I listened to Jo Swinson's speech to the Liberal Democrats.
I understand why Labor MPs are jumping ship to join the LD. Swinson is an impressive leader, she has a clear and concise message that is achievable and she is not apologizing or giving mixed signals like Corbyn. This Yank believes that after Boris pipes you guys, Ms Swinson will be the PM that brings Great Britain back to world prominence.
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Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson has pledged “to stop Brexit altogether”. But here’s more evidence showing why it’s hard to trust her on anything.
“What?!?
At party conference, the Liberal Democrats agreed to cancel Brexit if they get into power. Swinson said:
We will do all we can to fight for our place in Europe, and to stop Brexit altogether.
But if her voting record and refusal to work with Jeremy Corbyn wasn’t bad enough, a new video has emerged showing that Swinson previously backed a referendum on UK EU membership.
In 2008, Swinson said:Link to tweetThe Liberal Democrats would like to have a referendum on the major issue of in or out of Europe.
As her voting record shows, Swinson did indeed vote for a referendum in 2008. And indeed, despite blaming David Cameron for the 2016 referendum, the Lib Dems supported this option while Nick Clegg was at the helm, who led the party between 2007-2015:Link to tweet
The Lib Dems are deeply stained by austerity. Don’t trust them
With a new leader the party is enjoying a resurgence, but its support for the Tories in coalition can’t be forgotten so easily
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/23/lib-dems-stained-austerity-trust-tories
The Liberal Democrats are back, or so we’re told, with Jo Swinson’s leadership victory being pitched as the rebirth of the party. The unique conditions of Brexit have given the Lib Dems not only a reason to exist but the opportunity to detoxify their brand after their fatal coalition with the Conservatives, and to cast themselves as a reforming, progressive party in troubled times.
And yet remarkably little has changed since the days when Nick Clegg stood laughing in the Downing Street rose garden next to David Cameron as he signed Britain up to years of sweeping public spending cuts. When asked throughout this summer’s leadership campaign, Swinson (and her opponent, Ed Davey) consistently defended her party’s role in austerity measures. In an interview with Channel 4 News, Swinson said she had no regrets about the coalition, stating it was the right move “to get our country back on track”. This is despite the fact it has been shown that austerity shrunk the British economy by £100bn, and has even been linked to 130,000 preventable deaths. Swinson acknowledged “there were policies we let through [in coalition] that we shouldn’t have done”, naming the bedroom tax, but remained unrepentant on a whole host of others.
Instead, Swinson repeatedly claims credit for the Lib Dems being a moderating influence on the Tories. They may well have helped to rein in the Conservatives on some things (the party is said to have forced George Osborne to temporarily shelve child tax credit cuts) but this fundamentally misses the point: the Lib Dems weren’t coerced into the partnership, they voluntarily chose it, and as such were a reason every Tory cut that was passed was possible.
This isn’t about holding grudges or some sort of ideological purity. Political parties naturally evolve depending on the political times, and progress in policy positions should be credited. It was four years ago this week that the Labour party adopted its abysmal abstention strategy for key “welfare reform”, but the party has since wrestled internally to have the strong anti-austerity message it holds today, winning back support in the process.
The same cannot be said for the Lib Dems. This is a party that as recently as last year spoke of sacrificing some of the poorest people in society to benefit sanctions in exchange for a 5p tax on plastic bags while in coalition. Nor are their MPs against forming a pact with the Tories again, with Swinson simply ruling out joining forces with Boris Johnson or any Brexiteer.
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probably perm if Rump wins reelection. We have already extended our stay here by 6 months. It is so refreshing to be out of the madhouses of hate and division that are both the US and the UK atm.
Swinson lost me when she refused to back a very temporary power-sharing government a few weeks back that could have bounced Boris. I held my nose and voted strategically for the Lib Dems in the last EU parliamentary elections. Never again. Their true neo-liberal, austerity-loving, Tory-coddling stripes always show.
The Guardian view on a Liberal Democrat revoke: a promise that won’t be redeemed
Editorial
Jo Swinson’s offer is just to permanently polarise the electorate around Brexit. The Lib Dems still have no distinctive pitch for issues beyond leaving the EU
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/16/the-guardian-view-on-a-liberal-democrat-revoke-a-promise-that-wont-be-redeemed
Do gamblers know something that pollsters do not? Ever since the Liberal Democrats’ record European election result and the arrival of their new leader, Jo Swinson, there’s been a spring in their step. Polls show the Lib Dems nipping at Labour’s heels. A victory in the Brecon and Radnorshire byelection and then the defection of half a dozen MPs from rivals in recent weeks has helped to attract a record membership. The party is now hoping to be swollen by an influx of radicalised remainers, attracted by the party’s decision to change its approach to Brexit. Lib Dems no longer want a second Brexit referendum; instead they would simply revoke article 50 without a public vote. This policy will only become law if the Lib Dems win a parliamentary majority, a possibility which the betting markets think has as little as a 5% chance. The party appears not to be serious about power, offering an empty pledge that is impossible to redeem.
Ms Swinson’s wager appears to be that she is right and the punters are wrong. In the Brexit referendum there was a tendency to underestimate the appeal of leave, and the Lib Dems think Westminster is now ignoring the latent remain vote. It is true that a petition supporting the revocation of article 50, which would stop Brexit in its tracks, attracted more than 6m signatures. It is also the case that Brexit is likely to feature as a big issue in the next general election, and the Lib Dems see an advantage in carving a niche out of make-it-stop politics.
The most obvious problem with this approach is that recent history suggests it takes a referendum to overturn a referendum. Ireland was the only country to submit the European Union’s Lisbon treaty to a plebiscite. In 2008 Irish politicians failed to convince the voters, who voted no by a margin of 53% to 46%. Sound familiar? The more educated voted yes and the least educated voted no. Among manual workers, three-quarters voted no. A year later, Irish voters thought better of the result, with two-thirds voting in favour of the Lisbon treaty.
The winner-takes-all mentality behind Ms Swinson’s policy is troubling. The lack of a democratic mandate for revoke means it could entrench a permanent divide in British life that will be impossible to bridge. Politicians ought to think about their policy’s consequences. If the Lib Dems’ idea is accepted, then why couldn’t the SNP be permitted to hold a second independence vote if it won the next Holyrood election? Then there are the accusations of inconsistency. In 2008 Ms Swinson wanted a referendum on EU membership. Two years later she campaigned on a manifesto that committed the Lib Dems to an in/out EU referendum. She was a minister in an austerity government that did so much to create the pain and division behind the leave howl. In 2016 an EU referendum took place. The country voted out. Three years later, Ms Swinson won’t accept the outcome of a plebiscite she had said she wanted.
The Lib Dems are positioning themselves to tap future popular revulsion against the major parties. Yet the politics of protest only works if there is something to protest about. If Boris Johnson strikes a Brexit deal with the EU, where does this leave Ms Swinson? The Lib Dem policy also gives Labour a clear run at a second referendum. Ms Swinson’s offer is just to permanently polarise the electorate around Brexit. The Lib Dems still have no distinctive pitch for issues beyond leaving the EU. This is the party of ideas, home to Keynes and Beveridge. But there’s no sign of a middle way being plotted by the party between the extremes. Unless Ms Swinson can do so, the odds will be stacked against the Lib Dems in a general election.
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And yes, we are fucked, overall atm. 
btw,
I did not cut off anything myself, if you are referring to the tweet, that is not me
here is the full exchange, directly from Hansard
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2008-02-26/debates/08022642000002/TreatyOfLisbon(No7)
snip
