Lib Dems in Coalition with Conservatives at Westminster (Wokingham Liberal Democrats)

Wokingham Liberal Democrats <info@wokinghamlibdems.org.uk>

Lib Dems in Coalition with Conservatives at Westminster

May 17, 2010 12:00 PM

Prue Bray, who welcomes the coalition at Westminster.

Prue Bray, who was the Lib Dem candidate in Wokingham constituency at the General Election, was one of the Lib Dem representatives who overwhelmingly endorsed the new Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition government at a Special Lib Dem Conference held in Birmingham on Sunday 16th May.

Speaking after the vote, Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg acknowledged that going into coalition with the Conservatives was risky but said: "It is five days since I accepted the position of Deputy Prime Minister. Just five days, and we now know there will be no ID cards, no third runway at Heathrow, no more fingerprinting in schools without parents' consent, no more child detention. Changes that Liberal Democrats have spent months, years, campaigning for, are happening."

The Conference heard that the Lib Dem leadership had kept its pre-election pledge that if there was a hung parliament they would negotiate first with the party that had the biggest mandate, which turned out to the Conservatives. Although negotiations also then took place with the Labour party, Conference was told it proved impossible to achieve agreement, as Labour were not willing to compromise and it was clear that there was significant opposition to a deal from within Labour ranks.

Prue Bray, who also is Leader of the Lib Dem council group on Wokingham Borough Council, says "The Lib Dems have consistently supported proportional representation, and that implies a new style of politics in which people work together for the good of the country. That is a model of government which works well in most of the rest of the developed world. The result of the General Election has given us an opportunity to show the public that that it can work in Britain too."

She added "People should not make the mistake of thinking that the Lib Dems and the Conservatives are now the same thing. We are very very different in outlook and policies. Both sides have their reservations about the coalition, but have recognised the need to compromise in order to get a stable government in difficult economic circumstances. This certainly does NOT mean that the Liberal Democrats locally in Wokingham will stop campaigning for Liberal Democrat ideas and policies. We will continue to work hard in Opposition to the Conservatives on the Council, just as we were doing before."