The Ming Gone Song
The history of the Liberal Democrats propping up unpopular administrations is well known. It was deeply damaging to their cause when they kept the previous Labour Government in office. They paid a big price. They did the same in Suffolk, propping up a particularly inept County Council.
The threat to most Liberal Democrat MPs is from the Conservatives, which may in part account for their rejecting the so-called equidistance stance. It is very unwise of Ming to rule out effectively a relationship with anybody other than a Labour government. If, say, at the next General Election, Labour emerges as the largest single party that in itself would indicate very much less support for Labour. They would surely use the Liberals much more than Blair flattered Ashdown who got nothing. It is unclear whether Ming would fight for proportional representation, which is anathema to most Labour and all Tory MPs.
As the Government becomes less and less competent and more and more unpopular, the electorate will have a simple choice. Ming’s weekend speech showed some very sloppy thinking from somebody with such extensive parliamentary experience. What they say in future is simply likely to be much less listened to.