http://chrisblogs.cafebabel.com/en/ The occasional rants and musings of the UK based writer and Cafe Babel correspondent. en Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:30:40 +01:00 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Dotclear http://chrisblogs.cafebabel.com/en/post/2007/06/20/An-Open-Letter-to-Gordon-Brown#c9 urn:md5:01d9dd46958373826bc9454f4444a32e Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:03:51 +01:00 Chris <p>I too was intrigued by the allegations, but I think they have turned out to be nothing more than bluster. Placing Lib Dems in the Cabinet would be interesting for the neutral, but the die hards in both parties would not want it to happen. Where the Liberal Democrats gain strength (in my opinion) is that as Labour and The Conservatives have converged they have been able to define themselves as a tangible alternative (for example the only mainstream party that has consistently been against the Iraq war etc).</p> <p>Some allege that in the run up to the '97 election, Blair was prepared to allow 3 Lib Dems into his first cabinet (some say then leader Ashdown, former leader Kennedy and current leader Campbell) if they had got in with a tiny majority in order to keep the Tories at bay (many at Labour HQ were still bristling from the shock of 1992, remember) but of course they won by such a landslide that they didn't need to look to forming a left coalition.</p> <p>What is going to be interesting is if we have a Hung Parliament at the next election, because then the Lib Dems will be able to make or break legislation with their decisions, this will give them more positive media coverage...Et voila, we face the prospect of real three party politics...</p> http://chrisblogs.cafebabel.com/en/post/2007/06/20/An-Open-Letter-to-Gordon-Brown#c8 urn:md5:7970ffff552dfe93f156cd73f59a6710 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:43:53 +01:00 istmirwurst <p>Dear Chris,</p> <p>I just heard the report that Gordon Brown offered Lord Ashdown a position in his cabinet. You made a comment in your letter to Brown which effectively suggests that he move towards substance over style. Do you think that Brown's seeming attempt to politically diversify his cabinet is a move towards this called for substance? Or is his asking Lord Ashdown to sit on his cabinet, as the Lord claims, somehow an underhanded move covered by a facade of political substance?</p> <p>I would personally like to think that Gordon Brown is simply translating his words into practice (which is more than we can say of Blair) and which have been met with unforeseen hostility on the part of this particular Liberal Democrat. However, in the political world, one never seems to know what agenda these politicians are endorsing.</p> <p>Awaiting Response In Curiosity,</p> <p>Carolyn</p>