(UK Liberal Democrats' Leader) Nick Clegg: There is no future for us as a party of the left

[Turborama]

Source: The Independent (UK)

As the Liberal Democrats' conference begins, their leader gives his party an uncompromising message -

By Andrew Grice, Political Editor -

Nick Clegg has declared that there is "no future" for the Liberal Democrats as a left-wing alternative to Labour as he appealed to his party to show "patience" and maintain a united front with the Conservatives.

In an interview with The Independent on the eve of Liberal Democrat conference starting today, he promised his party it would reap the electoral rewards if it held its nerve about its slump in the opinion polls.

He said: "There were some people, particularly around the height of the Iraq war, who gave up on the Labour Party and turned to the Liberal Democrats as a sort of left-wing conscience of the Labour Party. I totally understand that some of these people are not happy with what the Lib Dems are doing in coalition with the Conservatives. The Lib Dems never were and aren't a receptacle for left-wing dissatisfaction with the Labour Party. There is no future for that; there never was."

His comments suggest Mr Clegg is resigned to losing a section of his party's support after departing from the strategy of Charles Kennedy, who opposed the Iraq war. An Ipsos MORI poll this week showed Labour and the Tories neck and neck on 37 per cent with Liberal Democrats on 15 per cent, down from the 23 per cent they won at the May election. Some 32,000 people have joined Labour since May, including 10,000 who formerly supported the Liberal Democrats. Although 600 members have quit Mr Clegg's party, another 4,500 have joined.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nick-clegg-there-is-no-future-for-us-as-a-party-of-the-left-2082689.html

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So, where will the Brits turn to now if there's another build up to an illegal invasion?

[regnaD kciN]

1. Biggest fools of last year -- those who voted for the LDs...

...hoping that they'd be a progressive alternative to the what the Labour Party had become under Blair. Instead, they've become a "third way" to Labour's "third way" -- in other words, two huge steps to the right instead of just one!

[western mass]

8. On the contrary....

they showed Labour that they can't win by kicking sand in the faces of their left-wing base.

I'll take a few years of right-wing government in exchange for a future where the Labour isn't just a milder form of right-wing government.

The Lib Dems, on the other hand, are finished.

[Arkana]

2. Nick Clegg fooled a lot of people, it seems.

He let his hatred of Gordon Brown get in the way of doing what was right--he should have allied with Labor.

[Tarheel_Dem]

13. Reminds me of Ralph Nader. I knew this was gonna be a disaster.

The only thing the Lib Dems and the Conservative Party had in common was a mutual hatred for Labor. However, this is going to be fun to watch.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Labour had no desire to form a coalition

They basically said "we'd rather have a period in opposition than continue to take the blame for things". The moment talks about a coalition with Labour were started, senior Labour politicians said it shouldn't be done.

The only option was to tell the Tories to try to govern as a minority party, on their own or with the Northern Irish DUP (who shouldn't be let anywhere near government). The fear was that the Tories would call a snap election when they thought they could get a majority in Parliament, and then things would be even worse.

[me b zola]

3. They'll turn to the US

where the motto of many people who call themselves "progressive" is "I used to hate it until Obama did it!"

[w4rma]

4. Wow. He's going to destroy the Lib Dems. Oh well. They deserve it. (nt)

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Rahm Emanuel:

"There's no future for us as a party of the left."

[onehandle]

6. Power junkie. nt

[Fool Count]

7. In other words, there is no future for Mr. Glegg's Prime Ministerial ambitions

as a Lib Dem leader, so he is angling for Conservative leadership by either outright
merger of by running Lib Dems into irrelevance and abandoning them for the Tories.

[PFunk]

9. I think labor just been handed a lifeline.

As that trickle that's leaving now to rejoin Labor will become a flood after a year as the LD's will once again become a minority party If what is posted is true. It will also make folks think twice about joining another minor party. said.

[David__77]

10. Well perhaps "New Labor" can be crushed and the party reinvigorated.

Bring out the red banner and restore the party to what it once was.

[JCMach1]

11. What a load of rubbish!

[ikri]

12. Nick Clegg: There is no future for us as a party.

That's essentially what he's saying. He'll be a Conservative MP by the time the next election rolls around and that'll be his last election too.

The Lib Dems are already haemorrhaging support around the country, the only group where they have any support now is with Tory voters. All the supporters they picked up by running on a centre-left manifesto at the last election see them for what they are now - power hungry neo-liberals.

There are centre-left Lib Dem MPs that I cannot see remaining members of the party as their leadership sells out everything they stand for. I can see either a new party appearing, the Social Democratic Party splitting away again from the Liberals (The Liberal Democrats were formed from the merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democrats, hence Liberal Democrats) or a number of their members joining Labour.

[Turborama]

14. This headline says it all: "Enjoy power, Nick Clegg tells Lib Dems"

From this Guardian article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/18/liberal-democrats-conference

What do you think is next for British politics? A new party? Labour going back to the Left? And/or a stronger more respected Green party?

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. The Lib Dems are the Green's only chance

If the Lib Dems can get the AV voting reform through, then the Greens have a route to growing their power (it'll make other candidates want to look a bit greener to pick up the votes from Green supporters when the Green candidate is eliminated). If not, they'll never get more than a few seats, out of hundreds.

Labour is on a knife-edge between electing David Miliband, the most Blairite of the candidates for leaders, or his brother Ed, who's a bit more towards the left (and has the advantage of not being an MP in 2003, so he can claim he was against the Iraq invasion, because he doesn't have a vote on record). Either way, it doesn't look like Labour intends to go much farther left than it was under Gordon Brown. And there's no sign whatsoever of a new party on the left.

[Turborama]

18. Thanks for the insight, Muriel

So, ironically, it depends on the AV reform for the Greens to be the only truly "alternative vote"?

To get a better idea of what's happening with today's Labour party, how much further left was Brown as a PM compared to Blair?

[Francesca9]

17. I like the honesty and wish that we had this too

He is telling liberals the truth. No American politician would do this, they would pretend otherwise while totally screwing them over and hoping that they never notice.

[No Elephants]

19. He's saying what he believes best suits his personal ambition, as do most politicians.

[No Elephants]

20. He's saying what he believes best suits his personal ambition, as do most politicians.