Sara Scarlett shows her Old Labour credentials
October 12th, 2009 Posted in UK Politics by Mark Littlewood
If you haven’t seen it yet, Liberal Vision’s Sara Scarlett has an article on LibDem Voice, calling for the Liberal Democrats to reach out to the (often totally ignored) Co-operative Party and its twenty-nine MPs.
Judging from the extensive stream of comments posted, her strategy and analysis have met with approval from all corners of the LibDems.
The odd (very odd) one or two party activists, however, seem sceptical of voluntary or market mechanisms in virtually all their aspects.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Those odd (very odd) one or two party activists simple knee jerk at the sight of anything by anyone whom they consider may call themselves “libertarian”, “economic liberal” or a host of other terms they do not, or simply refuse to, understand.
I’m getting quite sick of them. They pollute every thread in which some of us participate. If I were vindictive I’d be asking their regional party to review their treatment of other members of the party.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Of course, I should probably plug my own foray into “Socialism” from last week…:)
October 12th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Solidarity Jock! Sick to death… I’m an anti-statist essentially – I have no problem with socialism as long as it’s not “state socialism” – which is the point I was trying to make.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
If I am one of those “odd Liberal Democrats”, then my local party is Greenwich. Here’s its website:
http://greenwich-libdems.org.uk/
Put your money where your mouth is – write to them and ask them to expel me from the party.
But, you might take this – I have nothing at against the co-operative ideal and mutualism, I respect and support these things.
I have stood up the strongest in this party in defence of the major independent supplier of education when some in this party wanted to close down its role in education.
You claim I refuse to understand you. No, you don’t like being challenged. It is YOU and your like who pollute our party with your Ayn Rand politics, which is NOT what it historically stood for.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:29 am
Oh dear! I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage Matthew, since I have never read, nor even considered reading, any Ayn Rand, nor knowingly read or listened to anyone who I believe would call themselves an objectivist. Though I have an unwatched copy somewhere of The Fountainhead that I bought for an architect friend of mine. Maybe I should dig it out, rush over to his place with it and some popcorn and snuggle up on the sofa to watch it.
And nor, unlike you of me and others, have I suggested expelling you from the party, nor wanting you to leave – I simply suggest that your behaviour towards some of us others in the party deserves some censure.
I relish being challenged. And have provided you with reference after reference of left-libertarian thought and writing, yet it is you who constantly reprise the “libertarians are Thatcher-Reagan acolytes” line – just like Mr Payne-in-the-arse too – inspite of the overwhelming history of the libertarian and anarchist movement to the contrary. And now you trot out old mother Rand too!
October 13th, 2009 at 1:54 am
Thankfully, Matthew, I don’t believe there’s any provision in the party rules for expelling someone for being “odd”. If there were, we might find party membership numbers deteriorating much further then they have.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:42 am
[…] Sara Scarlett shows her Old Labour credentials by Mark Littlewood on Liberal Vision’s blog. And she does so, here on Lib Dem […]