STF NA MÍDIA

JUSTIÇA NO EXTERIOR •
THE GUARDIAN (LO) • NEWS • 18/9/2011
Lib Dem president praises coalition role but says divorce is inevitable
Government would have been absolute nightmare without Lib Dem ministers, says party
president
Hélène Mulholland
The Lib Dem president, Tim
Farron, sought to boost morale
by telling delegates that
the party s 18 ministers had
shown "a new spikiness and
effectiveness", and that the
government would have been
an "absolute nightmare" without
them.
Responding to the party s
dismal showing in the May
elections, Farron said the Lib
Dems were right to be in
coalition and insisted that
their ministers were the "guarantors
of fairness" in government.
In words likely to have chimed
with many delegates, he
said the decision to join the
coalition had "tainted" the
party brand, blurred its identity
and left many confused.
But he told the party to "get
on with it" rather than complain
about having "shacked
up" with the Conservatives.
He also appeared to suggest,
though, that the political
marriage may have a shorter
life than expected, warning
that "divorce is inevitable" in
"three or four years", despite
the coalition setting the next
general election for May
2015.
Farron began his speech by
sympathising with the swaths
of party members who lost
their seats in May. The elections
saw many "get their
backsides kicked" despite
"working off their backsides
for years".
"I want to say this to you
now, if you lost your seat, I
stand with you," he said. "I
am angry on your behalf; I
take the responsibility and I
absolutely will not insult you
by claiming that this was
collateral damage, or an understandable
mid-term blip.
Frankly, as your president, I
owe you an apology."
He conceded that while going
into coalition with the
Conservatives was the "right
thing for the country", it had
been "costly" for the party. "I
m in no doubt that being in
coalition with the Tories has
tainted us, our identity is
blurred, many who support
us are confused. They say:
"We thought you were against
the Tories, why are you
shacked up with them now?"
But the picture of the coalition
as a marriage – albeit
"good natured" – was not
only "depressing" but also
"temporary".
"We re staying together for
the sake of the kids, or the
special advisers as we call
them," he joked. "So look, I
don t want to upset you and
its not going to happen for
three or four years, but I m
afraid divorce is inevitable."
He refused to accept that just
because the party had lost
badly, it was "bound to lose
next year too". And in an
unusual approach to cheering
up colleagues, he said that if
other parties saw their poll
ratings dip to single figures,
as the Lib Dems had done,
they would "implode or cease
to be".
"Not with us," he said. "We
ve got nerves of steel. Survival
is what we do. A bit like
cockroaches after a nuclear
war, just a bit less smelly.
We are made of sterner
stuff."
He cited the more assertive
stance of the Lib Dems in the
few months since the polls,
from standing up against the
"witless kneejerk populism
of the Tories after the riots",
to opposing tax cuts for the
rich amid speculation that the
50p top rate of tax could be
scrapped, to the Lib Dems
insistence that a number of
amendments be put in the
NHS bill.
Poll ratings had now improved
slightly, going from diabolical"
to "just a bit depressing",
he joked.
And he said that while his
role as president allowed him
to "sound off" against go-
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