A resignation we can ill afford

The Observer reports that Dinah Rose QC, a leading human rights barrister, has resigned her membership of the Liberal Democrats in protest at the most of its MPs supporting secret courts in last Monday’s Commons vote:

Citing her experience of secret hearings, she described Nick Clegg’s support for the government’s justice and security bill as a betrayal of the party’s guiding principles.

Rose said her decision to resign had not been “taken lightly or without great sadness”. She told the Observer: “The very first sentence of the Liberal Democrats’ constitution states that they exist to build a ‘fair, free, and open society’. The vote in favour of secret courts is an attack on the heart and soul of the party.”

In her resignation statement, Rose said: “The right to a fair hearing, and the right to open justice, are among the most fundamental of all our basic constitutional rights. I just cannot see what purpose is served by the party, if it is prepared to support the bill. I have therefore decided, with great regret, to resign my party membership.”

There is more on Jonathan Calder’s Liberal England blog.

Henry Porter’s column in the Observer is also well worth reading.

Lord Bonkers sees Ming Campbell taken out of mothballs

A grey morning on the coast of Fife. When Clegg decided an article had to be written for Liberal Democrat Voice defending his ridiculous decision to support secret courts, he announced there was only one thing for it: Sir Walter Menzies Campbell CBE QC MP would have to be got out of mothballs and launched from Rosyth.

It is a magnificent sight as Ming takes to the water again, urged on by Elspeth – the only woman I have ever met who could have gone fifteen rounds with the first Lady Bonkers – and amid much hauling of ropes and creaking of rivets, and is born down the Firth of Forth on the turning tide.

“He’s no been the same since Jutland,” remarks one observer with mordant wit. “Since the Battle of the Nile, you mean,” returns another, pawkily.

People can be so unfair.

Lord Bonkers, who was Liberal MP for Rutland South-West 1906-10, was speaking to Jonathan Calder.

Lest we forget...

The reason we are Liberals. The reason we are not Tories. The need to oppose this sort of thing.

Cameron was talking bollocks – official

Remember David Cameron’s big speech yesterday on the economy? It turns out he was being economical with the truth.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has contradicted Cameron’s claim that spending cuts and tax rises were not responsible for the weak economy. Cameron quoted the OBR in his speech, in which he rejected calls for increased borrowing:

[Cameron] said the OBR had made it clear that growth had been depressed by the legacy of the 2008 financial crisis, instability in the eurozone and a sharp rise in oil prices between 2010 and 2011.

The watchdog, he added, was “absolutely clear that the deficit reduction plan is not responsible, in fact, quite the opposite”.

But the OBR’s chairman, Robert Chote, has written to the prime minister to take issue with his comments.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I think it is important to point out that every forecast published by the OBR since the June 2010 Budget has incorporated the widely held assumption that tax increases and spending cuts reduce economic growth in the short term,” he wrote. “To summarise, we believe that fiscal consolidation measures have reduced economic growth over the past couple of years.”

A triple-dip recession (the British economy contracted in the final three months of 2012), then last month the UK lost of its triple-A credit rating, and now Cameron delivers a triple load of bollocks. How much worse do things have to get before Cameron and Clegg admit that ‘Plan A’ isn’t working?

Nutters, cockroaches and defence policy

Party president Tim Farron has won some media attention today for likening Liberal Democrat MPs to “nutters” and “cockroaches”.

Nutters goes without saying. But cockroaches? Farron explains:

We’re a bit like cockroaches after a nuclear war, just a bit less smelly, we are made of sterner stuff.

If a key advantage of Liberal Democrats is the ability to survive a nuclear war, shouldn’t the party reconsider its opposition to the renewal of Trident?