Eric Pickles: Lib Dems should consider voting Tory
The Chairman of the Conservative party has made a keynote speech on why Liberal Democrat voters should consider supporting the Conservatives at the next election, especially in seats like Copeland where the best chance of removing a Labour MP supporting Gordon Brown's illiberal government is to elect a Conservative MP.
Eric highlighted the "growing consensus" uniting Conservative and Liberal Democrat voters about the kind of change our country needs and outlined the "clear choice" between voting again for the Liberal Democrats, with a leader who has admitted he is chasing Labour votes, or putting trust in David Cameron to deliver on the things the whole country wants to see.
As Eric pointed out, fifty Liberal Democrat councillors, nine former parliamentary candidates and one MEP have already made the move since David Cameron became leader: here in Copeland a former Liberal Democrat council candidate is now a valuable member of my campaign team. Eric pointed to the shared values and common goals of Liberal Democrat voters and the Conservative Party and pointed to some of the areas where Conservatives have worked for the ideals of Liberal Democracy:
Our opposition to 42 days detention
A pledge to scrap ID cards
Supporting the right of Gurkhas to settle in Britain
A firm commitment to tackling climate change
Eric called on Liberal Democrat voters to consider joining the thousands of others across the country who have chosen to help the Conservatives.
Anyone who considers themselves to be politically liberal, (whether with an upper case or lower case 'L'), should look at the record of the present government and ask themselves one important question:
Which party has the best chance of forming a government which will deliver on those liberal ideas that are important to you?
Eric highlighted the "growing consensus" uniting Conservative and Liberal Democrat voters about the kind of change our country needs and outlined the "clear choice" between voting again for the Liberal Democrats, with a leader who has admitted he is chasing Labour votes, or putting trust in David Cameron to deliver on the things the whole country wants to see.
As Eric pointed out, fifty Liberal Democrat councillors, nine former parliamentary candidates and one MEP have already made the move since David Cameron became leader: here in Copeland a former Liberal Democrat council candidate is now a valuable member of my campaign team. Eric pointed to the shared values and common goals of Liberal Democrat voters and the Conservative Party and pointed to some of the areas where Conservatives have worked for the ideals of Liberal Democracy:
Our opposition to 42 days detention
A pledge to scrap ID cards
Supporting the right of Gurkhas to settle in Britain
A firm commitment to tackling climate change
Eric called on Liberal Democrat voters to consider joining the thousands of others across the country who have chosen to help the Conservatives.
Anyone who considers themselves to be politically liberal, (whether with an upper case or lower case 'L'), should look at the record of the present government and ask themselves one important question:
Which party has the best chance of forming a government which will deliver on those liberal ideas that are important to you?
Comments
Shortly before I joined the Conservative Party, Sajid Karim MEP became a Conservative. Some months before Saj had been invited to a Copeland Liberal Democrats dinner at the Rum Story, in Whitehaven, at which he gave a rousing and passionate speech on civil liberties and human rights. The sincerity with which he delivered this speech convinces me that he has no more changed his views on human rights than have I. These views are accommodated in Conservative Party philosophy and current policy.
Conservatives and Liberals united in voting for Ghurkhas to remain in Britain and in opposition to the ID cards. Liberals and Conservatives share a developmental history, rising together through the evolution of Parliamentary democracy. We share common values of individual freedom and the right not to be interfered with by the state unless the law in broken. In other words Liberals and Conservatives are traditionally libertarian rather than authoritarian.
The move to the right in the 1980's by the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher briefly shifted the Conservatives to a more authoritarian position. I could not have been a Conservative in those days, though with the wisdom of passing years, I do now appreciate the difficulties Mrs Thatcher faced when she came to power as PM in 1979.
It has been argued that Liberals and Conservatives share the same commitment to individual freedom and aversion to state control. The Liberals after the merger with the Social Democrat Alliance formed by the ex-Labour Gang of four, was nearer to Labour on social policy. This originally appealed to me.
However modern progressive Conservatism under David Cameron’s leadership accommodates many social democratic values, the commitment to the NHS being one. On a local level I know many Tories who are actively involved in community groups campaigning to improve the lot of a wide range of social group interests e.g. the South Copeland Disability Group, Youth Partnerships, Boards of School Governors and the Cottage hospitals.
Historically Tories have been behind major social reforms, such as Pitt's backing of Wilberforce's campaign to abolish slavery. Many of the great Victorian reforms to improve public health and conditions for workers in the mines and factories were pioneered by Tories.
I in no way wish to criticise any of my former Liberal Democratic colleagues. I still hold them respectfully in high regard for their commitment. I would also like to see a sufficiently large number of Liberal Democrat MP’s returned to Parliament in the 2010 election. A good balance in Parliament is healthy for democracy and the quality of debate. However in Copeland the fact remains that Liberal Democracy does not stand a chance (primarily because of the party’s stance on nuclear power.) It follows that a vote for the Liberal Democrats is in affect a vote for Labour. I therefore urge Liberal Democrats in Copeland to vote Conservative in the next general election.
Current Conservative Party policy is far closer to Liberal Democracy than it is to Labour. Conservatives stand for the same Libertarian principles and like Liberal Democrats recognise the need for economies to tackle the serious budget deficit to be imposed in a manner that will preserve the provision of frontline services cutting quangos and bureaucracy.