Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson

• I INVITE all those who may be considering voting for the Liberal Democrats in the forthcoming election to pause and think.

At a time when we all have climate change in the forefront of our minds, remember that Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem leader, who came into politics from the corporate PR world, has a very uncertain record on environmental issues, and an equally bad record on poverty and employment rights.

According to many sources, including Tim Holmes at The Ecologist magazine https://theecologist.org/2019/jul/29/jo-swinson-fracking-and-social-justice:

As a minister Jo Swinson was at the heart of the dreadful 2010-15 Tory-Lib Dem coalition government (remember the David Cameron-Nick Clegg love-in).

She opposed energy price caps, rejected gender quotas, and supported zero-hours contracts. In 2011 she voted to sell off England’s forests.

She then voted against an 18-month fracking ban, voted against a review of the fracking industry’s environmental, health and social effects, and voted against requiring frackers to apply for environmental permits.

In 2013 she voted against setting CO2 targets. She voted against closing a loophole in the emissions standards of oil, gas, and coal-fired power stations.

She has consistently voted against cutting rail fares. She voted in favour of cutting housing and council tax benefits.

She voted in favour of cutting legal aid, slashing benefits for the disabled and out-of-work, and opposed job guarantees for the long-term unemployed.

As employment minister during the Tory/Lib Dem coalition, she voted against a living wage and froze the minimum wage for young people.

She backed the infamous increase in tuition fee hikes that Nick Clegg had promised to oppose. She introduced employment tribunal fees of up to £1,200 – later ruled as unlawful by the Supreme Court.

She voted with the Conservative whip nearly 850 times between 2010 and 2015, more often than senior Tories like Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove. In March 2018 she demanded that a statue of Margaret Thatcher be erected in Parliament Square.

So, are you quite sure you want to vote for the Liberal Democrats?

TOM MUIRHEAD
Address supplied