Faced with a choice to sell out or cop out, these 21 Lib Dem MPs opted to stand out and vote the way they said they would before the election. They are still Lib Dems, but at least they have escaped with a bit of dignity and integrity.
The other 36 didn’t and deserve what they get the next time they face the electorate, or get introduced by James Naughtie on Radio 4.
So well done to…
- Annette Brooke (Dorset Mid & Poole North)
- Sir Menzies Campbell (Fife North East),
- Michael Crockart (Edinburgh West),
- Tim Farron (Westmorland & Lonsdale),
- Andrew George (St Ives),
- Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South),
- Julian Huppert (Cambridge),
- Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye & Lochaber)
- John Leech (Manchester Withington),
- Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne)
- Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West),
- John Pugh (Southport),
- Alan Reid (Argyll & Bute),
- Dan Rogerson (Cornwall North),
- Bob Russell (Colchester)
- Adrian Sanders (Torbay),
- Ian Swales (Redcar),
- Mark Williams (Ceredigion)
- Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire),
- Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central),
- Simon Wright (Norwich South)
LOL – it ill behoves any memeber of the Labour Party to talk about \’dignity and integrity\’ when it comes to university funding.
First you said that you wouldn\’t introduce tuition fees – then you did. Then you said that you wouldn\’t introduce top-up fees – then you did.
So who is showing dignity and integrity?
Did Skuds sign a personal pledge to oppose tuition fees? Did he vote for them?
In both cases, no.
Besides, all three main parties have performed massive u-turns on the policy, but only one has seen people sent to sign a personal and public promise during an election campaign, only to invalidate those promises within months.
…. which is why I signed the petition. A pledge is a pledge
Indeed. And I’m sure many of your colleagues who voted the other way felt the same. I don’t even want to think what sorts of threats were made behind the scenes to make them do that.
Maybe you should consider yourself lucky you were never in a position to find out?
Well considering that the last Labour leader’s personal barrister told a court that “manifesto pledges are not subject to legitimate expectation” – then any criticisim from any member of the Labour Party about somebody else breaking their promises is hypocrisy of the highest odrer.
No, ash. Hypocrisy is a troll like you only ever making comments to attack Labour when you’ve never done anything constructive for anyone.
Can’t you defend your woeful Tory masters in any other way?
Oh dear – so you have to resort to personal attacks now.
Why do I not find that surprising.
No comment then on the last Labour Leader claiming that his promises were not worth the paper they were written on?
It wasn’t the last Labour Leader, it was his barrister. Presumably (although you provide no reference or link) he was making a legal argument. It’s clear that a party manifesto has no legal standing in terms of a contract, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no moral issue with going against one.
But as the issue is not a party manifesto, so much as personal pledges made regardless of who ended up in government (despite Lib Dems trying to claim that an unconditional promise to vote in certain way had an invisible caveat attached).
So, can you tell the difference between a legal position on manifesto clauses and the moral one about personal pledges?
And what is it that’s constructive about your posts – any of them?
“So, can you tell the difference between a legal position on manifesto clauses and the moral one about personal pledges?”
Is that it? – is that the best answer you can come up with?.
Manifesto’s are littered with pledges – the last Labour one had, amongst others, “we renew our pledge not to extend VAT to food, children’s clothes, books, newspapers and public transport fares”
So to claim that a pledge written in the manifesto is somehow different to one written on a card for a photo shoot is just spinning of the highest order.
So instead of criticising others for lack of dignity and integrity whilst doing exactly the same yourself perhaps a period of relection is needed?