Thread by @tony_nog

1) Clegg - a thread
There's a lot of flack going around about Clegg "propping up Tories" & "enabling austerity". Let's look at this with our reality glasses on because imho this is an example of why tribalism is killing our political system.

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2) firstly, coalitions are not unusual, in fact they are the norm in many countries. Entering into a coalition is just what happens in PR Democracies. We'll probably have a few more over the next few years. So entering a coalition is not "propping up" but a solution

3) attacking a party for entering a coalition is not a mature or reasoned approach to how hung parliaments work, if this was the norm no PR Democracy would ever get a Government

LDs are in coalition with multiple Labour groups at local level, and no one talks about "propping up"

4) the real issue is LDs forming a coalition with Tories & fair enough, many Labour supporters have a hatred of any Tory Government

But the LDs are not left wing, nor an extension of the Labour party. To complain about LDs in a Tory coalition as a matter of principle is unfair

5) Labour has formed National Governments in the past which meant working with Tories. It's probably the case that deep down some are offended that LDs would go right rather than left in coalition, but this is essentially tribal again, only a coalition involving Labour is valid

6) that said, what were the options in 2010. Well, there were certain realities:
a) Labour were blamed, somewhat but not wholly unfairly, for the crash
b) Brown did not have Blair's charisma
c) the MP numbers greatly favoured a Tory coalition
d) the country was vulnerable

7) now, the above are simply the facts - they're not really arguable. And the country was still vulnerable & needed Government. It's easy to forget this now but it was only 12 months or so after the biggest crash since the great depression.
So what where the options?

8) what could the LDs do in 2010?
I) Do nothing - not feasible for a political party to simply opt out at that time with 35 MPs

9) ii) form Coalition with Labour - not really feasible, Tories had too many seats & numbers didn't stack up. But also, Labour had been blamed for crash & would not have confidence of the country. One can say this is unfair, but it was just the reality

10) iii) create a supply & confidence arrangement with Tories - we can now see what this kind of arrangement looks like with the DUP, it's unstable & undemocratic. At that point in the post crisis it would simply be unworkable, as the current one is

11) now, one can rant and rave but these were the other 3 options for LDs. And all of them would have led to a 2nd GE within 6 months and a Tory Majority, because only the Tories had funds to fight a 2nd election

12) anything else, especially a stable Labour led Coalition across 4-5 parties is just wishful thinking.

At that time the country wanted stable Government, it was always going to be Tory given the circumstances at the time.

13) so with that said, what about the LDs in Government?
Well, the reality is they were the junior partner, so it's just common sense that they can't block everything.
Austerity - or reducing the deficit - is frowned on now but was accepted by all parties, including Labour then

14) we can argue now whether spending cuts were appropriate but back then they were not controversial in either major party.

And it has to be said the worst of the cuts came in once the Tories were solely in power. This really can't be denied.

15) Tuition fees - yes, the LDs made a mistake here. But every party, including Labour, has let students down on student debt, no party is pure on this.

Even Corbyn's Labour

16) it is simply not sustainable to say that after an arbitrary date there'll be no more fees. The existing debt has to also be addressed otherwise 1 person ends up with 30k debt for 25 years whereas his younger sister has none.
Every party has played games here

17) I can't defend everything LDs did in Government. But a fair & honest assessment would say that attacking them for forming a coalition with Tories is just being tribal, and blaming them for austerity & all student debt when they were junior partner is just unreasonable.

18) they went into coalition, it was the right thing for the country at the time. We've seen what weak supply & confidence Gov. looks like. There simply were no other reasonable options
Whilst in, they demonstrably held back the Tories, again, we can see what pure Tory gov means

19) does anyone really believe the coalition government (which brought in gay marriage by the way, imagine that with this Government) was worse than the current shambles?

20) ultimately if you want to beat up LDs then fair enough, but at least be honest. Be honest that because you personally hate all Tory Gov you can't forgive someone who's open to collaboration.
And be honest that LDs are an easy target to take out frustration with Tories

21) but no party is offering a fair deal to all those impacted by tuition fees, not even Labour. And only the LDs along with Greens etc are being straight about #Brexit

22) ultimately, Labour Leadership is engaged in the greatest "propping up" exercise I've seen in my lifetime.

They are supporting the Government on virtually every aspect of Brexit. Saying this is "tactics" or "being pragmatic" whilst attacking LD history is just dishonest
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