Of all the words spoken at the successful Social Liberal Forum Conference, few stuck in the mind as much as something SLF Chair David Hall-Matthews said in the concluding session.
David, talking about the challenges of building a social Liberal Britain, warned how dangerous it would be if the Coalition effectively saw a return to two-party politics.
The subtext, of course, was that by failing to indicate a vision and values that are identifiably Liberal as a junior coalition partner, a Liberal Democrat identity ceases to exist.
Simon Hughes set out a further layer of wisdom, by pointing out the growing media narrative of the importance of the Liberal Democrats. With Liberal Democrat support needed for any Conservative policies to be delivered (and vice-versa), Labour’s irrelevance is apparent.
That, of course, cannot happen if the distinctive Liberal identity, voice and independence has been subsumed into a loss of identity.
Think about it.
I’ve more thoughts on this to follow.
