Sunday, May 08, 2005

Labour MPs call Blair to go, Tories call Howard to stay: what are things coming to?

Link BBC NEWS | Election 2005 | Election 2005 | Labour MPs call on Blair to quit

Do you want to know who really won out of this election?

British politics is hard to fathom, even for the people inside it. There's bluff and counter-bluff, double-bluff and counter-double-bluff, and that's just the stuff that beginners do.

Labour was all for saying that it was going to be very close -- they didn't want their voters taking anything for granted. But on the night John Prescott was saying that the exit poll was exaggerated, and they would do much better than expected. On the other hand, the Tories were all for saying that they were winning the argument, and would beat the pollsters yet.

A good way, then, to cut through the triple-bluff, is to look at what the winners and losers actually do.

And what they are doing is calling for their leaders to go. Or to stay.

Howard knows he has to go. He's too old, and he said he would go if he didn't deliver. Forget the question of keeping promises. A man who says he will go and doesn't loses credibility.

So why are Tories calling for him to stay?

Blair knows he has to stay. He fought the election with the promise that he would lead the country for a full third term. Perhaps it wasn't the right strategy, but he said it all the same. But with a majority of sixty-six, he's getting vulnerable. It ought to be an enormous victory -- the first time Labour has got a third term.

So why are Labour backbenchers spoiling the party by asking for him to go?

If you come out of a fight victorious, you come out with renewed confidence.

If you come out of an election victorious, you don't start bickering about who the leader is or isn't. You don't dither about whether he should go or he should stay.

The fact is, the election shook both Labour and the Tories.

It shook the Tories because all they could manage was 33 more seats. Labour may have an absolute majority of 66, but they have a majority of 159 over the Tories. What's worse, the Tories have emerged as a party of the South-East of England. That's an easy enough spread to defend, but a dreadful base for winning new seats.

It shook Labour because despite the complete failure of the Tories to come up with a fighting platform, their own majority is reduced to the point where they have to rely on the rebels. There are more than thirty-three Labour MPs who are ready to vote against the government. Publicly Labour may say that a smaller majority unifies the party. But we don't have to look too far back in history to give that one the lie. John Major's party tore itself to pieces. Labour did the same in living memory.

It's for both parties to ask themselves the questions that they should have answered years ago. How much do they really want to run the country? What will they give up? Cherished Euroskepticism for the Tories, along with precious dreams of tax-cutting? Tuition fees, foundation hospitals and international adventures for Labour?

But the Tories are in the worse position. They don't have anybody who looks like he (or she) could be party leader. Labour has Gordon Brown in the wings, with Alan Milburn and one or two others if Brown decides not to take the plunge.

At the end of the day, only one mainstream party came out of this election with new confidence and without questions about his leadership.

You don't really need me to spell out which one, do you?

No, I thought not.

Friday, May 06, 2005

We are on the up!

Last night we increased our share of the vote in Halesowen and Rowley Regis by 25% on our previous figure. This was the most successful night for us in the constituency since it was formed.

Across the country, we have had the most successful night since the 1920s.
At 09:17 with 619 of 646 seats declared, the Lib-Dems have already achieved 59 seats, and are currently 11 up on the last election.

This is a historic night. As we continue to move forwards. In 1997 most commentators believed that the Lib-Dem gains were a flash in the pan and would be wiped out as soon as the Tories revived. The commentators were wrong. We are here, and we are here to stay.

But it does highlight the need for reform in the British votal system. Estimates suggest that we will have polled 23% of the vote -- to be rewarded with just 10% of the seats.

I want to congratulate all of our new MPs, especially those who have overthrown Tory or Labour majorities. My commiserations go to the three former MPs who -- for a while at least -- will not be returning to Westminster.

Sunday, May 01, 2005

On the home straight

The final week has begun. On Thursday we vote - or not. On Thursday the people decide who will run (or ruin) Britain for the next five years. Or not.
It's your choice -- if you choose to make it.

This is the home straight. Parties are now locked into their strategies. Michael Howard will go all out in his personal attacks on Tony Blair. Tony Blair will do everything he can to suggest that a vote for anyone but him is a vote for the Tories. And that a vote for the Tories is a vote for wrack and ruin and the end of the NHS.

Does anyone believe it all?

You would like to think not, but too many people do.

Next Thursday I and my Liberal-Democrat colleagues across the country will have a simple proposition for you. Forget the spin, forget the fear, forget who you voted for last time: instead, make your own personal choice based on the plans that we -- and our opponents -- are putting on the table. That's it. That's all there is.

Everyone knows what the Liberal-Democrats stand for. More police not ID cards. Smaller class sizes. A brighter future for pensioners. An end to tuition fees for students. Care for the environment. Compassion in world affairs. Putting patients first.

We stand with Make Poverty History, Friends of the Earth, Amnesty International and many others for things that promise a better future for everyone, not just a better future for those who can grab hold of power and keep it.

If this is what you want, vote for us. If it isn't, vote for someone else. But, whatever you do, vote.

Because, at this election, there is only one way to waste your vote -- by not voting at all.