What divides Huhne and Clegg?
Well - there's been a little flurry just now of interesting and weighty blog postings on the issue of equality - and whether it shows up a clear ideological difference between the two Liberal Democrat leadership candidates.
Rob Knight over on Liberal Review (good to see Rob starting up blogging again!) has the latest piece in this exchange.
I don't agree with all his points but I do think he's right to highlight the question of how much we should worry about equlaity of outcome as opposed to equality of opportunity.
This was a major theme of my speech to the party's spring conference rally last year:
We first need a clear picture of what makes for a more liberal society. Only if we put such a picture in people’s minds, so that they know instinctively what we stand for – without having to be shown a list of nice, but apparently unconnected policy proposals – will we succeed in making a substantial leap forward in numbers of seats and political power ...
For me, the recipe is a fairer society. And what I really mean by that is a more equal society. Because more equality – not absolute equality, but more equality – is needed for society to be fairer - and better ...
So I want Liberal Democrats to be the party of fairness, which means the party of equality - including a more redistributive tax system, public services geared to the needs of the poor and inarticulate, industrial democracy, so that workers have a genuine say, and a government framework that supports, rather than undermines, community coherence.
And the reason I believe this? Read the speech to find out!
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- What can we do to make Britain a more liberal society? These days, being a liberal is cool. It's the in...
- So the Huhne-Clegg battle will commence So - five minutes is a long time in politics!...
- How to avoid choosing between Clegg and Huhne Of course I have spoken to both Chris and Nick...
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Not mention of Cllr. Catherine Harris' defection to Labour? How very strange!
Great news! Some proper philosophical debate at last for this contest. I hope you can encourage your candidate to say more on this topic so the election becomes a real choice for party members.
Chris Huhne excellent last night (Tues 6/11) on Newsnight. Jeremy pointed out that Chris is an economist, but he's much more than that and showed it, and also he was much more precise and relevant than either of the other 2: Labour vying for the speed talking prize, Tory incredulous at the Lab babbling.