The way the votes went at the General Election, the Lib Dems did not win. They were offered the chance to assist the Conservative Party in forming a Government via a “Coalition Agreement.” This Agreement formerly called a “Programme for Government” was signed up to by, as far as I can recall, all but one Lib Dem MP. This Agreement contained some Lib Dem Policy but only some, after all we didn’t win the election and don’t have the right to implement our entire manifesto. By failing to win any election promises and pledges not contained in the manifesto suddenly became null and void.
By signing up to this Agreement the Lib Dems agreed to assist in governing the country by becoming part of the Government. They signed up to backing the government on all items that were contained in the Agreement. They were then required to show maturity and no longer be a “party of protest” but one of government, ready to make the hard decisions.
Now, these MPs should have learnt from the Scottish Party who formed 2 similar agreements with Labour after the 1999 and 2003 Scottish Parliament elections. The Lib Dem MSPs showed maturity by getting on with what was agreed and contained in these two “programmes”.
Unfortunately, the MPs elected to Westminster have failed to follow suit. When confronted with the outcome of the Browne review on funding higher education in England, the Lib Dem MPs had 2 choices on the way to vote when the Government put their proposals to the vote. These options were the 2 choices in the Agreement – either accept the proposals and vote for them or abstain. They did not have a choice of voting no.
But, around 20 of them decided to vote no. By doing so, they have demonstrated they are immature and not ready to govern. They should have had the Whip withdrawn from them and been suspended for several weeks. After that they should be forced to pledge their allegiance to the Government and vote with the Government, where the Agreement obliged them to. There are some issues where no agreement was reached between the two parties other than to “park” them into longer “reviews”.
These MPs have let me down and I’m struggling to support them any further.
Some Lib Dem MPs aren’t ready for govenment
The way the votes went at the General Election, the Lib Dems did not win. They were offered the chance to assist the Conservative Party in forming a Government via a “Coalition Agreement.” This Agreement formerly called a “Programme for Government” was signed up to by, as far as I can recall, all but one Lib Dem MP. This Agreement contained some Lib Dem Policy but only some, after all we didn’t win the election and don’t have the right to implement our entire manifesto. By failing to win any election promises and pledges not contained in the manifesto suddenly became null and void.
By signing up to this Agreement the Lib Dems agreed to assist in governing the country by becoming part of the Government. They signed up to backing the government on all items that were contained in the Agreement. They were then required to show maturity and no longer be a “party of protest” but one of government, ready to make the hard decisions.
Now, these MPs should have learnt from the Scottish Party who formed 2 similar agreements with Labour after the 1999 and 2003 Scottish Parliament elections. The Lib Dem MSPs showed maturity by getting on with what was agreed and contained in these two “programmes”.
Unfortunately, the MPs elected to Westminster have failed to follow suit. When confronted with the outcome of the Browne review on funding higher education in England, the Lib Dem MPs had 2 choices on the way to vote when the Government put their proposals to the vote. These options were the 2 choices in the Agreement – either accept the proposals and vote for them or abstain. They did not have a choice of voting no.
But, around 20 of them decided to vote no. By doing so, they have demonstrated they are immature and not ready to govern. They should have had the Whip withdrawn from them and been suspended for several weeks. After that they should be forced to pledge their allegiance to the Government and vote with the Government, where the Agreement obliged them to. There are some issues where no agreement was reached between the two parties other than to “park” them into longer “reviews”.
These MPs have let me down and I’m struggling to support them any further.