Lembit calls for Clegg to go

Just been to a rather surreal launch of Lembit Opik’s latest book – “The Alernative View”. The former MP suggests the party should dump Nick Clegg as its leader before the general election (but – a little bizarrely – keep him as DPM). The fundamental argument is that “Orange Book Liberalism” (or “muscular liberalism”) is wrong-headed and the party needs to get back to its libertarian and land-taxing roots. It also needs to look equi-distant between Labour and the Conservatives and Labour has already said that it would not go into coalition with Nick Clegg as leader of the Lib Dems.

But looking at the book (and the small turnout at the launch press conference) what really strikes you is how entrenched the Cleggite revolution has become. Appendix 6 (p417) claims that only 8 per cent of Lib Dem coalition ministers in the Commons were NOT contributors to The Orange Book, the first statement of muscular liberalism or its successor book “Britain After Blair”. It reminds you just how successful Nick Clegg has been with his vanguardist coup in the Lib Dems. A party that might’ve been 80 per cent in favour of tax and spend policies only a few short years ago finds itself led and utterly dominated in its upper cadres by people who believe in lower taxation (albeit skewed more to wealth and less on income). Lembit Opik looks right now like a lonely voice.

Elsewhere in Lib Dem world, I hear that the former leader Charles Kennedy has signed up to be the Lib Dem front man for the cross-party Scottish campaign against independence. Mr Kennedy has a better standing in Scotland than some Lib Dems but he has a reputation for failing to turn up for some appointments. The pro-union campaign has decided the risk of the latter if outweighed by the benefits of the former.

Labour’s pro-union campaign is still expected to do the “heavy lifting” in the referendum campaign and it’s launch could come before the cross-party campaign.

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