They’ve been silent during the pandemic, but we need them now more than ever
When was the last time you heard anything from the Lib Dems? Who’s the leader? Can you name one thing the leader has done?
Most would struggle to answer any of those questions, and I suspect even the most politically informed would struggle with the third.
How did we get here? There’s no avoiding it. The Lib Dems have failed repeatedly, driving themselves into obscurity. Nick Clegg, once a darling British underdog, betrayed voters over tuition fees. Then, we were gifted with Tim Farron, a liberal who believed gay sex was a sin. Recently, Joe Swinson’s Brexit stance managed to apply zero nuance to the debate over whether a liberal can force a liberal outcome. This drive towards irrelevance came at the same time as the rise of the Scottish National Party, who have wrestled away the privileges the Lib Dems enjoyed with third-party status. And now we have Ed Davey. In his victory speech, Davey vowed to start listening. Despite the botched response to Covid-19, it seems he has done little else.
So, here we are, 10 years on from Cleggmania, and we are faced with the real possibility that the Lib Dems won’t win a single seat in the next general election. Why wouldn’t a Lib Dem vote for Keir Starmer? Lib Dem voters bear the privileged curse of feeling too liberal and enlightened to vote Tory but also too sensible and invested in the status quo to vote Labour. But like Tony Blair, Starmer solves this problem.
A credible opposition should be cause for celebration. But Starmer is no Blair. Sure, he doesn’t have the arrogant swagger of a playboy global statesman, but he doesn’t have the vision either. We often forget Blair brought in Britain’s biggest political reforms for a century. The Supreme Court, devolution, Lords reform, Bank of England independence, the Human Rights Act and the Freedom of Information Act were all his doing. Granted, Starmer doesn’t need a manifesto for change just yet. We’re new into this parliament and he can be content to chip away at the government’s credibility. But at some point, he must show his hand.
In his conference speech, Starmer spoke of how Labour won elections with ambitious plans for the future. He promised the same. Unfortunately, Starmer is likely to be Britain’s Joe Biden. The calm after the storm. A candidate that people respect, but don’t get excited about. Someone to steady the ship. Want a break? Vote Starmer.
But we can’t afford a break. Politics won’t stop after Covid-19, Donald Trump or Boris Johnson. The future is coming whether we like it or not. Britain faces massive challenges in the years ahead: technology and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, shifting geopolitics faced alone after Brexit, the climate crisis, the possible break-up of the British union and the culture wars. These will be met by a country with systemic problems: the electoral system, health and social care, tax, housing, education, justice, equality, and, of course, immense economic hardship post-Covid-19.
These issues are our future. We need radical policy now, and the Lib Dems are uniquely placed to supply it. Third-party status frees it from the ideological, institutional and reputational baggage that can mire the major parties. Similarly, the dynamism inherent in liberalism affords their policy-makers the imagination to dream big. We need their voices. They must speak up.
Ben's Blog 