Unguarded Lib Dems reveal more coalition contempt
Suspicion and scorn are high on the list of adjectives describing Liberal Democrat ministers’ private comments about their Conservative colleagues.
The latest revelations from journalists’ undercover conversations have focused on the Liberal Democrats’ personal attitudes towards their coalition partners.
Transport minister Norman Baker said he did not like George Osborne “very much”, while deputy leader of the Commons David Heath said the chancellor “has a capacity to get up one’s nose, doesn’t he?”
Local government minister Andrew Stunell doubted the trustworthiness of prime minister David Cameron, saying he was uncertain where to place him “on the sincerity monitor” and acknowledging that “he’s certainly a very skilled operator”.
Care minister Paul Burstow went further, saying: “I don’t want you to trust David Cameron.”
Mr Burstow has since apologised for the comments, insisting the prime minister had his “full trust”.
The remarks come on the third day of news about discontent among indiscreet senior Lib Dems, which began with business secretary Vince Cable claiming he was “at war” with media titan Rupert Murdoch.
After yesterday’s focus on unrest about policies, today’s is on personalities. The ministers involved all expressed reservations about the coalition’s approach – and the Conservatives’ trustworthiness.
Mr Stunell said he feared the Tories would withdraw their support for the electoral reform referendum.
“I know what they will do next: they will remove their support for having the legislation for the referendum on voting reform,” he added.
“Within six or nine months, it’ll all be over.”
Mr Heath revealed he was “wholly against” the government’s plans to hike the tuition fees cap up to £9,000, but had voted for it anyway.
“As far as the coalition’s concerned, there are some things that I don’t like which are not what I would put forward as my best way of running the country,” he was quoted as saying.
“I spent the last 30 years of my life fighting the Conservatives every inch of the way and now I’m sitting round a table with them.”
Labour’s Douglas Alexander attempted to exploit the latent tensions among the Lib Dems, writing a letter to the ministers concerned asking them to enter into talks with the opposition to change controversial policies to “make them fairer”.
He added: “David Cameron’s own ministers are now on record as saying his plans for child benefit are unfair and ill thought through. And his business secretary thinks policies are being rushed and not properly implemented.
“Working together we can change complaints expressed in private into public policy changes.
“We have little time to waste as next month the government is bringing forward a welfare bill so I’m offering immediate talks in New Year.”
Mr Baker said he was engaged in playing off his Tory colleagues against each other. In the Department of Transport rail minister Theresa Villiers’ approach to the railways is much more in sync with the Lib Dem approach than that of transport secretary Philip Hammond, he claimed.
“I’ll get Theresa Villiers to argue with him about that, because she can persuade him from the side of the Tory party, because she wants to deliver effectively what is Lib Dem policy,” he said.
“I mean, there are Tories who are quite good and there are Tories who are, you know, beyond the pale, and, you know, you have to just deal with the cards you’ve got.”
Mr Baker has attracted criticism for likening his approach to that of the late liberal anti-apartheid activist Helen Suzman, who campaigned to change the South African government policy as an MP in the 1970s and 1980s.
“Helen Suzman was in the apartheid regime when everybody was male and white and horrible actually. she got stuck in there in the South African parliament in the apartheid days as the only person there to oppose it,” he added.
“She stood up and championed that from inside.”
Benjamin Ramm, the editor of the Liberal magazine, said that Ms Suzman was not “in” the apartheid regime.
“Norman Baker’s vain, careless comments are a cheap distortion of history, and show how divorced from reality the Lib Dems have become,” he said.
The Tory tasked with keeping the backroom workings of the coalition, Oliver Letwin, told the Guardian newspaper that “deep bonds of trust” had been formed between Lib Dems and Conservatives in government.
