Tuesday, March 22, 2016
How the Liberal Democrats stopped the Tories worse excesses
As the Tory Party unravels before our very eyes over welfare cuts it is instructive how they found themselves in this situation in the first place. According to the Financial Times the Chancellor thought the Liberal Democrats were going to rescue him from himself:
In private, George Osborne admits some policies only made it into the last Conservative manifesto because it was felt the party would not win an outright majority at the 2015 election and would therefore not have to implement them.
The chancellor’s ambitious plans to cut £12bn from the welfare bill in this parliament and to impose a tight cap on welfare were proposed in the belief that the Liberal Democrats would block the measures in a second coalition administration.
That the Tories would think that way shows the extent of the Liberal Democrats influence in the last administration. Nick Clegg and his fellow Ministers blocked many of the extreme policies now being brought forward by Cameron and Osborne.
Let loose on their own, the Tories have gone into self-destruct mode.
In private, George Osborne admits some policies only made it into the last Conservative manifesto because it was felt the party would not win an outright majority at the 2015 election and would therefore not have to implement them.
The chancellor’s ambitious plans to cut £12bn from the welfare bill in this parliament and to impose a tight cap on welfare were proposed in the belief that the Liberal Democrats would block the measures in a second coalition administration.
That the Tories would think that way shows the extent of the Liberal Democrats influence in the last administration. Nick Clegg and his fellow Ministers blocked many of the extreme policies now being brought forward by Cameron and Osborne.
Let loose on their own, the Tories have gone into self-destruct mode.
