LIBERAL DEMOCRATS SHOW WHY THEY ARE NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE
A SELF-MADE man, Vince Cable has always worshipped his creator. The extraordinary self‐regard and vanity of the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary has created a major political crisis that not only threatens his own career as a Cabinet minister but also undermines the very existence of the coalition.
Showing an incredible mix of foolishness, disloyalty and arrogance, Cable recently told a pair of under‐cover reporters a babbling torrent of indiscretions that expose the deep fissures within the Government.
He attacked the Tories for their “Maoist” plans on public service reform, revealed explosive rows within the Cabinet over economic policy and even boasted that he held the “nuclear option” of resignation.
“If they push me too far, I can walk out and bring the Government down,” he said triumphantly, again displaying his monumental ego. Above all, he announced he had “declared war on Rupert Murdoch”, the media proprietor who is trying to buy out the whole of Sky TV.
All this narcissistic, divisive talk shows how utterly unfit Cable is for Cabinet office. In his role as Business Secretary he was meant to be impartial in adjudicating on the Murdoch bid for Sky yet he was only too happy to flaunt his naked bias. Moreover, in talking so frankly to a pair of complete strangers, he demonstrated that he has no sense of Cabinet responsibility.
BUT then Cable was always grossly over-rated. He rose to the top of politics by posing as an economic sage and by courting public popularity. But beneath the veneer of genial wisdom there lurked a conceited mediocrity whose approach to economic policy was hopelessly incoherent, largely driven by sentimentality and fashionable left‐wing dogma. It is no coincidence that Cable was a labour activist for much of his adult life, sitting as a labour councillor in Glasgow and trying to become a labour MP in the 1979 general election.
Yet despite his spectacular misjudgments Cable has been allowed to remain in the Cabinet. Any Tory who behaved like him would have been thrown out immediately. Indeed, earlier this month David Cameron sacked his adviser lord Young over mild comments about the economy which were far less indiscreet than Cable’s outburst. Cable’s retention of his post, even though his role overseeing media policy has been removed, just shows the weakness of the coalition. David Cameron is so desperate to retain Lib Dem support that he feels compelled to put up with almost any act of disloyalty from the party’s ministers, no matter how humiliating.
In fact it is possible that Cable was trying to goad the Prime Minister into sacking him. For months he has sounded off in a similar fashion around Westminster, portraying himself as the rebel inside the machine. According to this theory, once he had been kicked out he could then put himself at the head of the anti‐coalition dissidents, challenge Nick Clegg for the leadership and emerge as the hero of the people, always his favourite role.
Tragically for the stability of the Government, Cable’s untrustworthy behaviour seems endemic among the Lib Dems. The coalition partner is now being exposed as alarmingly unreliable.
Yesterday, three other Lib Dem ministers were caught attacking Government policies. One, the Scottish Secretary Michael Moore, called the policy on tuition fees “a car crash”; another, the Pensions Minister Steve Webb, criticised child benefit changes while the third, Ed Davey, argued that planned housing benefit cuts are “deeply unacceptable”.
This serial carping demonstrates two problems about many of the Liberal Democrats. First, they are dangerously irresponsible and unprofessional. They are meant to be running the country not a student union. It is absurd for ministers to blab away to complete strangers about highly sensitive issues of state policy.
Second, they have adopted a self‐indulgent, semi‐detached attitude towards the Coalition, as if they really want to be in the comfort zone of left‐wing opposition. It is a pathetic stance to take. The Lib Dems made their choice in May when they agreed to form the coalition. It was the right decision to make then for the sake of Britain. another spell of spendthrift Labour rule would have dragged us into financial ruin.
But having made that choice they have a duty to ensure its success. Remaining half‐hearted about the coalition will achieve nothing. The party will live or die by what it achieves in office, not by wailing to the media.
SOME figures, especially Nick Clegg, have faced up to this reality but others want to have it both ways, enjoying the fruits of power while distancing themselves from hard decisions. It is time to abandon the classic liberal tactic of fence sitting, which has been integral to the party’s character for too long.
Instead of whining the Lib Dems should be grateful for office. They only came a distant third at the general election and lost seats compared to 2005. They should stop seeing themselves as a left‐wing party that seeks to prevent the Government taking sensible action to rebuild our country.
If they really believed in democracy they would support a tougher line on immigration, the farcical Human Rights Act and the European Union. At present, as they posture like adolescents, they are nothing but an embarrassing burden to the Government.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/218922/Liberal-Democrats-show-why-they-are-not-fit-for-purpose
