It is an apposite lesson in the cynical selling out of political principles by the Liberal Democrats:
- Stand in opposition to immediate £6bn (modest!!) cuts in public services but sign up to them http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/5939908/vince-flipflops-on-yet-another-issue.thtml
- Make a firm promise to the electorate to scrap Trident but sign up to the maintenance of Britain’s nuclear deterrent http://www.libdemvoice.org/lib-dem-labour-tory-voters-all-say-scrap-trident-16093.html
- Offer an amnesty to ‘illegal’ immigrants in your manifesto but sign up to a limit on the number of non-EU economic migrants coming to live and work in the UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/parties_and_issues/8629354.stm
- Betray generations-long party policy of proportional representation in the form of the single transferable vote system but sign up to a referendum on the introduction of the alternative vote – arguably less proportional than FPTP . http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/05/vote-jenkins-proportional
- Accuse the Tory party of xenophobia-by-association where the EU is concerned but sign up to a euro-sceptic referendum lock and ruling out UK entry into the euro for 5 years http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/clegg-told-to-apologise-to-tory-eu-group-over-nutters-jibe/
In May 2010 the Liberal Democrats are not waving but drowning.
http://www.artofeurope.com/smith/smi1.htm