone" suggests quite the reverse. So I think to suggest that what the leadership candidates' policy views are is irrelevant is at best naive, and at worst deliberately trying to mislead.
Anyway, we don't have to look far to see what Nick Clegg's views on leadership are. He wrote a Centre Forum paper praising the idea of executive mayors - something I've strongly opposed, to me, they're elcted dictators. So Nick's a supporter of elected dictators in one place - do I really trust him to act entirely the opposite when he becomes leader?
I agree that some of what Chris Huhne has said is ill-thought out and needs refinement, but still I'm very glad to see him say it. I want that sort of debate. What Chris has said so far has turned me from "ugh, I don't like either of them" into someone who would be happy to have Chris as leader because he's said enough to convince me he thinks about various issues that concern me in a similar way to the way I do, even if I'd argue with him over the details.
I've not yet had that with Nick Clegg, in fact quite the opposite. My dislike of him has only intensified with his smoothie presentation which looks at first good, at second meaningless, and at third as if there's some coded messages there we are meant to pick up and which indicate he's going to take the party in ways I don't like. But if I'm angry with him and his more enthusiastic supporters, part of it is that I really do want to be convinced that the Liberal Democrats will be a party I'm happy to remain active in if he becomes leader, and it really wouldn't take much, a few words to indicate the concerns of someone like myself who is to the left of the party won't be entirely ignored, would be enough. So far I haven't had that, only the reverse. The more enthusiastic supporters of Nick have left me feling very depressed about the future of our party under his probable leadership.
Now, if Nick really was happy to be a front man and would speak out for whatever the party through its internal mechanisms decided was policy, and would never ever attempt to impose what were purely his own ideas on the party, I'd be a lot less worried about him.
But, come, come, Peter - I've been a member of this party long enough to know it doesn't happen like that. We do expect leaders to be able to react instantly when necessary, and they aren't going to be able to consult party democratic machinery every time they have to do that. We also know too that leaders and "sources close to the leader" are always dropping policies to the press and then suggesting anyone who quibbles is a "rebel". Has Nick convinced me that he, unlike previous leaders wouldn't do that? Er, no - all this coded stuff about the party being "too inward looking" and his wanting to take it "out of its comfort zone" suggests quite the reverse. So I think to suggest that what the leadership candidates' policy views are is irrelevant is at best naive, and at worst deliberately trying to mislead.
Anyway, we don't have to look far to see what Nick Clegg's views on leadership are. He wrote a Centre Forum paper praising the idea of executive mayors - something I've strongly opposed, to me, they're elcted dictators. So Nick's a supporter of elected dictators in one place - do I really trust him to act entirely the opposite when he becomes leader?
# posted by : 5:47 PM
: 5:47 PM
I note that James Graham on his Quaequam blog has found a proposal of substance from Nick Clegg that he can agree with.
Peter, as much as I appreciate Nick Clegg's sentiment in producing a bi-lingual website, perhaps it should be pointed out that there are a number of grammatical mistakes in the Welsh of the website.
That aside, best of luck to him. He shall hopefully be able to reclaim the ground Cameron has stolen in the recent past.
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That aside, best of luck to him. He shall hopefully be able to reclaim the ground Cameron has stolen in the recent past.
# posted by : 10:56 AM
: 10:56 AM<< Home
