It's looking like the Liberal Democrats are going to be politically irrelevant for decades starting with the next elections. In this coalition government, they've agreed to all of the dirty work for the Conservatives and have received nothing in return. You know it's going to be bad when politicians start talking about what is fair for society. The Guardian:
But Clegg made clear he considered the reforms to be essential.
"A fair society is not one in which money is simply transferred by the central state from one group to another," he wrote in an article for the Times (paywall).
"Welfare needs to become an engine of mobility, changing people's lives for the better, rather than a giant cheque written by the state to compensate the poor for their predicament.
"Instead of turning the system from a 'safety net' into a 'trampoline', as Labour promised, people have been stuck on benefits, year in, year out."
A fair society, he wrote, was "one in which people are able to make a better life for themselves, with support from government and the broader community".
