Liberal Democrats will "rattle the cage of British politics"

12.02.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 9th Jul 2007

I only recently read Ming Campbell's speech Liberal Democrats will "rattle the cage of British politics" (a lot later then it was delivered).

In Liberal Democrats will "rattle the cage of British politics" Ming Campbell raised an important point which a number of people seem to be missing in all this hype (spin) from the Gordon Brown camp about change and that was that "This Chancellor [now Prime Minster] has presided over growing inequality. He was at the Cabinet table when civil liberties were being eroded. And when the army was being despatched to fight in Iraq his name was on the cheque." Gordon Brown was one of the key architects of New Labour and Blairism so we should not be expecting something too different from him as Prime Minister then we got from him as Chancellor and Blair as Prime Minister.

Ming Campbell also raised another point which so many people seem to be missing which is that the Conservatives and Labour have more in common on the policy front then either party does with Liberal Democrats. As Ming Campbell said the Conservative party and Labour agree on issues such as council tax, nuclear power, city academies, Iraq and student finance where as the Liberal Democrats are the party who have a alternative approach to these issues. I very much liked the remark "It is ironic that of the few areas where the Tories actually have policies, they share so much in common with the government".

In his speech to Liberal Democrat Spring conference earlier this year Ming Campbell set out five tests for Gordon Brown to meet as Prime Minister. These tests were to end Labour authoritarian attack on civil liberties, grasp the challenge posed by climate change, break open the poverty trap, trust the people, to decide UK foreign policy in UK and not Washington.

It remains to be seen whether Gordon Brown can meet the tests that were laid out for him by Ming Campbell. I personally would like to see the Brown government try to tackle poverty here at home and abroad, work with our European colleagues to make the European Union more accountable, democratic and transparent, provide greater vocational education/training opportunities for young people, under labour there has been investment in schools, reform of further education and an emphasis on participation in higher education however vocational education/training has been greatly neglected and to renew our democracy by giving greater independence, muscle and power to local government, to give the House of Commons greater powers to scrutinise government actions, to reform the House of Lords to make it democratic.

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Liberal Democrats will "rattle the cage of British politics".