Yet more broken promises: six further statements from the Liberal Democrats

Leading up to the 2010 General Election, the Liberal Democrats ran a very strong anti-Conservative campaign, calling on voters to back them in order to stop the election of Conservative MPs.

7. Heart of Cornwall Journal leaflet (November 2009)

“With a General Election only months away, the Conservative Party, which says it is preparing for Government, has shown it can’t be trusted. A series of policy blunders has left local people wondering what the difference is between the new Conservatives and the Conservatives who wrecked Cornwall last time. Would-be Tory Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, has raised the prospect of vast areas of Cornwall being concreted over by a new Conservative Government that plans to offer cash-bonuses to Councils that build the most houses. Lord Hanningfield, the Conservative Business spokesperson, let slip the Tory plans to cut benefits for people in Cornwall when he said: “The cost of living is higher in Essex than it is in Cornwall, so people don’t need the same levels of benefits.” In another move, millionaire Tory frontbencher, George Osborne has launched controversial plans which would see pay for teachers, nurses and care workers frozen or even cut while at the same time giving tax breaks for millionaires.”

MK Comment: Since the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition was formed, it has introduced the New Homes Bonus and it has made numerous statements promoting regional pay. George Osborne’s recent budget also included a tax cut for millionaires, with the full support of the Liberal Democrats.

8. Risographed leaflet (2010)

“David Cameron wants you to vote for Labour or Mebyon Kernow … because he knows they can’t win here …one Lib Dem MP = one less Tory MP.”

9. Risographed leaflet (2010)

“The only way to stop the Conservative’s is to back Steve Gilbert and the Lib Dems.”

10. Election communication (April 2010)

“The Conservatives won’t deliver for you … The party of billionaires and bankers. The Conservatives are bankrolled by Belize billionaire Lord Ashcroft. A man who has avoided paying over £100 million in tax. They won’t stand up for ordinary people … Putting the NHS at risk. Many Conservatives want to break up our NHS and charge people for treatment. One top Tory described the NHS as a sixty year mistake. Our NHS is not safe with the Tories.”

11. Steve Gilbert. Your New Lib Dem Voice for Westminster leaflet (April 2010)

“It’s a two horse race … Labour and Mebyon Kernow are out of the race and cannot win here. Our crazy voting system means a vote for them will help the Tories get in through the back door. Local people are switching to back Steve to stop the Tories. One former MK voter said ‘I like Dick Cole, but he can’t win. I’m voting for Steve to stop the Tories getting in’.”

12. Steve Gilbert. Your New Lib Dem Voice for Westminster leaflet (April 2010)

“Only the Lib Dems can beat the Tories in Cornwall.”

MK Comment: In Cornwall, the main plank of the Liberal Democrat’s 2010 General Election campaign was opposition to the Conservative Party and Conservative policies. Many people – who might otherwise have supported MK, Labour or Green – believed the spin and voted Liberal Democrat. Such people are right to feel aggrieved – they did not get what they voted for. And they are right to feel angry at how the Lib Dems went from being a party of great anti-Tory rhetoric to being cheerleaders for David Cameron within a matter of days.

Broken promises: six pledges / statements from the Liberal Democrats

The first six pledges or statements from the Lib Dems that I have selected are as follows:

1. The Heart of Cornwall Journal leaflet (2008)

“Making the streets of Cornwall safe is a top priority for local people in Cornwall … the Liberal Democrats have said that they would scrap the expensive, pointless and ineffective ID card scheme. With over £1 billion saved the Lib Dems have said they would recruit 10,000 more police officers across the country – and an extra 223 officers on the streets of Devon and Cornwall.”

MK Comment: The Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government has cut funding for Devon and Cornwall Police by £47 million. Staffing numbers have already been cut by over 200 and it is anticipated that, by the end of the spending review period, there will be 700 fewer police officers within the “Devon and Cornwall” policing area. Recent figures also show that crime has risen within the force’s area.

2. Numerous leaflets

“Labour and Mebyon Kernow are out of the race and cannot win. A vote for Labour or Mebyon Kernow will let the Conservatives in through the back door.”

MK Comment: After the 2010 General Election, the Liberal Democrats joined the Conservative Party in forming a Coalition Government to deliver Conservative policies – in direct contradiction to the vast majority of its election promises and campaign statements.

3. Standing up for St Austell and Newquay (2009)

“Can we trust the Conservatives with Cornwall’s future? The Conservatives have always treated the Cornish as second-class citizens. When Cornwall last has a Conservative MP it made no difference – Cornwall got the most unfair deal we ever had … The last Conservative Government sold off Cornish council houses without replacing them and gave 50% council tax discounts to second home owners … The Conservative’s botched water privatisation left Cornwall with the highest water bills in the UK, nearly twice that of London … The Conservatives left Cornish hospitals starved of funds and many patients waiting for treatment. They can’t be trusted with our NHS … The Conservatives left Cornish school children with over £100 less per child each year for their education than the rest of the country. It is time for a fair deal for Cornish schools … Now, the Conservatives are suggesting that people in Cornwall should get less in benefit payments than people in Essex.” – Steve Gilbert, PPC for St Austell and Newquay

MK Comment: Since the formation of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition, the Liberal Democrats have supported cuts in funding for affordable housing, the reintroduction of the Right-to-Buy of council houses, the further privatisation of the NHS through the unpopular Health and Social Care Bill, cuts in capital funding for local authority run schools, etc, etc. The Coalition has also raised the spectre of regional pay and lower incomes for workers in areas such as Cornwall.

4. Local Matters election booklet (February 2010)

“It’s clear that cutting the budget too soon, as the Conservatives want to, could stop the recovery and create a deeper recession.” – Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat economic spokesperson

5. Letter from Vince Cable (2010)

“Our economy is in a fragile state. One wrong move could send Britain tumbling back into recession. Now more than ever before our country needs the right policies to get the economy moving again … I’ve seen David Cameron and George Osborne get it wrong again and again on the economy. Their plan for swingeing cuts to public services will send our economy back into recession costing more jobs and more heartache to families everywhere.”

MK Comment: As soon as the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition was formed, Vince Cable became Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. He immediately reversed the Lib Dem’s policy position and backed the deep cuts proposed by George Osborne. As a consequence, the United Kingdom has slipped back into recession – the first “double dip” recession in decades.

6. Local Matters election booklet (February 2010)

“Why the Conservatives are wrong for Cornwall … A new generation of Home Counties’ Conservatives think it is their turn to inherit the system. Like their predecessors, today’s Conservatives offer nothing for Cornwall. If you’re thinking of voting Conservative in the coming election, you don’t need a crystal ball to see what it may mean – all you need is a memory. Remember what it was like. The closed village schools, the shut cottage hospitals, the burning pyres of our cattle, the rape of our farming industry. Remember our rocketing bills – we are still paying for those. Remember the devastation of our post offices, the long queues of our unemployed, the negative equity on our houses … Cornwall can’t afford another Conservative Government. We’re still paying for the last one!” – Lord Paddy Ashdown, former Leader of the Liberal Democrats

MK Comment: Following the General Election, Lord Paddy Ashdown performed a massive u-turn and backed the decision of the Liberal Democrats to go into coalition with the Conservative Party. Leaving the meeting at which the decision was taken, he was approached by the media and asked for his view on the decision. He replied: “Hooray!”

Broken promises: six more pledges / statements from the Conservative Party

The second set of Conservative pledges or statements all date from the actual election period.

7. Election communication (April 2010)

A hung parliament would mean five more years of Gordon Brown.

8. Election communication (April 2010)

“We will cut the deficit – but not the NHS, our number one priority” – David Cameron.

MK Comment: The Coalition’s divisive Health and Social Care Bill further privatises the NHS, which many health professionals believe fundamentally undermines the founding principles of the health service and could lead to the very abolition of the National Health Service

9. Election communication (April 2010)

Photograph of Caroline Righton holding placard stating: “There are alternatives to incineration – say No.” She was pictured with “shadow Cornwall Minister” Mark Prisk and campaigners against the proposed incinerator at St Dennis.

10. Coast to Coast Election Special leaflet (May 2010)

“Cornwall’s Lib Dem legacy … a deeply flawed thirty year contract for an obscenely large and inappropriate incinerator that the Council commissioned for a specific site which they also then refused permission for, expensively leaving Cornwall with no Plan B option to deal with waste.” – Caroline Righton

MK Comment: The Conservatives opposed Lib Dem plans for an incinerator at St Dennis prior to the elections to the new Cornwall unitary authority. Since June 2009, Conservative-led Cornwall Council has refused to investigate alternatives to incineration. It has refused to develop a Plan B and has done everything in its power to push ahead with the scheme to develop an “obscenely large and inappropriate incinerator” at St Dennis.

  

11. Coast to Coast Election Special leaflet (May 2010)

“Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps agrees we need properly affordable homes for local people which is why we will cancel Labour’s housing targets and give power back to local communities to determine where houses are built and what type.” – Caroline Righton

MK Comment: The Coalition has slashed funding for affordable housing, it has replaced social rent with a much more expensive “affordable rent” model set at 80% or more of inflated private sector rents, Thatcher’s Right-to-Buy has been reinvigorated by Cameron and there have also been regressive reforms to housing benefit arrangements. 

12. Coast to Coast Election Special leaflet (May 2010)

“The Liberal Democrats are playing fantasy politics, saying whatever they think will work for the audience they have at the time … Talk is cheap when you know you will never be tested on your promises. The Conservative treasury team are assiduous in making sure that MPs and candidates like me don’t make any uncosted promises. We have done the sums and can say with confidence that we will protect frontline NHS services, put more police on patrol, restore the pensions earnings link and give a fair deal to our armed services.” – Caroline Righton

MK Comment: The claim that the Conservatives have “done the sums” is false. They may have criticized opponents for “playing fantasy politics” and “cheap talk,” but have themselves failed to live up to promises, for example, to put more bobbies on the beat.

Broken promises: six pledges / statements from the Conservative Party

The first six pledges or statements from the Tories that I have chosen are as follows:

1. You Tube statement from David Cameron (March 2007)

“At the absolute heart of the approach I want the Conservative Party to take is to put public services first and to give local people far more control over how their local area is run. And today I can announce that I am appointing, for the first time, a shadow minister with responsibility for Cornwall. Mark Prisk is a born and bred Cornishman. He went to school in Truro. He knows the Duchy extremely well and all of its different parts and variety and the people there. What I want is for him to listen to people in Cornwall, to understand their concerns, to get to grip with the issues and report back to me so that actually Cornwall is heard at the heart of the Shadow Cabinet and the heart of the Conservative Party, so that we can address the concerns that people have. I think the Labour Government has taken the South West for granted for far too long, and Cornwall almost completely ignored by the Government. I don’t want that to happen. I went to Cornwall during my leadership election and I will be back over the next coming months. And I think having Mark as a Minister with responsibility for Cornwall will be a great step to make sure that your voice is heard at the heart of Whitehall and we have policies which reflect the needs and aspirations of the people who live in Cornwall.”

MK Comment: The Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government has refused to appoint a Minister for Cornwall, and the Prime Minister’s pledge that Cornwall’s voice would be heard “at the heart of Whitehall” has been shown to be false.  The Coalition has legislated to create a Devonwall parliamentary seat and also has plans to introduce a “Pasty Tax” and regional pay.

2. Coast to Coast leaflet 6 (2009)

“It is dishonest to claim that we will cut police officer numbers. In fact, our plans to cut bureaucracy and red tape mean that there would be more police on the street, fighting crime and protecting local communities.” – shadow Home Secretary Nick Grayling

MK Comment: The Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government has cut funding for Devon and Cornwall Police by £47 million. Staffing numbers have already been cut by over 200 and it is anticipated that, by the end of the spending review period, there will be 700 fewer police officers within the “Devon and Cornwall” policing area. Recent figures also show that crime has risen within the force’s area.

3. Coast to Coast leaflet no. 6 (2009)

“Cornwall already receives less per head for services such as education and health. We cannot afford to be cut back and in fact, here in Mid Cornwall, we need to make the case for increased investment in services and infrastructure.” – Caroline Righton, PPC for St Austell and Newquay

MK Comment: Investment in Cornwall has not been increased by the Coalition Government, and public services in Cornwall have suffered very significant cuts. For example, cuts in funding to Cornwall Council equates to a reduction in spend, over a four year period, of £490 million.

4. Mailshot from David Cameron (2009)

“Seven out of ten working people will be better off than under Labour, and nobody will be worse off.”

5. Letter from George Osborne (March 2010)

“Most importantly of all, we need to get the economy growing again. It is growth that will do most to get our economy moving. It is only when the economy is growing strongly again that we will be able to make real inroads into the huge debt that Labour have built up.”

MK Comment: Under the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition, the economy has struggled. The depth and speed of Coalition spending cuts has further damaged the economy, and it has been confirmed that the United Kingdom has slipped back into recession – the first “double dip” recession in decades. Many thousands and thousands of people are worse off under David Cameron and George Osborne.

6. Statement from David Cameron on the campaign trail

“There will be no top-down reorganisation of the National Health Service.”

MK Comment: The Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition pushed the divisive Health and Social Care Bill through the House of Commons, ignoring unprecedented levels of opposition from nurses, midwives, GPs, doctors and ordinary people. 

The broken promises of the Coalition parties ... two years on

It is now almost two years (24 months) since the 2010 General Election.

To mark this anniversary, during Wednesday and Thursday, I will post online 24 pledges or statements made during the election campaign by the Conservative and the Liberal Democrat parties.

There will be twelve from each party and most will come from leaflets circulated to voters in the St Austell and Newquay Constituency, where I was a candidate. And obviously, I will comment on which promises and pledges have not been actioned and which ones have been ignored.

The first posting will cover six promises from the Conservative Party and will be added to this site early on Wednesday morning.