Thursday 8 May 2014

Lib Dems: Liars And Cowards

I suspect to no-one's great surprise the Liberal Democrats reveal that they don't have a principled bone in their body.

As an example, above is a picture illustrated by Clegg of their pledge on students fees which they then heavily reneged on and then, despite a promise to have a referendum on UK membership of the EU, they reversed so quickly the tyre marks are still visible on the tarmac six years later.

Thus, as noted by EUReferendum and Autonomous Mind, in 2003 Clegg revealed that "Probably half of all new legislation now enacted in the UK begins in Brussels". This in complete contrast to his debate with Nigel Farage where he stated that (rounding up from 6.8%) that 7% of laws were made in Brussels.

A complete contradiction for sure on Clegg's behalf, which brings us neatly onto Dan Hodges who resides on the Telegraph. Let's remind ourselves of this article by Dan Hodges, who was hugely critical of Miliband's actions over Syria and as a consequence left the Labour party on 'principle':
I still have no idea whether he really supported or opposed military action against Syria, and now I never will. What I do know is that at every step of the way Ed Miliband’s actions were governed by what was in his own narrow political interests, rather than the national interest. As for the children of Syria, they didn’t even get a look in.

This week I’ve seen the true face of Ed Miliband. And I suspect that the country has too.
Then we are also reminded of this article (as an example):
Lord Rennard sex scandal: Nick Clegg reminds us once again what an idiot he is 
So it is with some astonishment (or maybe not) that we see this today from Dan Hodges...
So that’s why I’ve decided to vote for Nick Clegg. The Lib Dem leader is the only one to have the courage to take a stand against Ukip from the beginning. Yes, there’s obviously an element of political calculation behind his decision.
He knows it’s good for the Lib Dem base – what’s left of it – to see him taking the fight to the anti-European Right. But moments when doing what’s right and what’s politically expedient at the same time don’t come along that often in politics. And when they do they do, those that engineered them deserve to be rewarded.
Which he confirms via his twitter account:

It's not unreasonable to conclude therefore that Dan Hodges has decided to go from one unprincipled leader to another. With this in mind I attempted to take Dan Hodges to task on Twitter over his conflicting views. I didn't expect to receive a response from the chap himself and nor have I as yet.

However my tweet of calling Clegg a liar to Hodges unexpectedly prompted a twitter debate with the Lib Dem MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale and President of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron.

Mr Farron I strongly suspect was clearly irritated by my accusation of calling his boss a liar (an accusation I fully stand by) but revealingly he sought not to engage with me on those terms, instead we had wonderful straw man tweets, the exchange can be found here.

However as an example when tweeting by myself that Norway has more say over EU law than the UK does, the response received was as follows:

I duly sent such links (via six tweets), many of the themes familiar with readers of this blog - and I was only just warming up as well - I had many more to go. Despite that the response in return was:

One notes during the exchange that I didn't mention "gold plating" once, then after asking for links which detailed my arguments, the Lib Dem President signs off with the following tweet:

Has to go to an event? Says the man who carries on tweeting not long after... Clearly when faced with the facts he can't defend his support for the "project". Which says it all...

All of this begs the question that if the EU project is so wonderful why do those in favour have to be so deceptive about it?

8 comments:

  1. The people with whom you are engaging have nothing to lose by adopting the stance they do, but lots to gain. So, the argument is one sided and even if they lose, they win because there are too many of them in the same position (at the trough). What I can't determine is how to inflict pain (financial, reputational, something they value) on them for their decisions.

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    1. Indeed you're right, and they only have to "draw" by defending the status quo with whatever lies comes to hand.

      On a personal note it's a mischievous endeavor to wind them up.

      Regarding your last sentence I'm minded to follow the works of Gene Sharp...there I believe we can't go too far wrong

      http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=gene+sharp&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Agene+sharp

      Delete
  2. Hi TBF

    The reason those in favour of the eu are so deceptive, is they have usually taken the eu shilling. Certainly in the cases of clegg, clarke, mandleson and kinnock. Apart from the fact that they cannot justify the unjustifiable,

    Anyway deception is part of the job description for a politician.

    Nonoftheabove

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  3. Clegg knows damn well he not going to see the next General Election as Lib Dem leader after the drumming he's going to take on the 22nd.

    Of course he doesn't want us to leave the EU. He's got his eye on a plumb job as a highly paid, unelected commissioner.

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  4. Your link to the Rennard article is linking only to Hodges' article of Thursday (for me at least) - the original Rennard article is here:-

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100255895/the-lord-rennard-shambles-proves-that-the-lib-dems-are-still-unfit-for-government/

    Normally I've got some time for Hodges but this article is pure petulant spinology. He claims the high ground since he has made his choice on the grounds that Clegg has 'made the case for Europe'. As you've proven with Farron - he hasn't. I'd accept it if he had but Clegg has made no case whatsoever, and the normally loquacious Hodges has made no BTL retort to contributors who have challenged him on it.

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    1. Thank you for the correction...now amended.

      I completely agree with you in that I would accept those who are pro-EU try to make the case for membership... but they never do. A legacy I guess that stems from the fact our membership was always based on dishonesty from the outset.

      Delete
  5. The other day I received am E-mail from my MP, a limp-dim, asking for my vote due to all the good things they had done locally and Nationally. It comntained the usual 3million jobs at risk if we get out of the EU, bla bla bla. as they do. So I challenged him on it, so far only an acknowledgement has arrived. I will not be voting for him, as I did not last time round!!!

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  6. There's an entirely unpleasant organisation which once elicited the public sentiment 'we only have to be lucky once - you have to be lucky every time' and it's not necessarily the done thing to quote them but in terms - Tim Farron looks like he's going to have to be going 'to an event' on a perpetual basis if he can't discuss the debate on level terms?

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