100 Days of Coalition: The Liberal concern
100 hundred days of coalition. This seems to be the inpsiring slogan enticing politically motivated journalists of all stripes to their laptops this august. It is sort of catchy, I guess. Of course we’re in quite a weird position; the government has moved quite rapidly in mapping out their plans to dismantle everything they percieve as the problem, and in the process set out policies that could completely change the nature of our society, and yet… we’re still caught in this awkward moment where nothing has actually happened, a sort of calm before the storm, if you will. The question I am most asked is, am I, as a liberal, happy with the direction the coalition is taking? And the answer always, rather frustratingly I’m sure, is… I don’t know.
There are many potentially very liberal things that could be acheived by the coalition. They have set out, quite well, ways to move forward on issues that are very liberal; this is in terms of personal, economic and maybe even political liberalism but the worry, of course, is will social liberalism be left behind? The great moves forward on the issue of civil liberties (personal liberalism. Almost forgotten by the Labour government) should be appreciated and not swept aside and almost forgotten like they seem to be by many in the media and public. This isn’t to say the coalition itself will never come into conflict on issues of civil liberty (The nature of government acting for its own benefit can lead any administration down this road, which is why it’s up to us the people and groups like liberty to defend our basic rights) but we should at least be grateful that we have a Prime Minister and a Deputy Prime Minister who, at least appear,to sincerly rcognize it as an issue of imortance unlike Labour, who even now seem to view the erosion of our liberties as a secondary little kink they can sort out as opposed to the awful social injustice it actually is. Also, I do think the coalition are right in wanting to give the people more choice over their public services and in giving local government more control. In fact, I often supported Blair over Brown on these very issues but the difference is that blairites at least acknowledged that to do this actually needs government support and not the sink or swim approach the coalition are taking. That been said, I’m not ignoring that annoying issue the left would rather forget, that of the structural deficit. We are in something of a financial pickle aren’t we? This is what makes it hard for labour to oppose the government when it’s not giving support; where is the money for this support supposed to come from? This, obviously, doesn’t mean I’ll blindly follow wherever the coalition takes us but it does mean I have to accept that many things I’d like government to do, right now, we simply can’t afford.
However, I do somewhat share that worry of many on the left; that for the Tories this isn’t about necessity but ideology. The review of the BBC license fee and where that might lead to literally reeks of right wing political dogma , and if a cut in the license fee is proposed it is something I’ll strongly oppose. Also, some of the reforms of benefits; I was always skeptical of the idea we simply reduce someones’s benefits if they turn down one job offer, simply because I always feared it would be coupled with traveling to find work. Of course, if someone wants to travel across the country to find work this should be made easier for them but the idea that anyone should be forced, by the threat of benefit reduction, to uproot themselves from their family and community is scandalous. What, if someone who lives in Coventry refuses to take a job in Plymouth we should take away some of their support? All this talk of social mobility is great and I wish Alan Millburn well but at the end of the day this won’t be sorted simply by ‘ getting people into work’ if you have a single father with two teenage sons, even if he works a full time, how will our current minimum wage be enough to support them? And finally, the idea we rob people of counsel houses for life by risky means testing… don’t get me started.
So yeah, this brings me back to my worry about social liberalism being left behind, coupled with my Liam Burne like acceptance that there is no money left. The loss of social liberalism doesn’t worry me in terms of the damage it could do the lib dems future electoral potential but for the damage it could do to our society. Honestly, I could see myself falling out with the coalition at some point but the trouble is, I don’t see myself running into the arms of labour. They haven’t yet sincerly distanced themselves from the parental style of government that made them, in my opinion, illiberal. They still seem to cling to the idea, not that the state should support society but that the state is society. There are a few, such as James Purnell, making some interesting observations and left leaning bloggers such as Dan Hartland over at thestoryandthetruth always give some food for thought but I still don’t view the Labour party as liberal enough to secure my vote. Funny the Liberals are in power but I still find myself stuck in the middle somewhat…
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