Will the Lib Dems ever talk the language of the people?

As a Liberal Democrat I often find myself getting rather excited over constitutional reform, be it AV, Lords Reform or the practical implications off fixed term parliaments, it’s in my blood as a self confessed reformer, progressive and radical. In fact the thought of an election in Britain under AV or STV would actually send me positively weak at the knees.

BUT, there is a problem with that, It doesn’t excite the person that lives on the council estate worrying about paying their rent, or the middle class professional commuting to London to earn a crust. It almost positively turns off the man on the Clapham omnibus.

And I believe that this is a wider problem for the Liberal Democrats, and especially Lib Dems in government. Whilst I’m more than aware of some of our great achievements in government like the 10k tax band, and the pupil premium, it does feel like sometimes we are constitutional obsessives.

I believe this can only harm us. In fact, I do believe it could be a  reason the AV referendum failed (one of many actually),  the £250million lie resonated well with so many Labour members and public, the question often repeated was simply “Why are we spending so much on a referendum when were cutting so much out of our budgets?”

With Clegg now going off on another constitutional folly of Lords reform, I can’t help feel that the misery will continue for a while. Whilst I fully support Lords reform, and agree their is no good time to do it, I can’t help but feel that this is possibly about the worst time to start the proposals.

So what is the answer? Well I think it’s time we start talking about some of the stuff that the man on the Clapham Omnibus talks about a bit more, not stuff that’s only going to excite members.

We need to start to talk about a Liberal response to debt and the economy, (which I believe is starting to filter out), Liberal plans for the NHS, Liberal plans for benefits and taxation. In short we need to really hammer doorstep issues, even dare I say it, without a hint of derision, Daily Mail issues.

It’s clear now, that we can not rely on being the party of protest, hoarding disaffected Labour members and voters, and riding on the crest of eternal opposition. We must start to develop that dialogue that really talks to voters. It’s not going to be easy to tear ourselves away from leaflets, election results and the constitution but we must for the good of our party.

I believe we need two things to happen to achieve this, the first and the biggest is getting Clegg out of his brief and into a “proper one”. I’m not sure what that is, be it a Work and Pensions brief or a justice brief, or even a treasury brief, basically anything but constitutional reform. I believe that would allow the focal point to change, giving Clegg the ability to speak out and speak the language we so desperately need to speak again. Lets face it, what ever our leader is doing, then that is what the press see us doing.

The second thing I believe we need to do, is start to become opposition in government more effectively. Their is absolutely nothing wrong with supporting plans where and when we agree, and have had influence and input, that should be a given. However, on things like the NHS bill currently being battled over, we I believe have made it very clear that these aren’t our plans, and we do not support them.

The Labour Party has done this at every single opportunity, without any form of alternative, and look how badly it’s failing them.

That’s exactly why I believe if we can’t spell out exactly what we would have done if ruling alone, then we may be doomed. If that means on something like tuition fees for example we say as were in coalition were doing x, but if we had a parliamentary majority we’d do x, y and z, then we can really reach out and give people a credible alternative. If we can’t do it, then we may be doomed to talking only about the things we have full control over, which sadly probably lies only with constitutional reform.

Showing that we have credible alternatives, that even though things aren’t a 100% liberal, but we are getting a good deal out of the coalition, whilst still showing the entire Liberal alternative can only seek to show up the Labour Party who have no plan at all.

We mustn’t be afraid to spell out the compromises we’ve made, we’re 8% of parliament, achieving (according to the BBC) 75% of our manifesto, and if that’s explained consistently, I believe people will see what an effective partner we’ve been in government, whilst seeing exactly what could have been done in full government.

We must also not be afraid to let the Conservatives do the same, we must let them spell out their plans for majority government and the compromises they’ve made. We mustn’t be afraid to both agree and disagree simultaneously in public. Setting up a healthy debate is crucial, showing our starting and finishing points even more so.

But must of all we need to start speaking the language of the Clapham omnibus and provide them with full disclosure on the plans of a majority Liberal Democrat government facing the same problems if we want to become a credible force in government again.