Conferences are unparalleled opportunities for political parties to seize the headlines. However, this temptation has an ugly side. Politicians can lust after these headlines so much that they sacrifice their integrity and risk the public’s trust.
The Labour conference succumbed to this. The opening announcement pledging to lower tuition fees to £6,000 set the tone. This policy was designed to grab headlines, but little else, since numerous observers pointed out such a policy would make no difference to the repayments of the poorest graduates. Instead it would typically benefit graduates aged 50 earning more than £72,000 a year. Defending this policy on the basis it would encourage more poor students to go to university in the first place seems flawed, especially when Labour has contributed so much to the confusion around tuition fees.
Ed Balls’ comments were also full of headline goodies. However, his big ‘five point plan’ failed to address its £20bn price tag. The purity of this announcement was also questionable since Balls said Labour wouldn’t be able to reverse all coalition cuts, a convenient way of not following through on unrealistic stands against cuts and for economic stimuli.
Similarly Ed Miliband’s speech contained plenty of cynical attention grabbing. His pledge to treat ‘good’ and ‘bad’ businesses differently seemed like a good idea to some and the beginning of Hayek’s Road to Serfdom to others. Regardless, whenever anyone actually asked what made a business good or bad no criteria were offered.
Even 16 year old Rory Weal’s speech was a gimmick, especially when it emerged that he was economical with the truth about his background. Notably his claim that he needed the EMA was dubious when he’s currently living in a £300,000 house. Overall the conference was an ill-judged attempt to grab headlines at the expense of integrity. This shows how far Labour has to go if it wants to be trusted as a responsible party again.
In contrast I commend the Liberal Democrat conference for being unrelentingly dull. It was a conference devoid of big announcements. Only a couple of modest policies were unveiled. Even Nick Clegg’s speech focused on explaining his political philosophy rather than grandstanding.
It was so dull that journalists desperately attempted to whip up some controversy with baseless claims of unease in the coalition. Andrew Neil even argued with Vince Cable about chimney sweeps in his interview for lack of any other controversy. It seems the conferences where the Liberal Democrats would make big and sketchily funded policy announcements are over. This is a sensible road back towards the public’s trust.
In short, Labour used their conference cynically. Grandstanding and impossible promises are exactly what lead the public to distrust politicians. We should condemn Labour for using their conference to grab the headlines at the expense of integrity and prudence – two things they’ll need if they want to regain the government and the public’s trust in politics. In contrast we should applaud the Liberal Democrats for their sobriety. They’ve learnt their lesson regarding unrealistic promises.
Conferences are unparalleled opportunities for political parties to seize the headlines. However, this temptation has an ugly side. Politicians can lust after these headlines so much that they sacrifice their integrity and risk the public’s trust.
The Labour conference succumbed to this. The opening announcement pledging to lower tuition fees to £6,000 set the tone. This policy was designed to grab headlines, but little else, since numerous observers pointed out such a policy would make no difference to the repayments of the poorest graduates. Instead it would typically benefit graduates aged 50 earning more than £72,000 a year. Defending this policy on the basis it would encourage more poor students to go to university in the first place seems flawed, especially when Labour has contributed so much to the confusion around tuition fees.
Ed Balls’ comments were also full of headline goodies. However, his big ‘five point plan’ failed to address its £20bn price tag. The purity of this announcement was also questionable since Balls said Labour wouldn’t be able to reverse all coalition cuts, a convenient way of not following through on unrealistic stands against cuts and for economic stimuli.
Similarly Ed Miliband’s speech contained plenty of cynical attention grabbing. His pledge to treat ‘good’ and ‘bad’ businesses differently seemed like a good idea to some and the beginning of Hayek’s Road to Serfdom to others. Regardless, whenever anyone actually asked what made a business good or bad no criteria were offered.
Even 16 year old Rory Weal’s speech was a gimmick, especially when it emerged that he was economical with the truth about his background. Notably his claim that he needed the EMA was dubious when he’s currently living in a £300,000 house. Overall the conference was an ill-judged attempt to grab headlines at the expense of integrity. This shows how far Labour has to go if it wants to be trusted as a responsible party again. In contrast I commend the Liberal Democrat conference for being unrelentingly dull. It was a conference devoid of big announcements. Only a couple of modest policies were unveiled. Even Nick Clegg’s speech focused on explaining his political philosophy rather than grandstanding.
It was so dull that journalists desperately attempted to whip up some controversy with baseless claims of unease in the coalition. Andrew Neil even argued with Vince Cable about chimney sweeps in his interview for lack of any other controversy. It seems the conferences where the Liberal Democrats would make big and sketchily funded policy announcements are over. This is a sensible road back towards the public’s trust.
In short, Labour used their conference cynically. Grandstanding and impossible promises are exactly what lead the public to distrust politicians. We should condemn Labour for using their conference to grab the headlines at the expense of integrity and prudence – two things they’ll need if they want to regain the government and the public’s trust in politics. In contrast we should applaud the Liberal Democrats for their sobriety. They’ve learnt their lesson regarding unrealistic promises.
