A Tangled Web

Charlie's Angels



Party conferences are as much a part of autumn as falling leaves and driving rain. Here in the UK the principal conferences begin with the Liberal Democrats. Charlie and the gang have chosen Bournemouth as their preferred venue for the 'ultra-Lefty love-in' of 2004.



Looking at this sad bunch of near-do-wells makes one realise how low elements of the British political scene have sunk. Not content with advocating still more fiscally garrotting tax increases to fund a panoply of 'public services', Charlie's people are at the vanguard of seeking to immerse our country ever-deeper into the corrupting, nationally damaging political and constitutional molasses of the European Union.



Furthermore, we had the barefaced exercise of appealing to the lowest common denominator in opposing the liberation of the Iraqi people. What had the party's stance on Iraq to do with political courage, camaraderie and - above all - liberty? How does the concept of 'liberalism' , supposedly promulgated by Kennedy et al, square with the refusal to endorse an endeavour with the intention of breaking the chains of Iraqi enslavement held by Saddam's butchers? The truth is, it doesn't. Liberal Democrat posturing on the Iraq war was nothing but a cynical experiment in identifying sectoral voting patterns as a catalyst to elevate the party in event of government disillusionment. Whilst it is factually accurate to say all parties have practiced such tactics in the past to a certain degree, it is wrong to argue that they have chosen to do so over matters of British engagement in warfare, and the need to support our Armed Forces participating in battle. In this crucial test of mettle, the Kennedy clan has been found wanting.