Saturday 1 March 2008

Is there an English Lib Dem party - Nick Clegg says so !

Given Nick Clegg's attack on Chris Huhne's support for England in the Lib Dem leadership race it is perhaps surprising to here him say the following ( as reported by the BBC):

    "Does that mean that our Scottish party might have different policies from the Welsh party or the English party?
    "Yes it might - and that's fine by me.
    "That's what our vision for home rule is all about. The principles that guide our party are universal but the circumstances that shape our politics are not."

Wow - I didn't know there was an English Lib Dem party ! (Emphasis in above quote mine - but it stands out anyway !)

I wonder what it means ? I was tempted by another dig at the Lib Dems many face's a geographically determined policies ( and it is an example of that ) - but in fact I'm far more interested in what it might mean about Nick Clegg's thinking on the issue of an English Parliament.

2 comments:

Gareth said...

There's is actually, though it's not common knowledge.

The Lib Dems have an English party, and they are the only mainstream party to publish an 'English manifesto'.

Man in a Shed said...

Thanks for the info. Its begs the question why they don't support democracy for England with a parliament when they see it as a logical division for their own party!