News of the World 21 Sep 2010
Liberal Democrats heading to Liverpool this weekend may be leaving the comfort zone of more familiar party conference venues; tranquil and sunny Bournemouth or the seaside glitz of Brighton. But we will be heading to a city where Liberals and Lib Dems have never been afraid of the tough choices that come with power and where, since the 1970s we have often run this great city and played a huge part in its regeneration.
While the antics of the Militant Tendency was Labour’s response to the Thatcher years, our Liberal Democrat colleagues in Liverpool learned long ago that politics is about winning power and using it effectively. And exactly the same principle applies today.
No doubt there will be ferocious discussions – and dissenting voices, too in Liverpool. We are, after all liberals and democrats – so we are not afraid of debate and disagreement
But this will, over all, be a constructive Conference – and one one of the most important and exciting in our history.
My good friend Ming Campbell said there was a risk that we would become like the owner starts to look like their dog. But I think the opportunities ahead are far greater than the risks we face. Entering this coalition partnership has its dangers, of course. But it also presents us with a unique opportunity to give the people of the country we serve the benefits of the policies we believe in. And that’s what I came into politics for.
We made a promise to the British people at the last election that, if we had the opportunity to give the country stable Government and a chance for a new kind of politics, we would not shirk it. Honouring that promise was right. And it now gives us a chance of changing British politics for the better by working together in a way which we Lib Dems have always said we believe in and the British people have always said they wanted.
Both sides of this coalition seem to understand what is at stake. This goes far deeper than just the chemistry between Nick Clegg and David Cameron. We don’t obviously agree with the Tories about everything – but we do agree about the big things; the need to clean up the mess Labour left behind. The need to tackle the economic crisis. And the need to face the tough choices now, rather than ducking them until later, like Labour. There is real strength behind this partnership – and in my view, it will carry us through the very difficult times ahead as Britain fights its way out of recession in an increasingly competitive world.
We can count on Labour to stand on the sidelines and shout like superannuated students, just as they did in the 1980s. This tactic will benefit them as much now as it did then.
What the country needs and expects is a Government which is not afraid to lead, a team which is prepared to tackle the tough decisions and a new kind of politics which is about working together in the national interest, not the old yah-boo scratch-your-eyes out politics which has done us all so much damage in the past.
That’s the challenge Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems face in Liverpool. And I am very confident they will rise to it.
Paddy Ashdown
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