Lords reform, an issue all the parties believe in and the public believe in, but which the proposed solution, by Nick Clegg, is viewed as not the right type of reform, not allowing enough time for scrutiny or just at the wrong time. I’m being generous to those who are purely playing party politics with this issue!
Lords reform is a big deal and Liberal Democrats want to see it delivered, not because we benefit, but because it’s the right thing to do. However, if we can’t get support for it, we should not enter into tit for tat politics with the Conservatives. There are other things we need to get done, so lets do them rather than get bogged down on an issue seen as honourable but not a wider priority.
I want to see the drive to renewable energy, properly supported. As reported in the Guardian, the Treasury and Conservative backbenchers are blocking proposals, despite the promise of this Government being the “greenest government ever”. Increased certainty is needed for companies to invest in green technology, certainty we are not providing.
We can work together with the Conservatives, we have delivered:
- Increase the income tax threshold to £8,105, taking 2m out of paying tax, and a tax cut of £546 to 21m taxpayers
- Pupil premium for the poorest primary school children, worth £600 each
- Driving the agenda for banking reform
- Green Investment bank with £3bn of initial funding
- Pension rises of 2.5% guaranteed or the rate of inflation, average wage increases if these are higher
- Simplifying future pensions, so everyone gets £140 a week, no means testing
Coalition requires compromises, but as Andrew Rawnsley said in the Observer “by and large, it is the Lib Dems who have been the grownups of the coalition and the Tories who have been the juveniles”.Ultimately the Conservatives are behaving and wanting to enact policies of the party of old. In reality they could use the coalition to show that they have modernised, in actions not just words.
Philip Ling 