Tag Archive for 'Nick Clegg MP'

What are my politics? It’s simple…

During this last week, several people have asked me how I could possibly be a Conservative whilst having such a strong social conscience. The very question itself helps to highlight one of the great difficulties that party politics presents, with people identifying politicians based on strict party lines and stereotypes:

“Marcus, how can you be a Conservative, but be involved in so much charity work and stuff? What do you stand for?” they ask.

The answer is simple:

I am an economic conservative believing in small government, minimal state intervention in economic affairs and the need for individual responsibility; at the same time, I am a social liberal who believes in individual freedom and minimal state interference into people’s private lives.

Contradiction? I don’t think so – politics is more sophisticated than ever, and I’d summarise my position as follows:

“I believe that people should be free to enjoy their private lives as they see fit, as long as other people do not have to pay for it – financially, or at the expense of their own freedoms.”

I hope that clears things up for those who are confused!

Clegg, Cameron and Brown during the General Election Debates in April 2010

Nick Clegg MP, David Cameron MP and Gordon Brown MP during the General Election debates in April 2010

A Con-Lib pact: Marriage of convenience or a match made in Heaven?

Within the next few hours, there is a strong likelihood that David Cameron will announce that he is able to form a government with the support of the Liberal Democrats, providing us with some stability and certainty after what has been a tumultuous few days in Britain politics.

Conservatives such as myself will be delighted to see David Cameron in Number 10 as our new Prime Minister, although we are obviously upset that we were not able to secure a working majority.

Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg at VE Memorial in London

Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg at VE Memorial in London on May 8 2010

The arithmetic certainly works; together the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats will command 363 seats, representing a comfortable working majority of 37.

However, will the politics work?

The Liberal Democrats are a progressive party that finds itself to the left of Labour on many issues – including critical ones such as immigration and tax. Their position on these two policy areas couldn’t be further from ours, with the LibDems wanting to embrace both illegal immigrants through an amnesty, and higher taxes as part of their plan to redistribute wealth.

On these two issues alone, it is hard to see how the differences in policy could be reconciled sufficiently to allow the parties to work together in government.

But there is an even greater danger – electoral reform. Conservatives have no real appetite for proportional representation (PR) in its many guises, and DC instead favours a reduction in the number of seats to more sensibly reflect the political landscape. Many inner-city areas are divided into several seats in a way that simply doesn’t make sense, and consolidating some of them into a smaller number would go some way to reducing the Labour-bias in the current system and creating a smaller, more efficient parliament.

Nick Clegg will be under enormous pressure from his party to push for PR and if (when!) this is not forthcoming it will lead to disquiet within the Liberal Democrat ranks.

Things will not be easy for DC either; Conservatives will already be smarting from not having secured a majority against the least popular PM in living memory and against a backdrop of economic disaster – this should have been an open goal. The prospect of being in government with the LibDems is not an appealing one – particularly if it hampers the programme of radical changes that we obviously must employ.

The LibDems are against taking immediate action to cut the deficit, whilst at the same time wanting to sustain the highest rate of tax – positions diametrically-opposed to the Conservatives’.

Even if it is possible to sustain some consensus in the short-term, will these odd bedfellows be able to develop a long-term working relationship?

I have enormous faith in our front-bench team, but I greet the creation of a Con-Lib government with some trepidation and I suspect that Labour will be rubbing their hands with glee – they will appoint a new leader, lick their wounds from the opposition benches and regroup waiting for the cracks to appear in the coalition.

One thing is certain – we live in interesting times and Parliament will never be quite the same again!

Houses of Parliament, London

It’s one of the most important weeks in the history of Britain…

Britain faces one of the most important weeks in its history as millions of voters up and down the country go to the polls to vote for their local and national representatives – choosing their Local Council and the next Government.

British election time - the voters must be decide!

A man reviewing his election choices in post-war Britain

After 13 years of a wasteful Labour government that has lost control of both our economy and our borders whilst ensuring that the gap between rich and poor is greater than at any time in the post-war period, the British people have an opportunity to elect a new, dynamic and compassionate team with the energy and vision to return this once great country to its former glory.

The Labour Party, under Gordon Brown, are a tired, broken and much diminished politic force that inherited the strongest economy in Europe and – three parliaments later – have created one of the weakest and most debt-ridden in the world.

However, it is not just economic growth that has stalled under Labour; our society has become weaker as the rise in anti-social behaviour has been matched by an unprecedented erosion of civil liberties as the increasingly-totalitarian government seeks to control more aspects of people’s lives:

Whether it was Labour’s desire to detain people without charge for 32 days, the planned introduction of unnecessary ID cards or the draconian usage of DNA recording of innocent civilians, this government has shown complete disregard for people’s rights – and that they are no longer fit to govern.

In recent times, the people’s faith in politicians has been shaken by the Expenses Scandal, and there were fears of voter apathy and low turnout, but the introduction of televised Leaders’ Debates seems to have reignited the electorate’s interest in politics and the Election – and to have elevated the Liberal Democrats to the top table of politics.

Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron in the first British Leaders' Debate

Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron in the first British Leaders' Debate


Although this does represent an opportunity for change, it also represents a real risk to our democracy and stability; we cannot afford the months of uncertainty that a hung parliament or a minority government could lead to – we need a strong team with a mandate to make tough decisions and to take action on our nation’s problems.

If many people choose to support the Liberals, we run the risk of Labour being the largest party in a hung-parliament on the smallest share of the vote – even a 28% share of the vote nationally could make Labour the largest party.

In this situation, whilst it would be the right of Gordon Brown to attempt to form a government with the support of the Liberals, this would be incredibly bad for democracy and call into question the validity of the First Past the Post system in a three-party system.

This is a risk that Britain simply cannot take.

Our country needs a new direction and that requires a new Government under strong leadership, and David Cameron is the best person to lead our nation through this period of great economic uncertainty and to rebuild our broken society – he has the intellect, the energy and the team to make it happen.

David Cameron & Samantha Cameron with the Conservative Party

David & Samantha Cameron with the Conservative Team

There is only one way for us to be certain of achieving this; vote Conservative on May 6th or risk five more years of the same under Labour.