LibDem Councillor says party faces being wiped out by Labour

[Wildcat]

LIVERPOOL’S Liberal Democrat leader Warren Bradley has warned his party faces being wiped out by Labour in the North, due to its coalition with the Tories.

 

He told the Daily Post he fears the party could be completely eradicated within five years.

 

....

 

“I was elected by the people of Wavertree to improve their lives, I will not be toeing the national party line at their expense, just because we’re in a weak coalition, that will deliver nothing to the Lib-Dems except total electoral decimation.

 

“I give you that absolute guarantee, we will be wiped out by Labour in the North and the Tories in the South, and at last the media will have that two-party system that they have always craved.”

 

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2010/07/09/liverpool-lib-dem-leader-warren-bradley-we-ll-be-wiped-out-by-coalition-with-conservatives-92534-26816261/

 

I was discussing this and the budget with a colleague at work, his view was that from his contacts with people in Hallam, Nick Clegg would not be elected there again and that if he wanted to retain his seat he would have to look for a safe seat elsewhere in the country.

 

What do the LibDems think they are achieving being in Govt with the most regressive Govt we have seen since Thatcher, in fact already in many people's eyes more so?

 

Will the LibDems split over this? or will the LibDems find their voice and start opposing the Govt.s policies in Parliament?

[HeadingNorth]

Given that in most major northern cities, the Lib-Dems sole reason for existence is to oppose Labour, the claim makes no sense at all.

[dell12]

Can't see Clegg losing his seat in Hallam. The Tories won't be popular in 5 years and there's no real challenge from Labour.

 

I do think the Lib Dems will do badly, against Labour in particular, because of the cuts that are being made. It was a risk that Clegg must have known about though when he signed on the dotted line. I also reckon who win the Labour leadership race will have an effect too. Someone decent and the Lib Dems could find themselves almost wiped out up North.

[andyofborg]

i kind of expected tit99 to post something like this, are you covering for him while he's on holiday?

 

everyone knows that some hard things need to be done to sort out the mess the previous administration left us with, so for a while there will be some tolerance for a bit of pain.

 

if it all works out then both parties will benefit, if it fails then neither party will do particularly well at the next election.

 

its a high risk strategy but the lib dems were never going to make any sort of breakthrough any other way.

 

i can understand labour's terror because if the coalition succeed then people will start asking what the purpose of the labour party is. it has abandoned its traditional supporters, treating them with little more than contempt, so who will vote for them again?

[Vague_Boy]

I've always thought that winning the 2010 election was a poisoned chalice for whoever emerged as the victor (that's why I wanted Gordon Brown to win).

 

 

Mervyn King warned that election victor will be out of power for a generation, claims economist

 

Bank of England governor Mervyn King reportedly said austerity cuts will be so severe that general election winner will make itself unelectable

 

LINK

 

 

With the national debt double what people thought it was, and total debt approaching £6.3 trillion, it seems those who have gorged themselves on the state's teat still can't see why anything should ever change. After all, can't we just borrow/print more money?

[royboyz]

lib dem, liebour all the same really.

[Guest sibon]

i

i can understand labour's terror because if the coalition succeed then people will start asking what the purpose of the labour party is. it has abandoned its traditional supporters, treating them with little more than contempt, so who will vote for them again?

 

If you go and look at the Lib Dem opinion poll ratings, I'm sure that you will find plenty of information there to concentrate the minds of Lib Dem MPs. There are plenty of jumpy Tories too.

 

If the coalition succeeds, the Tories will claim the credit. If they don't, then both parties will be punished by the electorate. I really don't see what the run of the mill Lib Dems get from this coalition.

[Wildcat]

I've always thought that winning the 2010 election was a poisoned chalice for whoever emerged as the victor (that's why I wanted Gordon Brown to win).

 

LINK

 

With the national debt double what people thought it was, and total debt approaching £6.3 trillion, it seems those who have gorged themselves on the state's teat still can't see why anything should ever change. After all, can't we just borrow/print more money?

 

Both of those articles are complete nonsense propoganda. You don't calculate national debt by adding in total public sector pension liabilities... it makes as much sense as adding in 30 years of wage bills.

 

The facts of the matter is that public debt was 42% of GDP when labour came to power and 37% of GDP in 2007. If you add in public sector pensions to both those figures, considering the changes already made to them the difference would be even greater and Labour would appear even more frugal.

 

Hardly Labour gourging itself on debt. It was the banking crisis that has caused this mess and it is the banks and financial sector that should be paying to get us out of it.

[Wildcat]

i kind of expected tit99 to post something like this, are you covering for him while he's on holiday?

 

everyone knows that some hard things need to be done to sort out the mess the previous administration left us with, so for a while there will be some tolerance for a bit of pain.

 

if it all works out then both parties will benefit, if it fails then neither party will do particularly well at the next election.

 

its a high risk strategy but the lib dems were never going to make any sort of breakthrough any other way.

 

i can understand labour's terror because if the coalition succeed then people will start asking what the purpose of the labour party is. it has abandoned its traditional supporters, treating them with little more than contempt, so who will vote for them again?

 

If they succeed in what? All they have come out with so far is attacks on the poor, public and to a lesser extent private sector workers, children and families.

 

What is there to like?

 

Even the OECD and IMF are criticising the coalition's financial policies:

http://www.touchstoneblog.org.uk/2010/07/oecd-and-imf-start-worrying-about-austerity/#more-8899

[Wildcat]

Given that in most major northern cities, the Lib-Dems sole reason for existence is to oppose Labour, the claim makes no sense at all.

 

I did think that myself, it would seem more likely they will lose their share of the vote across the board. I know from friends and family in London they are fuming just as much about the coalition as we are.