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Liberal Left is initiated by Liberal Democrats who oppose the party’s membership of the Coalition. It is open to all who seek co-operation across the liberal left in order to provide an alternative to the current government. Our founding position statement is available here. Read Linda Jack’s Guardian and Liberal Democrat Voice articles about our launch.
If you would like to support our work, please Contact Us and you can make a donation here.
This morning Which reports that 1 in 5 households are having to borrow to pay for food. Certainly in my lifetime that is unprecedented. One wonders how bad it has to get before someone says “thus far and no further” – 2 in 5, 4 in 5? [...] This week the ‘welfare’ debate has plumbed new depths. In the week that the Coalition’s key changes to taxation and benefits took effect, the Daily Mail’s ‘Vile Product of UK Welfare’ headline was repugnant, reactionary and quite shocking. Enter into this debate George Osborne, who has in the words of Sarah Teather “stooped so low as to make a crude political point out [...] Last night (8th Jan) Liberal Democrats overwhelmingly voted for a 1% cap on many welfare benefits. This is yet another example of Liberal Democrats in power trampling on the very principles on which the party was founded. As Sarah Teather (one of only 4 Lib Dems to vote against this pernicious bill) pointed out, percentages [...] In September members of Liberal Left wrote an open letter to Nick Clegg challenging his drive to move our party to the centre rather than maintaining our long tradition as a party of the centre left. His speech today reinforced his determination to continue that journey rightwards. Even the fact that he talks about ‘tacking [...] Liberal Left welcomes the statement from Sarah Teather condemning the cap on benefits implemented by the coalition. We agree that the coalition uses socially divisive language which belies the claim that we are “all in this together”. The increasing use of the term ‘welfare’ moves us further and further away from a welfare state which [...] |
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