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Villan Of The North
Guest
Inspired by BBJ's post about him in the politics thread, I'm curious to know how he is genreally regarded now that the coalition government is well and truly buried in the past.
V
Villan Of The North
Guest
I initially thought that he was nothing more or less than an opportunist however, having seen how the Cameron/Osbourne lead government proceded without Clegg, I genuinely believe that he blunted the Tory knives. I am generally to the right of centre but the current crop of Tory leaders, Cameron and Osbourne (I know the are no longer a Tory leaders) being classic examples of being so compeltely out of touch with the needs of the country that their policies became harmful without the Lib Dems to temper them, I find it difficult to back the party at any level.
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Villan Of The North
Guest
Vince Cable had an interesting comment on the tuition fees debacle on QT during the last election, he said, rather honestly, that "we all made foolish promisses that we didn't know that we couldn't keep". It just goes to underline the fact that it's a lot easier to be in opposition.
BodyButter
Vital Football Legend
The tuition fees thing is unforgivable for me. It was the main reason why they got so many votes in the first place and got them into office. They should have had a hard agreement with the Tories on it before forming the coalition.
There really should be some accountability for politicians with their promises.
There really should be some accountability for politicians with their promises.
V
Villan Of The North
Guest
Agreed, then again, sitting in opposition, one may not always know what is possible. Additionally, I'm under the impression that the tuition fees issue was a deal breaker for the Tories, although I could be wrong about that.
sirdennis
Alert Team
I've gone for an opportunist with no principals.
I voted Lib Dem in 2010 mainly because of 3 issues which they had put in their manifesto. Tuition fees was one of them and I can't remember the other 2 , but to my eyes as soon as a whiff of power and a ministerial Jag were dangled in front of him he dropped all three pronto.
He should have remembered what got him so many votes in the first place and the Party has never recovered from that and may never do.
I voted Lib Dem in 2010 mainly because of 3 issues which they had put in their manifesto. Tuition fees was one of them and I can't remember the other 2 , but to my eyes as soon as a whiff of power and a ministerial Jag were dangled in front of him he dropped all three pronto.
He should have remembered what got him so many votes in the first place and the Party has never recovered from that and may never do.
BodyButter
Vital Football Legend
It should have been a deal breaker for the Lib Dems too.
V
Villan Of The North
Guest
Yes and no, as you know, money is a finite resource, once in negotiations the Tories may well have pointed out that, to fund the tuition fee changes was impracticle given the cost to other areas of the budget. I guess we will never know the full details and the motivation behind what was done but I do think that it's sometimes a bit too easy for us that are not put into a difficult situation to point fingers and criticise.
