'Common Sense & Positive - NOT 'Cuddly'! (Surrey Heath Liberal Democrats

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'Common Sense & Positive - NOT 'Cuddly'!

January 11, 2005 1:56 PM

'Cuddly Option' view of Liberal Democrats expressed by the far from 'cuddly' Tory Councillor Ian Sams is rejected by Ros Harper. AND she comes out fighting …

"I was both depressed and encouraged to read Cllr Ian Sam's letter in the Surrey Hants Star headed 'Liberal Democrats are no Cuddly Option', 6th January. As an aside, I would certainly endorse his view that the Lib Dems are far from 'cuddly' since the Party is the most challenging and progressive of the three main Political Groupings. In any event, quite why Cllr Sams sees merit in 'cuddliness' in political Parties is something of a mystery!

I was depressed by the letter because of its totally negative tone. Coming up to both County and General Elections your readers might hope for a bit more from local politicians than Cllr Sams approach in which he wheels out some tired old 'bogey man' stories about the Liberal Democrats.

This is made all the more discouraging because Cllr Sams cannot even show any original thought whatsoever in his 'yah-booing' since he has so clearly lifted his comments from the Tory party's 'Campaign Bulletin'. This is a daily document issued by Conservative Head office to activists, much comprised of negative 'spin' about Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

The encouraging part of Cllr Sams letter is that he is clearly terrified of the threat now posed by the Liberal Democrats in Surrey Heath. If this were not the case, why would he write such a piece?

Surrey Heath is a constituency which has the worst Borough Council in Surrey (Audit Commission CPA Report on Conservative controlled Surrey Heath Borough Council) and in which the Conservatives are totally divided amongst themselves following the removal of sitting MP Nick Hawkins. Against this background, Cllr Sams clearly understands that the common sense and positive policies of the Liberal Democrats, supported by a united and dedicated group of local activists poses a real threat to the tired and reactionary approach of his own Party!

For the TRUTH about the Liberal Democrat policies that Cllr Sams has 'spun' in his letter, visit www.libdems.org.uk. In the meantime, local Lib Dems look forward with great interest and eagerness to Cllr Sam's next piece of 'whistling in the dark'!