The spirit of Charles J Haughey was invoked yesterday by the Lib Dems’ deputy leader
CHARLES J Haughey would not at first glance appear to have had much in common with the Liberal Democrats, but the former taoiseach, in the eyes of one Lib Dem party leader, understood the core of politics: it is about power.
Facing difficulties persuading some in his ranks about his late 1980s coalition deal with the Progressive Democrats, Haughey had told them that “one day in office is worth 20 years in opposition”, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes told his audience.
The late Irish leader was right, added the left-wing Hughes, who is deputy party leader, and for many the party’s conscience. Telling supporters that they “must emotionally own” the coalition pact with the Conservatives, he said: “Government is what we stand for.”
So far, many in the ranks have yet to feel that way, judging by the less than full-throated welcome party leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg received for his speech in Liverpool yesterday.
Understandably so, for Clegg, who offered at one point a reworking of the Churchillian “never in the field of human conflict” phrase to mock Labour, is offering his own people another saying similar to one from the wartime Conservative prime minister – that he had “nothing to offer but blood, sweat and tears”.
Looking to a bright future in 2015 – when the UK’s debt problem will be under control, civil liberties will have been restored and British troops are out of Afghanistan – Clegg made few efforts to deny the road to such a place will be a hard one.
The journey frightens many in his ranks, faced as they are with elections in 280 English councils next year and battles for the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly, along with the crucial referendum on changing general election voting rules.
Unlike most other political parties, the Liberal Democrats has a democratic internal structure, too democratic at times for effective management, and the straitjacket imposed by the deal in May with the Conservatives is already beginning to chafe.
Delegates delivered a rebuff to the leadership yesterday when they overwhelmingly opposed the plan to give parents and others the freedom to set up their own schools: a Conservative policy, but one included in the coalition deal.
Former head teacher Cllr Peter Downes was cheered when he said the plan would force the closure of existing state schools, like the arrival of a Sainsbury branch can force the closure of the local grocer. “Human beings are not tins of beans on a shelf,” he said.
Despite yesterday’s vote, the creation of academies and free schools remains government policy, even though Clegg told his party they would never accept the right of schools to select pupils on the basis of grades.
There will be many other such issues in coming years: some will be manageable through letting Lib Dem MPs oppose them in House of Commons votes, while accepting unwelcome legislation. Others will be more difficult.
Faced with his audience’s evident worries yesterday, Clegg has grounds to worry how they will react when the spending axe falls. Some in the party have yet to abandon the cosy days of opposition.
