Today we debate the Lib Dem 'themes' paper Trust in people: make Britain free, fair and green or TIPMBFFG as Alex Wilcock has dubbed it.
Given the great fanfare with which the whole 'Meeting the challenge' project was launched last year, the paper is dull and disappointing.
To ride my own particular hobby horse briefly, it again treats freedom as a purely a matter of constitutional and civil liberties. I would like to see a bit more of the small 'l' liberalism that sees freedom as the government butting out of people's lives and leaving them in peace.
One of the frustrations for me of Blair's view of Britain is that it is a joyless one in which any instance of people having fun has to be part of some bigger project of social improvement. Sadly, as I have commented before, the Lib Dems are too often actually more nannyish than Labour over this - viz the horrific predictions by our MPs of the effect of the Licensing Act.
I suspect my views on this have more support among fellow Lib Dem bloggers than they do in the party as a whole. If only we ran the party!
1 comment:
Perhaps its people I've met in the party, but there seems to be a view amongst younger members along these lines.
There will always be some nannyish people, but I think generally we're moving more towards a desire for more freedom.
Post a Comment