Lib Dem conference: resolution 101

An exclusive sneak preview, obtained by Luna17, of a major resolution due to be proposed at this week's annual conference of the Liberal Democrats in Liverpool. Or maybe not. 

Conference notes:

1. The sharp decline in electorial support for the Lib Dems since May's general election, as recorded in opinion polls such as one recent poll indicating support as low as 12% nationally

2. The abandonment of the party by a large swathe of centre-left voters, disillusioned by the party entering a coalition with an aggressively right-wing Tory Party determined to erode the welfare state and public services permanently

3. The revival of electoral support for Labour, despite widespread dissatisfaction with the party from its 13 years in government, in a remarkably short space of time, to a large extent due to those who voted Lib Dem in May shifting allegiance

4. The commitment of leading party members, centred on the 'Orange Book' circles, to neoliberal policy, enabling them to sit comfortably in a government with David Cameron and George Osborne

5. The gullibility of The Guardian and other left-liberal commentators in deceiving themselves that the party is more left wing and progressive than it actually is

6. The growing tensions with those on the 'left' of the party, such as Charles Kennedy, who are dismayed by the party subsuming itself in a right-wing government imposing deep cuts

7. The recent private warning from a Lib Dem cabinet minister, as reported by Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer, that Lib Dem support in polls could plummet to as low as 5%, with the Tories on 25%, due to the likely unpopularity of the coalition following the 20 October comprehensive spending review announcements

Conference resolves:

1. To carry on regardless, in part because senior party members are immensely flattered to be in government and feel this overides other considerations, in part because there is greater ideological common ground with the Tories than has often been recognised

2. To play an important ideological role in legitimising the savage cuts to be announced in October, by giving hardline Tory policies a more sympathetic gloss

3. To clearly and unambiguously position the Lib Dems as a centre-right party, but with a hint of vaguely leftish rhetoric, in defiance of the disgruntled mutterings of Charles Kennedy and many grassroots members

4. To placate much of the party grassroots with empty phrases about pursuing tax evaders and claims that the party has 'influenced' our Tory senior partners, e.g. on civil liberties

Subject to amendment...

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