Nick Clegg's Vision

Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party today published a copy of his 'New Year Message' on his website www.nickclegg.com. This is an interesting read and would probably appeal to a majority of people.

I wholeheartedly agree with Clegg's criticisms of the current government and like his ideas for the future, however you have to consider how viable these changes are. You can't just 'press the political reset button', as he suggests! It is very easy to have ideals and make plans in advance, but when (if) the authority to make the proposed changes is put in the Liberal Democrats hands how will they cope with other things which come up? How will they manage the reactions of the EU, USA and Commonwealth to these drastic changes? How will the changes be moderated to ensure they do not go to far, like in 1930s Germany?

I do not disagree that 2009 has brought to light existing problems within the UK political system and these need to be addressed. Furthermore, I would support a Liberal Democrat plan for change but only if a clear, step by step plan can be put together which considers every consequence of the changes and covers planning for unexpected eventualities along the way. In addition, there can be no better moderator of the changes than the British public, so I would suggest that referendums are required at certain stages before changes can be fully implemented. A fine line needs to be walked between rushing the process, thereby causing upheaval and taking too long so that things do not change/improve.

Yes Clegg's policies are good now, so were Blair's in 1997, but once you get that position of power there is very little the British public can do to influence government policy or ensure that campaign promises are kept, look at our involvement in the Iraq War. I doubt that Clegg will gain support with vague suggestions of drastic change and may even alienate current supporters. Whilst the ideals are good more reassurances are needed as to the when, how and why.

I suggest that the focus of the Liberal Democrat's campaign be formulating and promoting such a plan to incentivise people to get up and actually vote and acknowledge that there is an alternative to Conservative and New Labour.