At the core of Nick Clegg’s message is the very powerful claim that his Liberal Democrats represent a new honesty and decency – in stark contrast to the corruption of the two main political parties. Yet this claim is cynical. The truth is that Clegg is the leader of a profoundly dishonest party that is prepared to lie, cheat and on occasion issue outrageous smears on its opponents in order to win power. The LibDems are so determined to win votes that they even appear ready to take advantage of tragedies affecting opponents. Tactics: Mr Clegg's party's new mantra is 'act shamelessly and stir endlessly’ One parliamentary candidate, Serena Tierney, claims that Tories in Mid-Sussex have been thrown into turmoil owing to a spate of resignations by Tory councillors. ‘What are they afraid of?’ asks Tierney in her campaign literature. ‘How many more Tories will quietly slip away from this sinking ship?’ But Ms Tierney’s insinuation that a collapse of morale is behind the five resignations is very misleading. One Conservative councillor in Mid Sussex, Brenda Binge, died earlier this year. Another has resigned to look after her husband, who has advanced Parkinson’s disease. A third has moved away, and a fourth is going to live and work in Scotland. The final resignation is down to ill-health. And yet Ms Tierney’s wretched remarks are to be found at the bottom of a column for her supporters headlined ‘Bringing Honesty Back to Politics’. When I spoke to local LibDem organisers they denied that Ms Tierney was referring to the death of Ms Binge, and insisted that she was doing no more than calling into question the suspicious timing of some of the Tory resignations close to the General Election. But it is undeniable that some Liberal Democrats lie and cheat. Take the case of Sarah Carr, the LibDem candidate for Hereford, who has published a series of false claims about her Conservative opponent. ‘If the Conservatives get their way,’ she asserts in her campaign literature, ‘we could end up with an American- style health system where millions of poor and older people don’t get any health care.’ These remarks are based on comments by the rogue Tory MEP Daniel Hannan. But – as Carr must have known – Hannan was promptly slapped down by David Cameron. Ms Carr’s allegations are directly contradicted by the Tory manifesto commitment to increase investment in the NHS. However, to give the accusations extra credence, they have been cunningly placed in campaign literature opposite a fetching photograph of Sarah Carr in conversation with the chief executive of the local hospital, Martin Woodford, creating the false impression that he endorsed these views. Ms Carr had not even asked permission to use the misleading image. Mr Woodford now says that he was ‘quite shocked that my photo has been used in this way’, and has demanded to be disassociated from the campaign literature. A spokesman for Sarah Carr said last night that she ‘will not be apologising for or retracting any statements made’. Another LibDem tactic is the planting of fan mail about their political leaders. Jeremy Hilton, the LibDem candidate for Gloucester, was recently caught out drafting a letter of praise about himself to appear in the local paper under someone else’s name. Hilton sent an e-mail to the person he wished to appear had ‘ written’ the letter, a former Labour councillor, saying: ‘Attached is a draft letter for you to send to the [newspaper] written by my press officer. If you are OK with it, cut and paste into an email and send it.’ A spokesman for Hilton said that the letter’s ‘author’ was ill at the time, and needed help in the drafting process. And to be fair to the Liberals, faking such letters is a technique common to political parties. Another characteristic Liberal Democrat campaigning technique is to adopt contradictory policies in different parts of the country. Thus Nick Clegg nationally campaigns on a pro-Europe stance, but candidates in constituencies where Euro-scepticism is rife – such as David Heath in Somerton and Frome – are permitted to challenge the party line. It’s a similar story on immigration. In some areas local Liberal Democrats call for strong action against immigration. For example, the party’s literature sent out to voters in Kenilworth states that ‘immigration, especially illegal immigration, is rightly of concern to many people and lack of proper controls is just not good enough’. But in February this year Nick Clegg told a very different story to voters in affluent Hove, attacking ‘nasty Right-wing politicians’ for trying to blame immigrants for Britain’s problems. Then there’s law and order. Nationally the LibDems take a compassionate line on crime, accusing Tory and Labour of being caught in a ‘sentencing arms race’ where criminals are punished too harshly. But to win votes locally Liberal Democrats do not hesitate to talk tough themselves. Nick Clegg himself called for sentencing policy to be strengthened in a community newsletter sent out in Brighton last March: ‘A “life sentence” usually means just over ten years in prison. It’s got to change.’ In the same vein, the Liberal Democrats try to win votes by sending out a completely different economic message locally than they do at national level. For instance, their Treasury spokesman Vince Cable warned two weeks ago that he would impose more ferocious spending cuts even than Margaret Thatcher if the Liberal Democrats won power. Yet at a local level Bromsgrove LibDems have been trying to make political capital by insisting that Conservatives will make ‘ savage cuts’ after the election. Liberal Democrats are also capable of descending into sheer nastiness, as can be seen on a LibDem website for the party’s candidate for Mid-Bedfordshire, Linda Jack. This personally targets Tory MP Nadine Dorries, portraying her as a sleazy and vulgar attention-seeker. Ms Jack was careful not to say anything outright that could be challenged, but she put up images of Miss Dorries alongside innuendo-filled attacks on her. These kind of tactics are not isolated episodes – rather they are part of a deliberate LibDem campaign strategy. Ten years ago an internal document called Effective Opposition urged Liberal Democrats to ‘be wicked, act shamelessly, stir endlessly’. It told activists that ‘you can secure support from voters who normally vote Tory by being effectively anti-Labour – and similarly in a Tory area secure Labour votes by being anti-Tory’. None of this deceit mattered too much when the Liberal Democrats were a minor party on the fringes of Westminster with no chance of government. But thanks to Nick Clegg’s performance in last Thursday’s TV debate, the LibDems now have a chance of winning power and helping to shape the future of Britain. The irony is that they have reached that position because of the unprecedented national response to Nick Clegg’s call for a new decency and honesty in British politics. He has cleverly positioned the LibDems as the decent alternative for those who have been revolted by the negativity, cheating and corruption of the main political parties. But the truth is that Clegg urgently needs to clean out the liars and cheats in his own party before turning his attention to making Britain a more moral and decent place. The David Icke Newsletter Goes Out On Sunday Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, has been compared by some in the last ten days with Barack Obama. The comparison is justified, though not for the reasons these silly people are claiming. Clegg, like Obama, is a construct, a façade, and what lies behind is very different to his carefully contrived public image. He's a slick-used-car-salesmen, a clone of Tony Blair ... ... While trying to portray themselves as the squeaky-clean goody-goodies of British politics, the Liberal Democrats, as I know from personal experience, are the biggest frauds, fakes and hypocrites of all of them. These are the people who change their alleged policies to fit the constituency or situation they are dealing with at the time and Clegg is well-known for changing his accent from posh to ‘working man’ depending on the audience he is addressing. These are the people who say they are anti-racist, but always make sure that if an opposing candidate has a black husband or wife this is made clear to the electorate – especially in those constituencies more prone to racism. These are the people who say they support gay rights and oppose discrimination, but always make sure that if an opposition candidate is gay this is made clear to the electorate – especially in those constituencies more prone to opposing homosexuality. These are the people who say they support freedom of speech and then have the audacity to dub those who reject the lie about global warming as ‘climate change deniers’. But then talk to almost anyone who has campaigned in British elections and they will tell you that the ‘squeaky-clean’ Liberal Democrats are the most mendacious, vicious and callous party of them all. This makes Nick Clegg their perfect leader. As the British journalist, Peter Oborne, wrote this week: ‘The truth is that Clegg is the leader of a profoundly dishonest party that is prepared to lie, cheat and on occasion issue outrageous smears on its opponents in order to win power.’ Too right, they are, with a few honourable exceptions - Clegg not among them. ‘Hello, come in, I have this great used car for you to see – only 10,000 miles on the clock once I’ve turned it back.’Dirty tricks of the REAL nasty party
More from Peter Oborne...
One memo told activists: ‘You can secure support from voters who normally vote Tory by being effectively anti-Labour – and similarly in a Tory area secure Labour votes by being anti-Tory’
Friday, 23 April 2010 15:40SAME OLD SHITE ...
Friday, 23 April 2010
Last updated at 7:01 AM on 23rd April 2010
… SAME OLD DARK SUITS
(Claiming to be the same old ‘change’)
Posts
