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Originally Posted by dr wadd
Is it appropriate for a political party to radically change their stance on an issue simply because they lost votes at an election? [...] Listening to the opinions of the public and shaping policy in that manner is one thing. To do a radical about face on a policy is another issue entirely.
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Well two examples come to mind. Back in the 80's when the Greens suddenly turned out to be rather popular with the public (even though they only got a couple of seats in Europe) both Thatcher and Kinnock suddenly started making "environmentalist" speeches when, beforehand, they'd hardly even bothered to address the issue.
Also the recent volte-face by Blair on a European Constitution Referendum suggests that he *is* very concerned that were he to have continued with his "now don't you worry your pretty little heads about this" attitude, he would have lost more support.
IMO we're going to hear more "independant state in Europe" noises from Labour in the next few months.
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I do not believe it should be a case of saying whatever the public want to hear simply to gain more votes,
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Why not? He is a politician after all...!
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a party should stand or fall by its policies and have the courage of their convictions to stand by them even if it does mean that there is a dent in their popularity.
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Except that Labour has already demonstrated that its convictions and principles are somewhat more fluid than this.
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I do not think that political parties should chop and change simply for the sake of popularity. To do so speaks volumes about their lack of integrity.
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Well, exactly!!