Tory-Lib Dem coalition threatened by secret hardline memo on Europe

[brooklynite]

Source: The Guardian

David Cameron's hopes of forming a coalition with the Liberal Democrats were dramatically undermined last night by the leaking of a top-secret letter outlining the hardline Eurosceptic stance he and William Hague planned to adopt in government.

The document, obtained by the Observer, is headed "draft letter from Foreign Secretary to Prime Minister" and was written last week. It assumed an outright Tory victory and spelt out how Hague intended to adopt a tough approach to Europe at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels tomorrow.

In the letter, compiled by civil servants but written in the first person, Hague tells Cameron how his message would be that "the British relationship with the EU has changed with our election" to one firmly against any further integration.

...snip...

...the stark language used in the letter is bound to alarm Clegg, who has been savage in his criticism of the Conservatives' attitude to Europe which he believes is rooted in the past and will limit Britain's ability to fight cross-border crime and meet the environmental challenges of the 21st century.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/09/liberal-democrat-tory-coalition-threatened-eurosceptic

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Fundamentally, the Tories are going to need to decide if they're willing to give in on Electoral reform as the price for a stable Government (as opposed to cobbling together a minority arrangement that will probably collapse in six months), and e Lib-Dems are going to have to decide if they're willing to sacrifice most of their agenda as the price for getting Electoral Reform (which would probably given them a stronger voice in future Governments).

[47of74]

1. Question

Not sure of this, but aren't the Tories the UK version of our Republicans?

[dipsydoodle]

2. Watered down at best

.

[davidwparker]

4. Yes, they are like our 'cons.

Labor is like our moderate 'cons/DLC and the Liberal Dems are like the "left of the left."

[GCP]

6. You've got that the wrong way around

Lib-Dems are in between the Tories and Labour. (Although Labour became more right wing under Blair).

[mwooldri]

12. USED to be that way.

Labour have shifted rightwards so much that the Lib Dems are really to the left of Labour idealogically... and are far much less authortarian than either Labour or the Tories.

In the 1980s it was Cons on the right, Labour on the Left and the SDP/Liberal Alliance in the middle. The SDP came about because the "Gang of Four" thought Labour was going way too far to the left so split off and formed the Social Democratic Party... and since a lot of their views were allied with the Liberal Party, it made sense to join in a political pact with them.

[davidwparker]

13. thanks for the info

[harmonicon]

5. minus the religious hysteria...

there's also (more of) a regional element to it - there are some areas of the UK where Conservatives (big 'c') are almost non-existent (northern Scotland, for instance), but there ARE several other active parties. The BBC has a great map showing election results by constituency: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/

[Turborama]

11. From Political Compass...

UK Parties 2010 General Election

Chart: http://www.politicalcompass.org/charts/uk2010.php

This time around the somewhat mercurial Liberal Democrats look like Green Lite beside the Labour and Conservative parties. Their economic pitch is left of Labour's, with their Treasury spokesman hitting a recent Guardian front page headline Cable attacks 'nauseating businessmen'. One imagines, though, that he must have worked with a few of them in his previous job as Shell's chief economist. The LibDems maintain considerable distance from both the main parties on the social scale, with a rehabilitative approach to crime, a far greater concern for civil liberties ie curbs on CCTV, expansion of the Freedom of Information Act and the reduction of pre-charge detention to a maximum of 14 days. The only one of the big three parties to have opposed the invasion of Iraq, the LibDems have been astonishingly coy about where they stand on the UK's Trident nuclear arsenal. Their candidates somewhat self-consciously rattle off Trident as one of many expenditures that should be looked at in these difficult economic times. Presumably afraid of being labelled soft on defence, the LibDems haven't dared to argue robustly against Britain's "independent deterrent", which is actually linked to the US nuclear command system. Labour and the Conservatives are committed to its replacement at a cost of a more than £80 billion, including maintenance and running expenditure. Given that an impressive group of senior military officers deemed Trident "irrelevant" in a letter to The Times on 16 January 2009, the LibDems have missed a chance to do the public and the party a favour by giving the issue real prominence. Labour and the Conservatives won't, since they are in agreement on this colossal expenditure.

More: http://www.politicalcompass.org/ukparties2010

Here's what Political Compass had to say about the 2008 election: http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2008

[western mass]

14. No, the Tories are most similar to our current Democrats

The equivalent of the current GOP would be UKIP and the BNP.

[Turborama]

18. Seems like the "Liberal Europeans" meme has worked

However, that's not really true. If you take the NHS out of the equation, even Neo-Labour are to the right of Obama and Biden.

[CHIMO]

3. The Tory letter on Europe in full

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/09/tory-eurosceptic-letter-william-hague

[FarLeftFist]

7. The Brit Cons are further left than 99% of our Dems

They are for limiting CEO pay plus no bonuses, believe in global warming, and of course universal healthcare.

[cyclezealot]

10. Thatcherites

are you sure.. They are deceitful snakes in the grass.

[DavidDvorkin]

8. Bound to alarm Clegg?

Surely this isn't a surprise to anyone, including Clegg. The only surprise is that they wrote it all down in advance.

[cyclezealot]

9. Cameron is a snake

Of course Tories don't reveal their real intent. If they did, they'd not get elected..If they Lib Dems sign a deal with Cameron, it will mean their death as a political party, because the Tories idea of electoral reform would make the UK less democratic and likely gerrymander the district to the disadvantage of all. Guaranteeing a Tory government for ever more. Sort of like American gobbers.

[T_i_B]

15. Er....this is nothing new

Everyone knows that the Tory party is staunchly Eurosceptic. However, without an overall majority they won't be able to change European policy too much.

[Mudoria]

16. Aren't many UK'ers sceptical about the EU?

[T_i_B]

17. Lots, however, Lib Dems are very pro-Europe

That's where there's an issue.