Liberal Democrats: Phoney radicals – no different to the rest

UNDER THE slogan The Real Alternative the Liberal Democrats have launched
their biggest, most expensive advertising campaign for 20 years. They’re
spending £100,000 just on full-page adverts in the daily papers listing their
ten-point election programme.

Jim Horton

With deep distrust of Blair and lingering hostility towards the Tories, the
Lib Dems hope to achieve their best result for 90 years, aiming to win 70
seats.

Decades of languishing in third-place opposition have allowed the Lib Dems
to adopt the pretence of radicalism. But do the Lib Dems really offer a
radical alternative to New Labour and Tory big business policies of war, cuts
and privatisation?

Iraq:

Even before Iraq was invaded, the Lib Dems’ opposition to war was limited;
they’d already backed the brutal invasion of Afghanistan and their only
quibble with the planned assault on Iraq was that it had no blessing from the
United Nations. But once conflict started, they supported the war where
coalition forces slaughtered thousands of Iraqis.

Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy calls for troops to be withdrawn by the end
of 2005, but like the other party leaders, argues the troops should stay until
the occupying forces have put down the insurgency.

Abolition of tuition fees:

Socialists campaign against tuition fees and would welcome their abolition,
but the Lib Dems’ pledge to introduce a grant of up to £2,000 a year, no more
than £50 a week, will do little to alleviate student poverty. It falls well
short of the Socialist Party’s demand for a living grant.

Council tax:

Massive rises in council tax, including by Lib Dem-controlled councils,
have led to growing opposition to this tax. The Lib Dems propose to replace
council tax with a local income tax. Without adequate government funding and
an end to privatisation however, local taxes – whatever form they take – will
keep rising while local services deteriorate.

Public spending:

New Labour plans cuts of £22 billion, with over 100,000 civil service jobs
lost. The Tories want £35 billion cuts with 235,000 jobs going. But the Lib
Dems are no better. They plan to cut £5 billion on top of New Labour’s £22
billion.

All the main parties say they’ll spend more on health and education.
Millions of pounds which Labour poured into the NHS have gone straight to
private companies in PFI deals. Now Labour want to contract out 15% of NHS
operations to the private sector.

The Lib Dems won’t reverse this. They want to give foundation hospitals,
which already have the ‘freedom’ to get into debt, sell assets and treat more
private patients, more autonomy. This paves the way for privatisation and the
NHS’ break-up.

Privatisation:

The Lib Dems were the first to plan privatisation of local services when
they controlled Liverpool city council in the early 1980s! In that city in
1998 they carried out mass privatisation of council housing and services, and
boasted of a £300 million deal with Jarvis, subsequently infamous for the
Potters Bar rail disaster.

In 1999, while controlling Sheffield city council the Lib Dems went
privatisation-mad, selling off sports and leisure facilities, elderly people’s
homes and refuse services.

Workers’ rights:

The ‘Liberal’ Democrats propose a ‘last-resort’ ban on strikes in essential
services and parts of the private sector!

Kennedy claims the Lib Dems won’t go into coalition with other parties if
there’s a hung parliament, but the Lib Dems share control of many town halls
with either New Labour or the Tories. In Waltham Forest they helped New Labour
privatise elderly care and housing services and plan to close special needs
schools.

Nationally the Lib Dems voiced opposition to academies, yet in Waltham
Forest moves to hand McEntee School over to millionaire Jasper Conran were
only thwarted by a community campaign involving Socialist Party members (see
centre pages).

Workers don’t need the Lib Dems’ phoney radicalism. We need a new mass
workers’ party to represent our interests.