Lib Dems Are A Rabble

I like many Lib Dems. For a start all the Lib Dems I link to on my sidebar seem like great guys - sure a bit more Liberal than me, but you'd expect that wouldn't you? Personally, I believe that the Conservative Party is a great place for freedom-loving individuals, but I'm sure some will beg to differ.

Squeezed between Left and Right, the Lib Dems are a Darwinian response to being the third party in a FPTP system - undoubtedly a brilliant electoral machine. To survive, they are generally disciplined, work closely with local communities cobbling support from a diverse range of sources and market themselves excellently.

Are feminists, homosexuals, anti-war Muslims, students, libertarians, apolitical people able to form around one big idea? Probably not and under both Kennedy and Campbell there has been no clear vision - I think it's a deliberate policy to avoid internal dissent. But, sometimes arguments caused by the underlying differences in values/ideology of the various factions of any party will rear their head.

Party discipline can only go so far. If you want to see what I mean, check this extraordinary comment at Coming Out From Under (good blog) which was taken from a post at Iain Dale's. Now ex-Lib Dem Susanne Lamido (pictured) from Islington describes herself on her site as a "tough, blonde cookie having her say". So for the full story as it develops, go to Suz's blog. It simply has to be a daily read. Good on you Suz for speaking your mind. Dearie me Lib Dems.