Now I've never been a fan of Harriet Harman, but I have kept my thoughts to myself until the "rodentgate." As a redhead, I found her comments about Danny Alexander exceptionally offensive and and ill thought out and now I barely hide my contempt so apologies if this is a bit slanted however her comments today are also as ill thought out.
With the future of British politics looking a little shaky and a general consensus that Coalitions and hung parliaments might become more regular the third largest party hold the key to a safe majority and at the moment that's the Lib Dems. It would make sense that, if you were to criticise the Lib Dems and their part in the Coalition you should not attack the core values such as Individual Liberty right?
Cue Harriet Harman... In her speech today she began by attacking the Conservatives and their policies and taking the moral high ground by pointing out the Tories like people with money and saying that for them Downton Abby was a "Fly on the wall documentary." - Very constructive.
Then she moved to those who do the "Dirty work" of the Coalition - The Lib Dems. It's their fault that local communities cannot have CCTV and that the DNA databases were destroyed!
Well yes, it is. Its as if she still doesn't get it. The DNA database was wrong, the government compiling of personal information of anyone's, including the Innocent, is an invasion of personal liberty. Its my DNA, my private information, why the hell should the Government have that information if I don't want them to. When I apply for a Passport I supply information in return for a document that will allow me to travel but my DNA?
As for CCTV, it is not necessarily a crime prevention as images can be grainy or be pointing in completely the wrong direction. It also means that free citizens are having their movements monitored by authorities, other than the Police. Why should everyone's movements be monitored for the sake of a possibility of a wrong doing? Should the innocent suffer with the guilty?
Anyway, if you agree or disagree, the point is Liberals don't and fought damn hard to get rid of Labour's oppressive measures and now Harriet is lamenting their loss?
Then she moved on to attack the Lib Dem theory that we act as a brake to the Conservative led Coalition. Ok, we're not perfect, Tuition fees was something that couldn't be avoided and the new system of repayment is a lot fairer and protects students who cannot get top paying jobs from paying back on smaller wages. Lets face it, and be honest, how many students have come out of Uni and ended up earning £30,000 straight of the bat? How many have earned around £20k or less and ended up paying back loan?
She also levels the NHS - something our activists voted to delay and get the parliamentary party to listen and think again, Police cuts - which are not government led but done by local Chief Constables, VAT - which we can't have that much of an impact over. What she has forgotten is that if we weren't in Government at all then things would be different, we've got around 70% of our manifesto through to the benefit of people everywhere and some of these would not have been passed by the Conservatives alone such as lifting people out of Income tax, Voting referendum, I could go on.
I'm not saying we're perfect in government and I have got plenty of problems with the Coalition but with power and Government we will make mistakes and errors of judgement, as Labour did when it first came into power in 1924 i.e the Zinoviev letter... However it is a learning curve. Needless to say, she has damaged prospects of the parties working together in the future if New New Labour drum into their party a dislike for the Lib Dems or even spend the next four years telling the electorate how awful we are and then have to go back on themselves if they ever need a Coalition.
Yes the Lib Dems were evil but now... they're urm, they're really nice evil?
The last thing, and this made me raise an eyebrow, was that according to Harriet;
As we look to the year ahead, as more people suffer from the Tories, as fewer people trust the Lib Dems, the political map is changing and Labour's activists are mobilising.
Changing? Anyone would think Labour weren't in for 13 years and that the Coalition is a result of a yearning for change. It sounds like she is believing her own hype and it made me think of Hitler telling Feldmarschall Von Griem of the thousands of Luftwaffe jets now available and the Wehrmacht mobilising to throw the Allies out of Germany in April 1945.
