Sim-O

Anton Vowl…

… thinking about New Labour cheerleaders here, that they feel a bit betrayed by what the Lib Dems have done – getting a bit of power in return for shacking up with the Tories and biting the bullet on stuff they used to believe in.

Why do people feel betrayed?

The LibDems might have compromised on some stuff they believe in, not used to believe in but still do, in return for what? For getting some other stuff they believe in. What was the alternative? Being the third party in the parliament, or a smaller part in a coalition of even more competing voices in ‘rainbow’ coalition, with less say, and less chance to influence things.

Sometimes you have to get what you want in small steps. That is what the LibDems have done. They’ve looked at the bigger picture and thought they could get some stuff done now rather than wait bugger knows how long for the chance to do everything at once.

The Tories are going to do what is most important to them whether they have a junior partner or not. At least this way, with the LibDems in there as well, it’s not going to be all their way.

Betrayl? Look at the bigger picture without your parties blinkers on and it becomes anything but.

After searching for Labours’ Manifesto and getting a load of Conservative results, I thought I’d do the Liberal Democrats today (I did do the Torys’ yesterday but didn’t get chance to post it).

I know the Libdems get a rough time of it sometimes, getting overlooked and stuff, but I never expected Google to be so harsh…

The LibDems have launched a bill, The Freedom Bill, to repeal a load of laws that have steadily eroded our freedoms and civil liberties.
At the moment they have twenty thing to look at…

Our first draft of the Freedom Bill contains twenty measures to restore the fundamental rights that have been stripped away in recent years. We would:

1. Scrap ID cards for everyone, including foreign nationals.
2. Ensure that there are no restrictions in the right to trial by jury for serious offences including fraud.
3. Restore the right to protest in Parliament Square, at the heart of our democracy.
4. Abolish the flawed control orders regime.
5. Renegotiate the unfair extradition treaty with the United States.
6. Restore the right to public assembly for more than two people.
7. Scrap the ContactPoint database of all children in Britain.
8. Strengthen freedom of information by giving greater powers to the
9. Information Commissioner and reducing exemptions.
10. Stop criminalising trespass.
11. Restore the public interest defence for whistleblowers.
12. Prevent allegations of ‘bad character’ from being used in court.
13. Restore the right to silence when accused in court.
14. Prevent bailiffs from using force.
15. Restrict the use of surveillance powers to the investigation of serious crimes and stop councils snooping.
16. Restore the principle of double jeopardy in UK law.
17. Remove innocent people from the DNA database.
18. Reduce the maximum period of pre-charge detention to 14 days.
19. Scrap the ministerial veto which allowed the Government to block the release of Cabinet minutes relating to the Iraq war.
20. Require explicit parental consent for biometric information to be taken from children.
21. Regulate CCTV following a Royal Commission on cameras.

It looks good to me so I’ve added my name to the petition.

Via