The not so democratic Lib Dems

It used to be a joke that if you came across a banana republic which had the word democratic in its title you could be sure it was a dictatorship especially if the word people's aso appeared. Which pary in the UK comes closest to fitiing this criterion? That's right the Liberal Democrats, defacto leader my near neighbour Lord Paddy Ashdown. Clearly no one takes Faroon or Clegg seriously so Paddy their old war horse is wheeled out to battle his hated enemy the Tories. Pity his party was propping up the Tories just over a year ago.

The LibDems big lie is that they are a party of high moral principle with a membership made up entirely of Guardian readers. Now Paddy did a decent job re-organising the Lib Dems and they got a few more MPs. They got many times more when Paddy stepped down and Charlie Kennedy took over basically becuse people could identify with Charlie who was, like most of the UK population overweight and liked a drink but did not take himself too seriously. Paddy is not overweight, drinks in moderation but can be incredibly pompous.

So when the EU Referendum came along I paid close attention to what such a paragon of democratic propriety said and did and here it is:

http://heatst.com/world/paddy-ashdowns-second-referendum-campaign-is-a-breathtakingly-shameless-u-turn/

On the night of the EU referendum result, Ashdown told the ITV results programme: “I will forgive no one who does not respect the sovereign voice of the British people once it is spoken whether it is majority of one per per cent or 20%:

He continued: “It is our duty as those who serve the public to make sure the country does the best it can with the decision they have taken. In. Out. When the British people have spoken you do what they command.

“Either you believe in democracy or you don’t. When democracy speaks we obey. All of us do. If you put the nation first you make the best use with the decision you have got.

Fine words from the great man who previously had failed to eat his hat after an earlier piece of undeliverable bravado on TV.

So why the U turn to

Former Lib Dem Leader Lord Ashdown is backing a new campaign called More United which favours a second referendum on EU membership.

“If we get the opportunity to vote again on the EU we would vote to go back in to support it,” he says.

Its easy. At the time of his fine words Paddy thought Remain was clearly going to win when we would have of course respected the wishes of the British people which happily coincided with his own but now he has falllen back on the old EU trick of making the Brit plebs vote again until they give the answer he wants. Thats what democracy and respecting the wishes of the British people means to the Liberal Democrats. Its all just fine words and no moral scruples.

PS Friday 12th August bang bang
Paddy Ashdown's greatest achievement was to act as inspiration and model for Nigel Farage's UKIP showin how to build up a small party into a national movement. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and Nigel having seen how Paddy still controls the LibDems from the red leather sees this as his next move. Farage has not yet got his bum on the red leather but this can surely not be long delayed.