LibCync

Wednesday, 17 February 2021

Post-brexit snark

Now the deed has been done, some of this snark will still be relevant but here's an updtae for the new situation (NB: Use with care, only for hard brexiters, we welcome the ordinary person who voted brexit who are now realising the consequences)

Yeah but we've stopped EU citizens' freedom of movement!

At least we've cut red tape!

Friday, 25 October 2019

Ok let's talk about the coalition

So with the election of Jo and the upcoming election, the Corbynistas have gone into overdrive.
So here are a few arguments, graphics and links to help.

So with many a hat tip to Mark Pack:

You #YellowTories achieved nothing and just voted with the Tories.

Our achievements:

Yeah well you didn't stop the Tories from doing anything or restrain them in any way!

21 extreme Tory policies the Lib Dems blocked

Don't blame me, blame Clegg: 'There's so much I want to do, but can't', says Cameron as he reveals to the Mail how Lib Dems are holding him back

Well, you could have chosen Labour, you also chose Tories because you are Tories!
1) The maths didn't work
2) At a stretch something could have been cobbled together with the support of the SNP. Labour ruled out working with the SNP in anyway.
3) Labour weren't serious, Ed Balls told us that they couldn't even get their own MPs to vote for AV (their own policy) even if it was part of an agreement.

Ah well, you could have done a confidence and support deal with the Tories or let them rule as a minority.

I think that's highly likely to have led to a snap election (in October 2010) and a Tory majority government. Tories would have said:
Give us a strong mandate for stable government
LibDems won't step up
(BTW Labour are still unelectable and we are the only ones with any money left to fight an election!)

Anyway, you bought in austerity which was a choice!

And what was this magic anti-austerity alternative that was available?

2009: Deepest budget cuts since 70s to fill '£45bn hole'
2010: Darling: I'll cut Deeper Than Thatcher

Ah well that was the Blairites/Brownites, not the next leader!

2014: Labour will keep austerity, says Miliband

No not that leader!

2017: Labour manifesto ‘would keep £7bn of planned Tory welfare cuts’

Oh.

And we cut less than Labour would have.

Well anyway you are just Yellow Tories who jump into coalition with the Tories at the first opportunity.

Well except when we are in coalition with Labour you mean?

Ok the biggie, tuition fees.

That infamous pledge said:

"I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer system"

Clearly it was made for opposition but however we did not keep to the first part of the pledge however we over delivered on the second. We didn't just "pressure the government to introduce a fairer system" we DID introduce a fairer system!

90% of parliament was elected on a platform of raising fees (Labour had set in train an enquiry that was on course to recommend unlimited fees but were planning to settle on £6,000 (double)) but without plans to make the system fairer.

We had an opportunity to make the system fairer so we decided to use our leverage to effectively replace student debt with a time-limited graduate contribution based on the graduate's (not their parents) ability to pay. The monthly payments are actually less than under Labour as we raised the threshold where you started paying but kept the percentage of income the same.

In return we agreed to the increase in fees to £6,000 (although ironically in this new system, any increase in fees only makes it fairer!). We were naive to accept this £9,000 for elite universities that could prove they were using some of it to widen access as history shows all universities then did this but at least we got the widened access!

Anyway you said you wouldn't raise VAT and then you did!

No he didn't, we ran an attack ad on the Tory plans saying there was a black hole that would need to filled with a VAT rise but we also explicitly didn't rule out raising VAT ourselves and said we might have to depending on the financial situation we find.

But this is the kicker, you can't get out of this! Clegg advisor Polly Mackenzie said you agreed on the plastic bags tax in exchange for cutting benefits. Well no:

Well well you enablers, you enabled the brexit referendum kin the first place!!!

Er..OK

Thursday, 25 April 2019

CUKoo in the nest

So I'm sure everyone has now seen this Daily Mail story

Change UK group plots to destroy the Lib Dems

Some follow-ups that lend credence:

Heidi Allen refusing to answer a question about it from legend Steve Bray

Change UK executing the strategy

From which I quote:

“none of the main parties are making a positive case for a People’s Vote and staying in the EU”

I expect the Greens, SNP and Plaid aren't too happy with that either.

Let us not forget that at the launch of TIG (as was), Angela Smith said the “Lib Dems lost the trust of voters years ago as we all know."

The signs were there.

Tuesday, 23 April 2019

"If we were to choose to stay in the EU"

My heart sank again as I saw that our European Election campaign was going to major on the fact that a vote for us was primarily a pro-EU, pro-PeoplesVote Vote. Again we will be conducting this as a proxy vote rather than for what it should be for.

However, a non-LibDem voter friend said to me he would vote LibDem for the first time in this election for precisely this reason, so the party are probably right.

However, we would be missing a trick if we didn't also constantly say "If we were to choose to stay in the EU, what kind of people do you want representing us in Europe?"

Not only would this plant the idea of choosing to remain in peoples' minds in preparation for any referendum but it would also allow us to talk about our positive record and contrast it with the reality of how Nigel Farage has performed (not turning up to fisheries committee, only turning up to make speeches so they can be disseminated by Russia Today, worst MEP voting record except for a quadriplegic)

Also with Change UK (as they are now called) saying "We are the party of the Peoples Vote" and "we’re the natural home of the remain alliance" we need other ways to distinguish ourselves from them. (apart from us wanting actual change in the UK in the form of electoral reform!).

Friday, 11 January 2019

Memes/links for (mostly) fighting the last war - full index

So I made an archive for general use of memes stolen without attribution over a period of arguing about brexit with people who are wrong on the internet