1.0Sgwrs Tei Bowhttps://www.clarkeroberts.co.uk/cyClarke Robertshttps://www.clarkeroberts.co.uk/cy/author/clarke-roberts/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="y6XvofyXxs"><a href="https://www.clarkeroberts.co.uk/cy/2015/04/17/why-im-voting-liberal-democrat/">Pam Rwy'n Pleidleisio dros y Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.clarkeroberts.co.uk/cy/2015/04/17/why-im-voting-liberal-democrat/embed/#?secret=y6XvofyXxs" width="600" height="338" title="“Why I’m Voting Liberal Democrat” — Bow Tie Talks" data-secret="y6XvofyXxs" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://www.clarkeroberts.co.uk/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js </script>The General Election is fast approaching. The main political parties vying for our votes have published their manifestos; the campaign is in full swing. Now some of you may remember I wrote an article a few months ago, in which I defended Nick Clegg’s decision to enter a coalition with the Conservatives. At the end of that article I made a bold statement: I would not vote Lib Dem again whilst Nick Clegg was the leader. This is a statement I made prematurely. It was made whilst being caught up in the rhetoric of David Cameron’s pledge for English votes, for English laws (in the wake of Salmond’s defeat to gain independence for Scotland). This is an idea which I am 100 per cent in favour of and it was placed the cross in the ‘Conservative’ box on my ballot paper. But then the campaign began, the Leaders’ Debate happened and my brief holiday romance with the Tories was over. A lot of people have lost their faith in the Lib Dems because of the coalition fiasco.  A lot of people claimed that Clegg ‘jumped into bed with Cameron’ and that the Lib Dems sold their souls and threw their policies and beliefs onto a blue-burning funeral pyre. These sorts of claims have damaged the Lib Dems and it must be said, unfairly so. I won’t spend another few paragraphs detailing the ins and outs of my position on the Coalition (it can be read here), but what I want to talk about today, are the reasons why, despite my brief affair with the Tories, I am voting Liberal; why I will always vote Liberal. The first point to make is perhaps a purely ideological one. The Conservatives, Labour, UKIP, Green, SNP and Plaid Cymru all sit on one side of the political spectrum or the other. Left wing politics, right wing politics. They are both unbalanced in some way leaving a large proportion of the public feeling dissatisfied when either the left or right are elected to power. But hey, that’s democracy right? If the majority vote for it, then you have to accept it. While this is true, one of the things that motivates me to Lib Dem is the fact that they are the only well balanced and politically fair party. On the spectrum, they sit right in the middle. They offer the best parts of left and right wing politics whilst leaving out the extremes of each; why can’t more people see that this is surely a good thing? Surely it makes sense to vote for a party that can offer balanced legislation that looks after the workers and the most vulnerable people in the country, whilst also ensuring that the wealthiest are not punished by extreme taxation. Of course there are people who will sympathise with either of these extremes, but the vast majority of people I feel sit right in the middle. So why not vote for a party that represents this middleness? One of […]