Lib Dem manifesto at a glance:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...to-at-a-glance
Opinion piece on the Lib Dem's economic policies:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...conomic-policy
Quote:
Originally Posted by danielf
Shame about the record on Civil Liberties though...
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George Orwell would be rickrolling in his grave.
I'll give them the Human Rights Act, though. That was (& still is) A Good Thing... just a shame they then developed a habit of violating it with their anti-terror laws.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Osem
Not to mention illegal wars and the economy......
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Yup...
Going back to the list of stuff Flyboy posted...
There are two I consider to have been rather half-arsed measures:
* Scrapped the majority of hereditary peers in the House of Lords
* Devolved power to Scotland
Re. the Lords - Why, after 13 years in power, have they still not gone further & removed the remaining Peers & fully reformed the upper house?
[although as an aside, I do actually have respect for the Lords, despite previously hating it for being unelected... The Lords have shown more than once that they can be a good force against the Government's crap with some laws]
Re. Devolution -
THE WEST LOTHIAN QUESTION! How can it be fair that Westminster MPs who represent Constituencies in Scotland can vote on laws which have absolutely ZERO affect on their own Constituency? e.g. Health & Education are both "devolved matters".
When New Labour pushed through the introduction of Foundation Hospitals, it did not affect Scotland, yet MPs from Scotland were able to vote on it.
When New Labour pushed through the introduction of Top-Up Fees (
against their own manifesto), it did not affect Scotland, yet MPs from Scotland were able to vote on it (& IIRC Labour MPs from Scotland were rather crucial in making up the numbers for the vote to pass).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien
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Lib Dems FTW on Civil Liberties (& also Science, & IMO the Economy).
Quote:
Originally Posted by foreverwar
How about ID Cards, DNA retention, 42 days detention without charge, cutting Forces helicopter funding, sending people into battle without proper equipment?
Or don't those count?
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Didn't the defence chiefs specifically ask for fewer helicopters & inferior equipment? Oh...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sirius
The liberals still have not convinced me they can be trusted to defend this country's rights and i don't like there obvious sucking up to Labour. Again they have no real plans and Clegg gives me the impression he will be happy to be Browns right hand man in a coalition
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In what way do you think they cannot be trusted to defend the UK's rights?
What "obvious sucking up to Labour"?
Is this sucking up to Labour?
"Nick Clegg goes to war with Labour over civil liberties"
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Guardian
Nick Clegg goes to war with Labour over civil liberties
Liberal Democrat manifesto launch accompanied by stinging attack on Labour - making post-election partnership more remote
Nick Clegg will launch the Liberal Democrat manifesto with a stinging critique of Labour's record on civil liberties and human rights – criticism that makes the prospect of a post-election partnership between the two parties more remote.
Speaking to the Guardian, the Lib Dem leader said he was shocked by the lack of reference to civil liberties in the Labour manifesto, and highlighted his own plans to scrap the next generation of biometric passports, and its communication base.
He said: "It's a measure of the authoritarian streak of the Labour party that it didn't refer once to liberty in its own manifesto.
"Civil liberties and individual freedoms are part of the DNA of the Lib Dems. It makes a compete mockery of the claim by Gordon Brown that he can speak for progressive voters in other parties when his own party has turned its back on one of the cornerstones of progressive politics.
"The division between the Lib Dems and Labour on civil liberties is as wide today as it was at the height of Blair's authoritarian populism."
(snip)
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I also posted a reply to you earlier mentioning a few major issues in which the Lib Dems strongly opposed Labour (some of which they also opposed the Tories on too, e.g. Iraq & the Digital Economy Bill). In case you missed it, here's a link:
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/20...l#post34998633
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sirius
Thats not my problem,My problem is the tree hugging nature of them. Role over and let anyone walk all over us is what i see in them. They will sign us up to any stupid idea Europe has, They WILL sign up to the Euro the first chance they get that you can bet. No i still think they need a good few years more before i can consider them.
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What "tree hugging nature"? Why do you think they will "roll over and let anyone walk all over us"?
Regarding the Euro... As I said earlier in the thread, they aren't as committed to Euro entry as they used to be, as they finally realised that it is not currently economically or politically viable. They do still believe that entry into the Euro is in the UK's long-term interests,
but only after a referendum.
---------- Post added at 20:10 ---------- Previous post was at 20:06 ----------
The Salary Calculator: plug in your salary & other things, & get an estimate of how you would be under a Labour / Lib Dem / Tory / UKIP Government.
http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/election.php
For me, it goes (from highest take-home pay to lowest take-home pay):
UKIP > Lib Dem > Tory > Green > Labour