Old politics not dead yet.
Yesterday, in common, I suspect, with all other Liberal Democrat members for whom the party has an Email address, I received a letter from David Laws which claimed that there is "no money left", the "nation's finances (are) in an utterly ruinious state" and that "irresponsible decisions (have been) inherited."
Well, maybe so and maybe not. But it is this predictable knee-jerk "put the blame on the last lot" reaction which turns people of politics and politicians. Part of the task of the coalition is to restore faith in politics. We shall not do so by continuing sniping as usual. If we must have "savage cuts" (and I have the gravest of doubts: see posts "Economic Crisis," 8th April and "The Solution that Dare Note Speak its Name," 27th April) then let them quietly get on with it, doing as little damage as possible, and like grown ups, take any flak that arises from what is essentially a wrong-headed policy.
Chris Wales 18 May 2010 at 16:59
Perhaps; but just because it's a cliché, we shouldn't dismiss out of hand the possibility that Labour really have delivered us the most dire set of national finances in living memory.
To back this point up, it seems that even representatives of the civil service are happy to confirm that a "slash and burn" operation was in progress in the months and weeks before the election - see here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8690312.stm
Peter Wrigley 19 May 2010 at 06:55
Hello Chris, fancy our ending up on the same side!
You are probably right that some Labour ministers have spent rather irresponsibly in their last few months, though I think "the most dire set of national finances in living memory" is something of an exaggeration - again, the type of hyperbole that puts people off politics. My point is that the trading of accusations, justified or not, is not the way to restore faith in politics. We need to grow up and get on with the job.
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