Lib Dems ‘need backbench veto’
By politics.co.uk staff
Liberal Democrat backbenchers should be given a veto against decisions taken by government ministers, Simon Hughes has suggested.
The deputy Lib Dem leader, who has become an increasingly vocal proponent of a distinct party voice in government, made the comments on the 100th day of the coalition.
He told the BBC the party should be able to occasionally say to its Tory partner that certain policies ran against its principles.
“If the coalition wants to deliver [parliamentary] votes, neither party on its own has a majority, so we have to make sure everyone is brought into that,” Mr Hughes said.
“As matter of practical politics… the parliamentary party on behalf of the wider party on big issues has to be able to say: ‘No, we can’t go down this road’.”
The Lib Dems are considered the main losers of the coalition arrangement sos far, with Tory poll ratings riding high while the junior partner bears the brunt of left wing disaffection with the deficit reduction plan.
Many Lib Dem voters have already flocked to Labour, most polls seems to suggest, and other may follow if Labour elect a pro-civil liberties leader at their party conference next month.
But Mr Hughes said a Lib Dem/Labour coalition was “still on the agenda” at the next general election – a sign that senior Lib Dem officials believe the prism of British politics could still be fundamentally changed by the experience of coalition.
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