THE deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats has fired a shot across the bows of “young Turks” among the party’s MPs who are trying to develop a more pro-market and Eurosceptic agenda.
Sir Menzies Campbell gave warning to ambitious younger Lib Dems MPs that they must not try to dictate policy or by-pass the party’s democratic decision-making process.
He was speaking ahead of the publication next month of The Orange Book — Reclaiming Liberalism, a collection of essays edited by the MP David Laws and Paul Marshall. Other contributors are Vince Cable, Edward Davey, Mark Oaten, Steve Webb, Chris Huhne and Nick Clegg.
Sir Menzies told the web site ePolitix.com: “The so-called young Turks, some of whom are a bit thin on top, they may be setting out a stall and I will be reading it with interest. But the fact that they have set out a stall will not mean that what they say is automatically accepted. They will have to argue it through the party, just as a political party has to argue its case through the country.”
The book includes proposals for more choice in healthcare, including social insurance, pension reform, market incentives for environmental protection, support for families and a more balanced approach to reform and integration in the European Union.
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Sir Menzies welcomed the search for new ideas, but added: “If this book is a contribution to fresh thinking then it will be extremely useful . . . remembering always that the nature of our party and the way we establish policy is done through the party conference.”