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The Lib Dems are deeply stained by austerity. Don’t trust them

<span>Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images</span>
Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The Liberal Democrats are back, or so we’re told, with Jo Swinson’s leadership victory being pitched as the rebirth of the party. The unique conditions of Brexit have given the Lib Dems not only a reason to exist but the opportunity to detoxify their brand after their fatal coalition with the Conservatives, and to cast themselves as a reforming, progressive party in troubled times.

And yet remarkably little has changed since the days when Nick Clegg stood laughing in the Downing Street rose garden next to David Cameron as he signed Britain up to years of sweeping public spending cuts. When asked throughout this summer’s leadership campaign, Swinson (and her opponent, Ed Davey) consistently defended her party’s role in austerity measures. In an interview with Channel 4 News, Swinson said she had no regrets about the coalition, stating it was the right move “to get our country back on track”. This is despite the fact it has been shown that austerity shrunk the British economy by £100bn, and has even been linked to 130,000 preventable deaths. Swinson acknowledged “there were policies we let through [in coalition] that we shouldn’t have done”, naming the bedroom tax, but remained unrepentant on a whole host of others.

Instead, Swinson repeatedly claims credit for the Lib Dems being a moderating influence on the Tories. They may well have helped to rein in the Conservatives on some things (the party is said to have forced George Osborne to temporarily shelve child tax credit cuts) but this fundamentally misses the point: the Lib Dems weren’t coerced into the partnership, they voluntarily chose it, and as such were a reason every Tory cut that was passed was possible.

Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson says the party was a moderating influence on the Tories.
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson says the party was a moderating influence on the Tories. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

This isn’t about holding grudges or some sort of ideological purity. Political parties naturally evolve depending on the political times, and progress in policy positions should be credited. It was four years ago this week that the Labour party adopted its abysmal abstention strategy for key “welfare reform”, but the party has since wrestled internally to have the strong anti-austerity message it holds today, winning back support in the process.

The same cannot be said for the Lib Dems. This is a party that as recently as last year spoke of sacrificing some of the poorest people in society to benefit sanctions in exchange for a 5p tax on plastic bags while in coalition. Nor are their MPs against forming a pact with the Tories again, with Swinson simply ruling out joining forces with Boris Johnson or any Brexiteer.

Related: The austerity delusion | Paul Krugman

Swinson, for her part, could hardly be called a fully progressive figure. As employment minister, she reversed workers’ rights by introducing charges of up to £1,200 for the privilege of attending an employment tribunal (a move later ruled unlawful by the supreme court) and even considered cutting the minimum wage, all at a time when workers faced an unprecedented squeeze.

There is a sense in some circles that disabled people and working-class families should “get over it”; that those who can’t summon optimism for the revived Lib Dems are too tribal, irrational, or stuck in the past. But this insultingly dismisses the scale of suffering austerity has caused – typically by commentators who have never experienced the pain themselves – and recasts it as a historical slight. Go to your closed local Sure Start centre or try to get your elderly mother a social care package and this all seems ever-present news.

Austerity has harmed millions of people in Britain, and continues to wreck lives

Similarly, it’s often inferred that compared with Brexit, cuts to services are insignificant. The danger of no-deal Brexit is real and this will hit the poorest hardest. But the idea that this is enough to revive the Lib Dems – and that all else should somehow be forgotten – is a symptom of a political discourse that too often suggests nothing but Brexit matters. Some voters may find it easier to switch back to the Lib Dems, but large numbers of disabled and low-income families will find it considerably harder to trust them ever again. If you’re queueing in your wheelchair at a food bank because the coalition took your disability benefits, it’s unlikely you’ll be tempted to the yellow fold, even by the promise of a second EU referendum.

Besides, the two issues are linked. While credit should be given to the party leading the charge against Brexit, there is irony in the Lib Dem position. After all, savage cuts to services and living standards helped create the conditions for the leave vote in the first place. Indeed, it feels a bit rich to see a party that helped heap austerity on to struggling families now leading concern for the country over Brexit. For many disabled and poor people, years of Lib Dem-enabled cuts mean hardship is already here. Austerity has harmed millions of people in Britain, and continues to wreck lives. It is not too much to ask that the politicians who administered it learn lessons before their rehabilitation begins. As it stands, the rebirthed Lib Dems are still deeply stained.

• Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist and the author of Crippled: Austerity and the Demonisation of Disabled People