The Twitter- and blogosphere today is full of rumours that Charles Kennedy along with up to five other Lib Dem MPs is considering defection to Labour. If indeed the rumours are true, I understand I sympathise with the sentiment behind this – I am no fan of this coalition government – but I believe in the long run it would be the wrong move, both for the Liberal Democrats and for the country.
Both from looking at the leadership and speaking to party activists, it is obvious that the Liberal Democrats are a divided party right now. There are those who subscribe to Orange Book style economic liberalism in addition to socially liberal values; and there is the more left-of-centre wing of the party. One side has more natural links with the Conservatives – more so now that the Conservatives have moved closer to the centre ground on key liberal issues such as gay rights; the left wing of the party, on the other hand, would much rather have taken their chances in a great rainbow coalition with Labour. It is also clear that the majority of the current leadership do actually feel quite comfortable in the coalition government, leaving senior figures on the left of the party as well as many members and activists wondering whether this is really the Liberal Democrat party they joined.
So far, so understandable, and I find it hard to blame anyone considering leaving the party, what with having let my own membership lapse even before the election as it became obvious that the party was shifting to the right under Mr. Clegg’s leadership.
And yet…
The more I watch the coalition, the more I am convinced that I should re-join the Lib Dems. Not because I agree with the vast majority of coalition policy: there are a few bits and pieces that I feel they are getting right, but those are few and far between. The reason why I want to re-join is to take the party back. While there are plenty of Orange Book liberals in the rank and file, I am increasingly convinced that the majority of the membership is, like me, extremely uneasy with the direction the current leadership has taken the party in. I believe that there will sooner or later be an opportunity to take the party back to the left of centre ground, and that we should be ready to do so when that opportunity presents itself.
I do not believe that defection to Labour is the right course, though I have flirted with it myself; and I am still keeping an eye on the leadership election because, if nothing else, the winner will have a hand in shaping political debate in the country for the foreseeable future. There are, however, many things that make me very uneasy about the Labour party. Don’t get me wrong – I believe the Labour government under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown achieved a lot over the last 13 years. Before the current government got into power and started ripping apart the state, Britain was actually beginning to look convincingly like a social democracy. Labour’s record on civil liberties, however, along with their defence policy, has been utterly appalling. Ultimately, I am first and foremost a social liberal, and that is the box that Labour for me so often fails to tick.
This is why I believe that, if the Liberal Democrats have to split, it is vital for the left wing to remain an independent party in its own right. Those of us who value social democracy and social liberalism need to have that choice on the British political spectrum. Those who value economic liberalism seem to me to be more than adequately represented by the Cameron wing of the Conservative party. Therefore, until we have an electoral system which does not force people with very different political views into awkward coalitions under a party umbrella in order to have a shot at winning an election, I believe it is vital that a middle ground choice between Labour and the Tories remains in that otherwise unoccupied ground where the left-of-centre wing of the Lib Dems plays.
And so, if instead of crossing the aisle to the opposition benches, Charles Kennedy is willing to stand up and declare that he wants to take his party back, I will be the first to put my money where my mouth is and re-join the Liberal Democrats.