Loyalty and liberalism

I found myself in a situation where every time I criticise liberal democrats Im being blamed for not being loyal to my party. Since when did liberals swallow everything that comes out of government? The idea that the government is not always right and that individuals have soverignty over themselves and their minds is core to liberalism. Since the election a lot of people seemed to have suspended their critical faculties.

Take for example a number of people who are perfectly happy to stand up for policies that only a few months ago they were strenuously denouncing. Take for example those who BELIEVE that cuts will be fair and progressive and absolutely best thing to do at the moment when just few months ago we said that cuts this deep and at this time will ruin the economy.

The first cuts were announced in local government falling mainly on housing and regeneration. How is it progressive and fair http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11400220 That’s rubbish. Housing and regeneration are crucial to economic recovery and inequality. I know Clegg and Danny Alexander said that they changed their mind because of economic changes not political circumstances.. Im no economist but I just dont believe that and I dont see why I should defend it.

Don’t tell me now that Im playing into Labour’s game. This is our game from just few months ago and for that matter Barack Obama’s game as well.  This is a game of ‘fairness’ and debate.

Don’t tell me that Im not loyal to my party. I am just loyal to what we said for several years.. Why do I have to praise everything that comes out of government. That’s just not liberal.

I care about social justice as many liberals have always done. Is there still room for us in the party?

Liberalism in the Liberal Democrats

I think that in the last general election Liberal Democrats were too scared to be liberal. I dont think they should make the same mistake again.

If we abandon core principles such as internationalism and liberalism, then all we come across as to the average voter is another centrist party. there is no point in voting for that.

Firstly, you change the public debate by making a sensible practical liberal argument. On immigration, for example, the whole debate over the last ten years has been framed through xenophobic lens with very few people prepared to balance the debate. As a result its now very difficult to sell a liberal immigration policy. The only way you can change that is by standing up and having a debate.
The second point is that those policies that are unpopular in the last election we avoided talking about and after the first debate the other parties focused the debate solely on those policies in their terms. If we had explained those policies first it would have been more difficult for them to do that. That is not to say that we ignore our popular policies, just that we need to frame the debate so that we win votes and also start to shift public opinion so that we can push liberal ideas further into the public consciousness which will assist us in the future and create a more liberal country, which is what we want (is it not?)

So we have two choices:

First choice: hide and let them frame an argument, lose the debate and lose our distinctive appeal or
Second: frame the argument as we want it argued and try and change minds.

Join the discussion on the matter on http://act.libdems.org.uk/group/liberalisminliberaldemocrats