As the electorate looks more closely at what Britain’s third party stands for, GUS BAKER argues that the Liberal Democrats cannot be viewed as a progressive force in British politics.

In the aftermath of Nick Clegg’s impressive performance on the unprecedented live TV debate, the Liberal Democrats have made scarcely been out of the headlines in recent days. The dividing lines between Labour and the Conservatives have long been clear. A tax cut for the richest three thousand estates, opposition to the fiscal stimulus on which a worldwide consensus was arguably formed threats to Sure Start, the worry of a double-dip recession caused by premature cutbacks and a hundred other attacks on Her Majesty’s Opposition are on the tip of every left-leaning activist’s tongue.

But as the polls highlight the Lib Dems as increasingly serious contenders, there will be far greater scrutiny of their policies than we have ever seen to date. Labour supporters often try to undermine Liberal Democrat electioneering and hang on to their voters by pointing out that the Lib Dems cannot win the election, but they are wasting their breath in these areas if they are unable to make the strong, progressive case that only Labour can deliver fairness and social justice. In these inner city marginals, the Lib Dems are perceived as to the left of Labour. They are seen as the anti-war, anti-tuition fees party who would create a redistributive tax system. They are a fresh alternative, unblemished by the bruises of thirteen years in government.

As Gordon Brown hinted over the weekend when he said the Lib Dems needed to be exposed, this could not be further from the truth. The long-running internal battle within the party has been won by the libertarian, ‘Orange Book’ faction. This has resulted in a right-of-centre party that offers no hope to those in need. The Lib Dems’ economic plan is reminiscent on the Tories’ inheritance tax cut for dwellings worth up to £1m. Their policy to raise personal allowances would cost £17bn, do nothing for the poorest households and give on average a £950 tax cut to the richest households.

Writing on the progressive blogosphere Left Foot Forward, Tim Horton and Howard Reed show quite how regressive Liberal Democrat Tax policy truly is. Households in the second richest decile would gain on average four times the amount than those in the poorest decile. Labour has created tax credits instead of raising income thresholds, so as to be able to target help to those who need it most. Nick Clegg loves to tell voters that he would redistribute money through the tax system. But it seems he would do so by taking from the poor, and giving to the rich.

The Liberal Democrat plans for cuts are even more aggressive than the Conservative’s. The Conservative Party proposes to reduce the deficit with an 80:20 ratio of public service cuts to tax rises. Nick Clegg has claimed that the Lib Dems would end the structural deficit with 100% spending cuts. This means that overall; the Lib Dems would slash 20% more from public spending than the Tories. Clegg’s call for “savage cuts” is not just a reaction to economic circumstance of the day, but part of an ideological conviction resting on smaller government. The end of child tax credits are merely the tip of an iceberg.

The Liberal Democrats have in recent years been increasingly hostile to workers’ rights. Whoever wins the next election, industrial disputes and actions will certainly be on the agenda for the government. In reflection on the miners strikes, Nick Clegg praises Margaret Thatcher as his inspiration and claims that he now sees how “immensely significant” the defeat of trade unions was. The much revered Vince Cable tells the Mail that BA staff are “pampered”. Both, along with almost all of the Lib Dem front bench, are signatories and contributors to the right wing “Orange Book” which proposes free market reforms to the employment market and liberalisation of the pensions system.

In local government, Liberal Democrats have an established record in slashing services. Whether it be in Lambeth, where the Lib Dem council spent £30m on a riverside office while council housing crumbled, in Leeds and Bristol where poor Lib Dem management of refuse services lead to strikes by city dustmen or Southwark where Lib Dems are planning to slash £3m from much-needed social services, Lib Dem councillors have proved themselves to be of a reactionary persuasion.

Whether in an official coalition or by sustaining a minority government, the Liberal Democrats have made overtures to the Conservative Party. The Telegraph reports that, in the event of a hung Parliament where Conservatives are the largest single party, while Lib Dems will “vet” Conservative bills, Clegg has promised to provide “supply and confidence” to a Tory government – meaning he would back Cameron in any votes of confidence and in passing his budget.

The thousands of left wing voters that switched to the Lib Dems in 2005 considered the party an engine of progressive change, untainted by mistakes of the past thirteen years. This is understandable since the party’s origins lie in a union between Britain’s oldest progressive party and a breakaway faction of Labour itself. However, whilst Liberal voters are far closer to Labour than the Tories, the opposite is could be said of their leadership – and to rely on a left-of-centre support base to deliver a mandate for right-wing, regressive action is nothing short of deception.

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