All Thatcherites Now
Ming Campbell’s makeover today sees him in drag wearing an orange dress with a hint of blue and green for the latest relaunch of the LibDems. Having tried everything else to gain power now they are going to try Thatcherism. Don’t they know? 80s retro is just sooo over.
“Whitehall and Westminster must regulate less, legislate less and tax less. Fewer ministers, fewer MPs, fewer special advisers, fewer civil servants, fewer departments, fewer quangos”.
So it seems the Orange Bookers have finally started advancing their modernising agenda. Guido gets two or three press releases a day from Cowley Street, in them LibDem front-benchers always demand “something must be done” and it must be done by government. That statist reflex is illiberal, so we shall see how going forward their new Thatcherite agenda matches up to their press released demands for legislation. Guido will be watching.
Policy wonks will point out that there is the obvious conflict between a deregulation agenda and an environmental agenda, how they advance green goals with the problem of the commons remains to be seen.
A more libertarian LibDem party might even be worth joining now the Tories have dropped dropping taxes and are learning to love the state sector. Dramatically raising the personal allowance threshold for paying income tax is as much a vote winner as council house sales were to C1 / D1 voters.
Might however require the frontbench team to read a rather more hardcore liberal Orange Book. Wonder if they will have Guido as a member now?
