A Laughing Stock
John Rentoul suggest that the Lib Dems in appealing to the centre ground of politics is that they change their spots from being 'left' or 'right' wing in different parts of the country.
Now this is true, but is far from being a new phenomenon so I'm not sure that this alleged lack of consistency is responsible for the decline in Lib Dem fortunes because the party has always behaved in this way, as others have done of course when it suits their purpose in a particular contest.
But on the issue of David Ward's behaviour I think Rentoul is spot on because how can you take seriously or trust an MP who makes a very clear statement about Gaza, but then eats his own words as soon as he comes under pressure from the Lib Dem hierarchy by issuing a non apology that is an insult to the English language.
Nick Clegg's paradox: the policies are fine, he's notBut on the issue of David Ward's behaviour I think Rentoul is spot on because how can you take seriously or trust an MP who makes a very clear statement about Gaza, but then eats his own words as soon as he comes under pressure from the Lib Dem hierarchy by issuing a non apology that is an insult to the English language.
By JOHN RENTOUL - The Independent
Demiation is a word I've invented. It means to be cut by half, the likely fate of Lib Dem MPs
The paradox of centrist politics is that elections are supposed to be won in the centre ground, but the one party that occupies precisely that territory is facing demiation in next year's election. Demiation is a word I've invented to cut through pedantry about whether decimation means to cut by one 10th or to destroy utterly. Demiation means to be cut by about half, which is what is likely to happen to the number of Liberal Democrat MPs (currently 56) next May.
In YouGov's map of where the voters place parties on the left-right spectrum, the Lib Dems used to be seen as left wing, but not as left wing as Labour. After the last election and the forming of the coalition, they were seen as having moved sharply towards the centre. Since then, they have stuck to a point just to the left of the centre, which is where the voters, on average, place themselves.
At the same time, Labour moved further to the left on the ideological map, while the Conservatives have moved further to the right. Despite the perception of a widening gap between the two larger parties, the Lib Dems have failed to benefit from their position in the moderate middle.
One explanation is that the terms left and right don't mean as much to most people as they do to political obsessives, and I am sure that is part of the explanation. Yet I don't think it is a coincidence that the most electorally successful leader of the democratic era, Tony Blair, was logged by YouGov as just to the right of centre. So why is Nick Clegg, the leader now closest to Blair's vacant slot, the most unpopular of the four main party leaders?
Other things are going on. One is the breaking of promises. It turns out that the voters notice and care when a party and its leader make a solemn pledge, which they underline with personal declarations and big signatures on placards, and then break it. It is good and democratic and right that there should be a heavy price to pay. The voters might understand that some policies have to be traded if no party wins a majority in the Commons, but the Lib Dems had marked the tuition-fee promise out as special.
This makes it harder for the Lib Dems to change any policies. This month, Clegg said he wanted to reform the bedroom tax. It seemed a sensible decision. The party accepted that public spending has to be cut, but cutting the spare room subsidy had worked out badly, so why not try to change it and make it fairer?
Sean Kemp, who used to be Clegg's special adviser, explained why not. The biggest reason people won't vote for the Lib Dems "is not about policies at all, it is about trust", he wrote. "Having the words 'U-turn' on the front of the Daily Mirror doesn't really help with that."
Last week, Clegg gave us another reason for distrusting his party, which goes to the heart of the centrist paradox. The Lib Dems failed to expel David Ward, the MP for Bradford East – or even to extract a meaningful retraction from him – after he said that, if he lived in Gaza, he "probably … would" fire a rocket into Israel. There is nothing wrong with a political party taking sides over Gaza. I don't agree with it, but there is a big market in British politics for an anti-Israel position. Indeed, Ed Miliband has adopted a moderate version of it, opposing the Israeli incursion into Gaza.
But Ward went much further than that, appearing to condone the firing of rockets intended to kill civilians. When challenged, he issued a statement: "My comments were not in support of firing rockets into Israel. If they gave the opposite impression, I apologise." The next day, however, he repeated himself. If he lived in Gaza, he said, "I might well resist". That is an ambiguous phrase, and again, he relied on a quibbling difference between understanding why people do something and approving of it.
This ambiguity is not helped by the Lib Dems' record. Two years ago, Jenny Tonge was eventually forced to resign from the party for saying: "Beware Israel. Israel is not going to be there for ever in its present form ... One day, the American people are going to say to the Israel lobby in the USA: enough is enough."
It is possible to disagree with the policies of the Israeli government without condoning the murder of Israeli civilians. But Ward is playing the same sectarian politics as his neighbour in Bradford, George Galloway, assuming that hostility to Israel appeals to the quarter of his voters who are Muslim. This is the Lib Dem problem. They appear to be in the centre of British politics because they are "left wing" in the urban North and "right wing" in the rural South-west.
Blair was successful because he was a consistent centrist. Clegg is less successful because he is in the centre to try to hold together a party that stands for different things in different parts of the country.
How Not To Apologise (26 July 2014)
How's this for a ridiculous abuse of the English language?
David Ward, the Lib Dem MP for Bradford East, says on Twitter:
"The big question is – if I lived in #Gaza would I fire a rocket? – probably yes." He added: "Ich bin ein #palestinian – the west must make up its mind – which side is it on?"
But as soon as he starts getting his 'collar felt' for expressing these views, the MP issues and apology and says he does not support firing rockets into Israel.
What a complete plonker, although no doubt David Ward's original comments were cynically aimed at curry favour with at least some of the population in his constituency of Bradford East.
Lib Dem MP David Ward apologises over Gaza comments
Bradford East MP says he condemns violence on both sides of conflict but will continue to speak out for rights of Palestinians
By Rowena Mason - The Guardian
David Ward, the Lib Dem MP for Bradford East. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
The Liberal Democrat MP David Ward has issued a partial apology for saying he would probably fire a rocket into Israel if he lived in Gaza, after his party threatened disciplinary action.
Ward said his comments were "not in support of firing rockets into Israel" and he was sorry "if they gave the opposite impression". The Bradford East MP had initially declined to retract his remarks.
The row began after a tweet appeared on his feed saying: "The big question is – if I lived in #Gaza would I fire a rocket? – probably yes." He added: "Ich bin ein #palestinian – the west must make up its mind – which side is it on?"
He told BBC Radio 5 Live on Wednesday morning that he had done nothing wrong. "The comment was about understanding why people are firing rockets," he said. "I am not condoning that. In fact, yesterday in the House of Commons I condemned it. I'm saying I understand why people are so desperate that they are doing it."
However, the party later released a lengthy statement from Ward, which said: "I utterly condemn the violence on both sides in Israel and Gaza. I condemn the actions of Hamas, and my comments were not in support of firing rockets into Israel. If they gave the opposite impression, I apologise.
"However, while I defend the right of Israel to exist and defend itself, I will continue to speak out for the rights of the Palestinian people who are facing untold suffering. More must be done by the world community to end this humanitarian crisis and protect the families living in Gaza. I can understand their plight and desperation."
Having initially condemned Ward's comments, the Liberal Democrats said: "This is a categorical apology from David Ward. In light of this apology, the party and the whips will decide in due course if further disciplinary action should be taken."
The remarks were criticised by fellow MPs including the Tory chairman, Grant Shapps, who said they were an incitement to violence and "completely irresponsible". Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, said Ward's "vile comments are as revealing as they are repellent". The Board of Deputies of British Jews said Clegg should throw Ward out of the party.
There was further controversy when Edward Macmillan-Scott, a former Lib Dem MEP who lost his seat in May, tweeted that Ward could look after himself, while members of the board of deputies were a "frightful bag of disputatious Jews" and the editor of the Jewish Chronicle was a "prat".
He later apologised for the statement while swiping again at the group for not saying sorry to him in a previous dispute. The board said it was deeply concerned about Macmillan-Scott's comments and considered his subsequent tweeted apology wholly inadequate.
Last July Ward was suspended by the party after questioning the continuing existence of the state of Israel and refusing to apologise for his remarks. "Am I wrong or am I right? At long last the Zionists are losing the battle – how long can the apartheid State of Israel last?" he tweeted at the time.
He had the whip withdrawn for two months after a series of rows with the party's most senior members over his views on Israel and its treatment of Palestinians. The whip was restored in September after the suspension period expired.
The Lib Dems have previously been accused of failing to respond quickly to allegations of antisemitism. In 2012, the Lib Dem peer Lady Tonge resigned the whip after refusing to apologise for an outspoken attack against Israel.
David Ward, the Lib Dem MP for Bradford East. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
The Liberal Democrat MP David Ward has issued a partial apology for saying he would probably fire a rocket into Israel if he lived in Gaza, after his party threatened disciplinary action.
Ward said his comments were "not in support of firing rockets into Israel" and he was sorry "if they gave the opposite impression". The Bradford East MP had initially declined to retract his remarks.
The row began after a tweet appeared on his feed saying: "The big question is – if I lived in #Gaza would I fire a rocket? – probably yes." He added: "Ich bin ein #palestinian – the west must make up its mind – which side is it on?"
He told BBC Radio 5 Live on Wednesday morning that he had done nothing wrong. "The comment was about understanding why people are firing rockets," he said. "I am not condoning that. In fact, yesterday in the House of Commons I condemned it. I'm saying I understand why people are so desperate that they are doing it."
However, the party later released a lengthy statement from Ward, which said: "I utterly condemn the violence on both sides in Israel and Gaza. I condemn the actions of Hamas, and my comments were not in support of firing rockets into Israel. If they gave the opposite impression, I apologise.
"However, while I defend the right of Israel to exist and defend itself, I will continue to speak out for the rights of the Palestinian people who are facing untold suffering. More must be done by the world community to end this humanitarian crisis and protect the families living in Gaza. I can understand their plight and desperation."
Having initially condemned Ward's comments, the Liberal Democrats said: "This is a categorical apology from David Ward. In light of this apology, the party and the whips will decide in due course if further disciplinary action should be taken."
The remarks were criticised by fellow MPs including the Tory chairman, Grant Shapps, who said they were an incitement to violence and "completely irresponsible". Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, said Ward's "vile comments are as revealing as they are repellent". The Board of Deputies of British Jews said Clegg should throw Ward out of the party.
There was further controversy when Edward Macmillan-Scott, a former Lib Dem MEP who lost his seat in May, tweeted that Ward could look after himself, while members of the board of deputies were a "frightful bag of disputatious Jews" and the editor of the Jewish Chronicle was a "prat".
He later apologised for the statement while swiping again at the group for not saying sorry to him in a previous dispute. The board said it was deeply concerned about Macmillan-Scott's comments and considered his subsequent tweeted apology wholly inadequate.
Last July Ward was suspended by the party after questioning the continuing existence of the state of Israel and refusing to apologise for his remarks. "Am I wrong or am I right? At long last the Zionists are losing the battle – how long can the apartheid State of Israel last?" he tweeted at the time.
He had the whip withdrawn for two months after a series of rows with the party's most senior members over his views on Israel and its treatment of Palestinians. The whip was restored in September after the suspension period expired.
The Lib Dems have previously been accused of failing to respond quickly to allegations of antisemitism. In 2012, the Lib Dem peer Lady Tonge resigned the whip after refusing to apologise for an outspoken attack against Israel.
