Today Britain has seen the latest in a long line of protests along with strikes from several major national trade unions. These protests and strikes have been in response to pension reform plans put forward by the government as well as on the issues of cuts, tuition fees and the NHS reforms. Estimates regarding those who have gone on strike range from 50% to 85% and potentially three quarters of a million workers had the option to go on strike today. Now we can discuss whether or not the strikes and protests were legitimate today, but as Liberal Democrats the question remains whether or not we should be protesting against proposals put forward by the Coalition government of which we are apart.
Surely if we were not a part of the Coalition government and the Conservatives or Labour were running the country by themselves we would find it a lot easier to determine whether or not to protest, however actually being in government leads us naturally to think twice before deciding whether we should take any action. Just to clarify by action I mean democratic protests and peaceful protests not in undertaking any violence, vandalism or occupation. Surely we should be willing when necessary to stand up for the values that we have always held as a party. Although we are in Coalition and that naturally means making compromises, surely we should still hold the values for which we have cherished for many decades. Many Liberal Democrats have deep concerns about some of the cuts and reforms that the Coalition is enacting. Whether this is the speed and pace of the cuts in general, the fear of enhanced private-sector influence in the National Health Service, the tripling of tuition fees and yes even concerns over how public sector workers are being treated. It was over mainly the latter over which the protests and strikes were happening today. I for one believe it is a worker’s democratic right to withdraw their labour and go on strike democratically and responsibly. I'm from a working-class background myself and would never scoff at those who choose to protest and strike like some in the right-wing media would because contrary to right-wing belief it is not a decision that is easily taken by many working people; to go on strike and lose a day's pay as a result.
Today, in Lancaster I attended a rally in the centre of the city hosted by trade unionists and workers. I wasn't the only Liberal Democrat member in the audience either. There were also many members of the Labour Party and the Green party attending the rally. Personally, my main reasons for going to the rally was over concerns regarding the NHS reforms and the raising of tuition fees however I also harboured some genuine sympathy for the public sector workers who were demonstrating. There were many moderates like myself in the audience; however there were also many representatives of the far left there as well. The far left speakers ranged from anarchists, moderate socialists and fully signed up Marxists with their usual rhetoric of class struggle, class war, solidarity and revolution. I strongly disagreed with the extreme rhetoric used by the far left considering that I am a supporter of capitalism and consider the us and them approach that they used to be dangerous and divisive. As a Liberal Democrat, I believe that we should be actively disagreeing with policies that are against our social liberal values while offering a moderate buffer to the extremist veil of the far left. In addition, we must be willing to stand up for the poor and working people that we have supported for decades while ensuring that they aren't swept up by the stance of either Labour or the Greens.
We must not be afraid to peacefully and democratically protest against any policies that go against our values. Didn't many Labour supporters go on protest against the war in Iraq? And of course there is more than just one way to protest. Yes there are marches and rallies but there are also letters, petitions and discussions. In the heat of strikes we must never forget the latter forms of protest. An excellent example of which was the Social Liberal Forum petition calling for modifications to the NHS reforms. I hope this blog entry hasn't been too controversial but I feel that as Liberal Democrats we have spent a lifetime protesting against the policies of different governments, we should occasionally think about moderate protest again. After all 80% of the government is of the Conservative Party.
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