Tories Attacking on Their Own Weaknesses

Oh dear, oh dear. I see the Tories are running scared and trying to attack what they feel are weak points of Lib Dem policy. Let me look at just three of them.

Trident. The best defence of our policy not to replace trident was given by Nick Clegg in the leaders debate. It is a cold war solution to a cold war situation which we do not currently find ourselves in. Want to look at the practicalities we are worried about Iran and North Korea gaining a nuclear capability. How about this as a novel way for them not to pursue that goal, lets not threaten them with a nuclear capability that could blow them up many times over. Plus it frees up £100bn pounds that could be used on other things.

Short Prison Sentences Scrapped. The Tories are attacking something that the mastermind of their marriage tax breaks actually proposed as well. He did say never underestimate the determination of a quiet man, I think the Tories are also underestimating the sense spoken from their quiet man. It costs to detain people in prison, like Iain Duncan Smith suggests we can toughen up community service orders to make the alternative to jail less appealing as well. People will still do a crime and serve the time, its just a matter of what form that service takes.

While on crime let us not forget another attack that the Tories are throwing at us Europe. Out of their anti-Europe stance their MEPs have voted against European arrest warrants and cross borders powers. It means that they would be happy to allow criminals with crimes overseas to escape to the UK or for crimes that are carried out in the UK not to be able to be brought to trial. They have opposed means to enable police powers to act across boundaries. How is that being tough on crime?

Just with crime there are other things we need co-operation across borders about immigration, climate change, the banks (especially as some UK names are owned elsewhere in Europe), energy, these things already exist across Europe. We need to be in it to have a say over it. Yes there are things in Europe that need reform, but the Lib Dems have said that just like we have been saying about things here in the UK.