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John Spellar MP produces a newsletter called Lib Demolition, exposing the Lib Dems for what they really are. Here are a selection of stories from it.
Lib Dems Soft on Crime
Regular readers of Liberal Demolition could probably have predicted the Liberal Democrat response to news last month that the government will be equipping front line police officers with Taser stun guns which experts say are a less dangerous alternative to conventional firearms and will help police protect the public and themselves as they carry out their duties. The announcement has been welcomed by the Association of Chief Police Officers and by the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents rank-and-file officers. However, the Lib Dems have lived up to their soft-on-crime reputation by condemning the move. Lembit Opik told Radio 5live he did not believe the weapons should be made available to ordinary officers. “We’re talking about increasing the firepower of the police in a way that I think brutalises the entire service” he said.
(Source: BBC Online, 24 November 2008).
Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber urges Iceland to sue Britain
Diana Wallis who is Vice President of the European Parliament said in an interview that Iceland should not be afraid to take its dispute with Britain over Landsbanki’s Icesave deposit accounts to British courts. “If I were in the position of Icelandic authorities I would not be hesitant to take the case to the British courts because they are not afraid to rule against their own government” she said. (Source: Iceland review, 7 November 2008).
Clegg’s sums don’t add up November 2008
The Lib Dems keep making dozens of expensive spending promises which they haven’t costed and now they are promising to cut taxes too.
Nick Clegg’s real agenda is to “scale back” tax credits and scrap the Child Trust Fund.
“And that public money can be spent much better if, for example, we radically decentralise the NHS, or scale back Tax Credits.” Nick Clegg, Speech to Policy Exchange, 20 May 2008.
“Choices like abolishing the Child Trust Fund, because it isn’t working to increase savings or deliver better opportunities for the poorest children.” Nick Clegg, Speech in the City of London, 12 May 2008.
He has promised to make “spending cuts” that would impact on schools, hospitals and the police;
“And to make that possible I’m asking my Shadow Cabinet team to look further, and deeper than before, and identify spending cuts equal to 3% of government spending.” Nick Clegg, Speech in the City of London, 12 May 2008.
At the same time, the Lib Dems’ latest policy document adds to a long list of unfunded promises, with huge uncosted spending pledges like a high speed railway network.
Nick Clegg admits that he “can’t put all the figures and cross all the T’s and dot all the I’s now” on the Lib Dems’ tax and spend plans. Radio Four Today Programme, 17 July 2008.