LibDems more incompetent than unprincipled

Ever since Nick Clegg went into full coalition there has no been shortage of leftish detractors questioning his principles and integrity. With tuition fees that noise has now become deafening as the Lib Dems are widely pilloried as lying, duplicitious and dishonest.

There are may be a simpler explanation though, that plain and simple Nick Clegg and his LibDems are incompetent.

Nick Clegg was initially praised by political columnists for playing his hand well in the coalition discussions. With Brown or Cameron, Clegg, so the story goes, was a hard headed and tough negotiator. This view is completely wrong.

First Nick Clegg played his hand early in the election campaign. He stated that he would look to form a coalition with the party that won the most votes. This may have been honest of him but it was naive. It was clear that the largest party would be the Tories and as a disenchanted Labour voter I decided not to vote for him as a result. I'm sure others did the same which explains the now forgotten elephant in the room of election night - the poor showing from the LibDems.

Second, in the coalition negotations David Cameron ran rings around him. Cameron did indeed make him an offer - a third of all ministerial appointments - that Clegg just couldn't refuse. Cameron gave a lot but in return gained far much more - almost total control of economic, health and education policy. The result is that we have a programme of change that is being enacted as though the Tories won by a landslide. They did not.

Third, Cameron tied Clegg into a guaranteed fiver years and offered him a high profile job. This approach, rather than demand and supply, has meant that the LibDems have very little room to object or influence policy. In demand and supply the Libs could simply have voted down Tuition fees, it would have made them popular. They would have appeared serious political players, principled and worthy partners in coalition. But they would have less ministerial appointments.

Fourth, AV. This was Cameron's masterstroke. He made a big concession on this but by adding reform of electoral boundaries to the referendum has created change that he knows Labour cannot support. The LibDems will be completely isolated in their campaigning for AV and with 10% approval ratings, the wider electorate will be in no mood to do them any favours.

For a party that wanted to be in coalition for so long they have proved to be remarkably inept at being in one.

Nick Clegg and his colleagues were unable to resist the carrot dangled in front of them by David Cameron. Clegg has the distinction of being the first Liberal leader to take his party into government since Lloyd George. The price of that distinction is they are now seen as being without principle, truth or conviction. They are all of these things but most of all they are just plain incompetent.

Is the scene already set for a Sarko vs Ségo presidential election re-run in 2012?

The scene looks set for a re-run in the next French Presidential elections as defeated candidate in 2007 Ségolène Royal has announced she would seek the Socialist ticket, long before the deadline for nominations.

The current President Nicolas Sarkozy, elected with 53.06% of the vote in the second round of the election, has hardly enjoyed his time in office and has consistently had to endure dismal popularity ratings amongst his public. He has not said publicly that he would run for re-election in 2012, yet he is widely expected to do so.

In light of these poor ratings (still hovering around the 35% mark - their lowest levels since he took office), the Socialists and the parties on the left of the political spectrum have the opportunity to make gains and with the right candidate could end the conservative UMP party’s hold on the presidency since 1995.

In her announcement, Ms Royal said her compatriot Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the current head of the IMF, would make an ideal Prime Minister, but many (myself included) believe instead he would be the strongest challenger to Mr Sarkozy in the elections scheduled for 2012.

A TNS Sofres poll published a week earlier showed Mr Strauss-Kahn crushing Mr Sarkozy if the two faced off in the second round of a presidential contest, taking 62 per cent of the count.

But as yet Mr Strauss-Kahn has refused so far to reveal his intentions, although in an interview to the German news magazine Stern early this month revealed: “I will tell you what I tell everyone. I am going to see my term as IMF managing director through to the end. And the term ends in 2012”.

In order to select its official candidate, the Socialist party is holding a pre-selection “primary” contest next autumn. All candidates for the nomination have to declare their intentions by June 2011.

Cliff Richard’s ‘Little Town’ for Christmas No1

Ah, the gloriously authentic days before they started to mime. This would probably now be banned by the BBC lest it offend minority faiths.

Unless the hair offends first.

You have to hand it to Sir Cliff, he does cracking Christmas songs, invariably with a genuinely Christian incarnational theme, and ‘Little Town’ is the best:

How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His Heaven.
No ear may hear His coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still
The dear Christ enters in.

It would be great to get these glorious lyrics filling the airwaves this Christmas after the dross of the expletive-ridden effort which made it to No1 last year.

The Facebook campaign to get this version of the carol into the charts is progressing steadily, though there is quite a way to go before it reaches the stratospheric heights of X-Factor’s anointed. There are presently enough supporters to ensure that the song enters the Top 40, and this would be the first time it has charted since 1982 when it was first released.

Sir Cliff is generously donating all of his download royalties on this song to Alzheimer’s Research, and His Grace has opened a JustGiving page for direct donations. Sir Cliff’s mother passed away in 2007 after living with dementia for more than 10 years. Asked if the way dementia is portrayed has changed in recent years, Sir Cliff replied:

"I'd like to think it has but there's still a long way to go. Money is always going to be the answer for things like this, to research the causes and hopefully find a cure. But I think the fact that people are talking about dementia much more freely is a great start.

"My family and I have been through dementia with my mother and before that we never realised what it all meant. It was a real eye opener for us and a big lesson for us all. And now I find myself able to talk about it quite openly and say that my mum had suffered, ...so yes - I think we're on the way to improving things."

Out of sensitivity to the conscience issues of many, Alzheimer’s Research have agreed that no monies raised through this campaign will fund embryo research.

And every £1 helps.

So whether or not you support the campaign and whether you love Sir Cliff or loathe him, the charity cause is most worthy: there is no Christmas loneliness quite like the interminable loneliness of a family living with a loved one who can no longer remember names, faces, happy memories: you mourn them for years before they pass away.

In this season of Advent, His Grace would like to thank all of his readers and communicants for making November another record-breaking year for this blog.

His Grace has seen 91,592 visits with 98,362 unique views making 113,854 page-views (Google Analytics).

Most of the traffic comes direct through search engines, but His Grace would like to thank those who have linked to him over the past month, in particular:

Iain Dale’s Diary 6,606
EUReferendum 2,014
ConservativeHome 1,460
Anglican Mainstream 1,379
Guido Fawkes 1,212

By far, His Grace’s most popular page in November was that concerning Bishop Pete Broadbent, with 4,021 views.

As we look forward to celebrating the coming of the Christ Child, His Grace wishes all of his readers and communicants a blessed Advent season.