Why Maidstone should not vote Lib Dem

Our corrupt and anti democratic voting system often leads people to consider negative / tactical voting to get the least worst party elected. I think this is wrong and that people should vote positively for a party and policies that they believe in.

The decision in Maidstone is easy: Peter Caroll led the opposition to the South East's biggest on-shore wind farm and the calls to reduce fuel duty a couple of years ago (to his credit I have not heard him even claim to be green). Also he has publicly backed corporal punishment for children.

The Lib Dems need a 15% swing to win in Maidstone, i.e. they start 30% behind the Tories in the second safest seat in the county. Even with his high profile campaign for the Gurkhas and the nation swing to LDs from Labour, it is highly unlikely that they can win here.

This press release from the Greens explains more:

A Green Party spokesperson today branded the Lib Dems “the biggest eco-charlatans on this part of the planet”:

“Objectively speaking, the Lib Dems are the least trustworthy party on the environment. They have proven themselves the party most likely to say one thing and do another. Their track record is spotty to say the least.

“They say they want a low-carbon economy with new green jobs. But last week they revealed a plan to put the pathetic sum of £3bn into this, promising only a few thousand new jobs. The Green Party, on the other hand, has started with science-based CO2 targets, done the arithmetic and shown how to pay for a £44bn green investment package, which would create over a million new jobs.

“The Lib Dems talk about stopping roadbuilding but they’ve supported practically every new road from the Newbury bypass to the M74, and they’re still supporting the Lancaster Northern Bypass. They opposed Heathrow’s third runway but they’ve supported Manchester’s second runway and airport expansions just about everywhere else. They talk about green waste management but they currently support incinerator projects in Exeter, Plymouth and Barnstaple. In Essex they’ve proclaimed support for a zero waste strategy, which means no incineration, but they’re still supporting incinerators in Essex.

“They say they want a zero carbon economy by 2050, but they’ve opposed windfarm proposals in Cornwall, Cumbria, Devon and Worcestershire. In Lewisham they recently voted against a Green Party budget package that would have insulated 25,000 homes for free.

“In their proposed ‘green tax switch’ the Lib Dems promised to ‘cut income tax and switch to green taxes on pollution instead’ – which means either we’d have less money for schools and hospitals as we reduce pollution, or else we have to keep polluting in order to keep the tax revenue coming in. Frankly, the Lib Dems are the biggest eco-charlatans on this part of the planet.”