Anyone Have The Stomach For An Election? I Do.

In a post below 'The Message From The Electorate To The Politicians' I included a letter I had written to Nick Clegg the former leader of the Liberal party and my local MP. For the sake of continuity I will paste his reply below. I agree 99.9% with everything he says. The only point of divergence being that as odious as he is it was not Nigel Farage who broadcast the propaganda video showing empty NHS waiting rooms it was the official leave campaign which conducted that appalling exercise in manipulation.

To my mind the Liberals have been too quiet of late, but then they were pretty much wiped out at the last general election by the Tories and what a disaster that brought about. The old argument that the Liberals have no experience of government is no longer the case post coalition and with Labour in disarray it's time for a Liberal government. At least the Liberals have some decent people, you don't join the Liberal Party if you're a power crazed loonie.

Lets have an election with the Liberals standing on a back to Europe platform and lets make them the government. With our national credit rating cut Gordon Brown's borrowings will now cost us even more and on the back of Brexit the Tories have abandoned their plans to cut borrowing and create a surplus by 2020, not that it was a true surplus anyway just an annual surplus to reduce the debt, something so many people simply don't grasp.

As Nick says, those who voted Brexit should now understand that they've been betrayed. In fact they were betrayed and misled before the vote as the 48% who voted Remain understood. Here's nick's reply:

Dear Malcolm

 

Thank you for your email. I totally understand - and share - your dismay and anger at the way in which the referendum was conducted. We are clearly in an unprecedented situation at the minute, with major economic and political changes. Whilst this means that I am not in a position to provide you with much reassurance or certainty – I can’t predict the future - I have nevertheless outlined my thoughts for you below. 

 

As you will know, I’ve always believed that our children should grow up in a society that shares security, political values and social standards with our European neighbours – I do not want to see a rise in nationalism as in previous decades. That’s why I have consistently made a positive, progressive, liberal case for Britain to remain within the European Union.

 

The results of the referendum, in my view, will prove to be destructive of the United Kingdom we all believe in. I wonder, will the UK even survive at all? The Scottish National Party is already calling for a second referendum on independence. I fear that if this comes to pass, there is a very real possibility that some separation may occur.

 

The Leave campaign is openly admitting that what they told voters about the future is false: Nigel Farage now admits that the infamous claim that we would have £350 million a week to spend on the NHS should never have been made; Daniel Hannan asserts, with a straight face, that Leave never really claimed immigration should be significantly reduced; and Brexiters have assured the Northern Irish that there will be no checks at the new land border with the EU.

 

So that means: no money saved, no major cut in immigration, no control over our border with the EU. I would feel incredibly double-crossed if I was one of the millions of people who voted for Brexit.

 

My own view is that we now need a general election shortly after the new Conservative leader is elected. The country did not elect a Brexit government last year. The millions of voters who gave David Cameron the benefit of the doubt did so, above all, because they were worried what would happen to the economy if Ed Miliband and Alex Salmond were in charge. 

 

So it is inconceivable that the British people should accept a new Prime Minister just because he or she emerges from an internal Conservative Party contest. The voters who will elect our next Prime Minister — Conservative Party members — constitute just 0.3 per cent of the electorate. Once they’ve had their say, it will obviously be the turn of the remaining 99.7 per cent to choose a new government. 

 

Moreover, an election is needed because those who advocated that we leave the EU did not come clean on the terms in which we should depart. Any new Government – for that is what it will be (with new leaders and new ideas) – must give the British public the opportunity to scrutinise their proposals. These plans will need to be negotiated with the EU and they will also have to be debated and voted on in the House of Commons.

 

And when it comes to the next election, you may be interested to know that Tim Farron MP, our party leader, has announced that we will go into it calling for Britain to remain in the EU. 

 

By yesterday, almost 10,000 new members had joined us, and that number is rising. If you wish to be a part of our movement then we would welcome you.

 

This is a fast moving debate, and sometimes with that, what is relevant today no longer becomes relevant tomorrow. I hope however to be able to keep you informed of my views and I will shortly be inviting you to a Q&A that I intend to hold in the coming weeks on this very issue.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Nick Clegg MP

 

PS – we have recently moved office and our new address is:

Riverdale House, 89 Graham Road, Fulwood, Sheffield, S10 3GP

 

 

Nick Clegg MP for Sheffield Hallam

Sheffield Hallam Liberal Democrats
The Coach House, 89 Graham Road, Sheffield, S10 3GP
Tel: 0114 230 9002 
Email: nickclegg@sheffieldhallam.org.uk

Web: http://www.nickclegg.org.uk   


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