Tony Greaves is right...

I don't always agree with Lib Dem peer, Pendle councillor, campaigning guru and icon of northern Liberalism the noble Lord Greaves.  But in  this month's edition of Liberator,  Tony Greaves writes an excellent article - Leaders on a different planet - on the challenges facing the party in government.

The key passages echo a posting on this blog analysing the disasterous elections in May.  Greaves writes:

"Attempts to improve the dire communications within the Liberal Democrats have all been about people at the top telling worried members and activists why the top people are right and the worried ranks are wrong, There is still little explanation of the trade-offs and compromises of coalition, why and how positions have been reached.

"We are still being lumbered with stuff that is politically bad for our party. Whether we have any more core vote to piss off is a matter for debate, but we still seem to be going out of our way to upset traditionally supportive lobbies such as civil liberties and the environment.

"It seems that, in spite of changes in personnel, the people around the leadership the special advisers and other advisers have no more idea of what this party stands for and what our activists will put up with than they had a year ago. Richard Reeves may, thankfully, have gone; but his successors seem no wiser. The bubble they work in may be more stratospheric even than the House of Lords, but it's just as remote from what remains of our party and, more desperately, from the real world."

The full article can be found here and I recommend it in its entirety.