FUCK THE POLICE
911 EVERY DAY
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2648674.ece
Polling 11%, less than half of what they were at the 2005 election. If they can't improve that by 2007, they'll certainly lose almost all of their seats. This is on the heels of liberal parties all over the world disintegrating - the Progressives in Ireland, the PPV in the Netherlands, the Democrats in Australia. ACT in New Zealand is already practically deregistered and holds no seats, even though they have a mere 5% electoral threshold to meet. It's a bad time for classical liberals worldwide.
The Liberal Democrats were on the brink of crisis last night after one of the party’s most senior MPs warned Sir Menzies Campbell that he “has to do better”.
Simon Hughes, the party president and former leadership contender, said that although Sir Menzies had “improved considerably” since taking the helm 18 months ago, he still needed to raise his game.
He also delivered what may be seen as a veiled threat, telling the GMTV Sunday Programme that the leadership was “always an issue”.
“[Sir Menzies} knows all the time that the party has to do better — that’s my job, collectively, and the leader obviously has to do better: get better at getting the message across better, at getting the policy out better, at making sure that out there people understand that Labour and Tory are often the same on policy. We offer a difference. Now, he will do that. I’m confident he’ll do that.”
Mr Hughes praised Sir Menzies’s speech, given at last month’s party conference in Brighton, and said that he seemed to be “up for the job”. But he added that the leadership was “always an issue in all of the parties”.
“We live in a presidential system, and therefore the leader has to continually do well and better.” Asked if he meant Sir Menzies had to do better, Mr Hughes replied: “Well, of course.”
A spokeswoman insisted that Mr Hughes was being supportive of Sir Menzies. “It’s very strong and very positive for Ming. The media is ignoring us and we must get our message across better, and Simon has shown he is very strongly behind Ming.” This is not the first time that Mr Hughes has spoken out, criticising Sir Menzies’s performance at Prime Minister’s Questions last year. Asked if Mr Hughes’s position was secure, the spokeswoman replied: “Absolutely”.
Research by Ipsos MORI for The Sun put the party’s support at just 11 per cent — compared with nearly 23 per cent at the last general election. Earlier in the week, a Populus poll for The Times put the Liberal Democrats down three points to a new low of 12 per cent.
Polling 11%, less than half of what they were at the 2005 election. If they can't improve that by 2007, they'll certainly lose almost all of their seats. This is on the heels of liberal parties all over the world disintegrating - the Progressives in Ireland, the PPV in the Netherlands, the Democrats in Australia. ACT in New Zealand is already practically deregistered and holds no seats, even though they have a mere 5% electoral threshold to meet. It's a bad time for classical liberals worldwide.
The Liberal Democrats were on the brink of crisis last night after one of the party’s most senior MPs warned Sir Menzies Campbell that he “has to do better”.
Simon Hughes, the party president and former leadership contender, said that although Sir Menzies had “improved considerably” since taking the helm 18 months ago, he still needed to raise his game.
He also delivered what may be seen as a veiled threat, telling the GMTV Sunday Programme that the leadership was “always an issue”.
“[Sir Menzies} knows all the time that the party has to do better — that’s my job, collectively, and the leader obviously has to do better: get better at getting the message across better, at getting the policy out better, at making sure that out there people understand that Labour and Tory are often the same on policy. We offer a difference. Now, he will do that. I’m confident he’ll do that.”
Mr Hughes praised Sir Menzies’s speech, given at last month’s party conference in Brighton, and said that he seemed to be “up for the job”. But he added that the leadership was “always an issue in all of the parties”.
“We live in a presidential system, and therefore the leader has to continually do well and better.” Asked if he meant Sir Menzies had to do better, Mr Hughes replied: “Well, of course.”
A spokeswoman insisted that Mr Hughes was being supportive of Sir Menzies. “It’s very strong and very positive for Ming. The media is ignoring us and we must get our message across better, and Simon has shown he is very strongly behind Ming.” This is not the first time that Mr Hughes has spoken out, criticising Sir Menzies’s performance at Prime Minister’s Questions last year. Asked if Mr Hughes’s position was secure, the spokeswoman replied: “Absolutely”.
Research by Ipsos MORI for The Sun put the party’s support at just 11 per cent — compared with nearly 23 per cent at the last general election. Earlier in the week, a Populus poll for The Times put the Liberal Democrats down three points to a new low of 12 per cent.
