Letter to Nick Clegg – Secret courts and bedroom tax

Dear Nick,

Following the vote in Parliament last night the Prime Minister demonstrated how to graciously step back from a position and accept the will of our democratically elected representatives that Britain should not engage in the folly of military intervention in Syria.To step back, accept that you have lost the vote, and so quickly return to the task that parliament has set is not in my view a sign of weakness, it is a clear sign of strength and dignity that will serve the Prime Minister well.

At our Spring conference this year you faced two major votes where you disagreed with the view of the vast majority of members of the Party.

Will you now follow the lead of the Prime Minister and graciously step back from your position and accept the will of our democratically elected conference representatives that both secret courts and the under occupancy rules and levy are wrong?

In the case of the under occupancy rules and levy literally thousands of British people are living in fear that they will have to uproot their homes and move to smaller unsuitable housing as a result of the social cleansing exercise that the under occupancy rules impose, whilst the simple reality is that the rules do nothing to alleviate the chronic shortage of affordable housing that our country faces.  I will not repeat here the concerns our colleague Paula Keaveney raised with you in your ‘ask Nick’ session at Spring Conference or the many excellent contributions to that debate.

In the case of the secret courts cases placed before a Judge under the Secret Courts do not represent justice as the claimant will not know what acts the security services accuse them of, nor will they therefore be able to defend themselves against false or erroneous allegations that may be made to a Judge.

I will not repeat here the concerns our colleague Paula Keaveney raised with you regarding the under occupancy rules and levy, or that I raised with you regarding the secret courts, in your ‘ask Nick’ session at Spring Conference or the many excellent contributions in the relative debates.

I would however point out that Liberal Democrat conference has voted virtually unanimously to oppose both of these pieces of legislation; will you as Leader of the Liberal Democrats now graciously accept defeat and do the job that your party has elected you to do?

Iain Donaldson