Do the Lib Dems need to be forgiven?

I can understand Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett’s feelings as she addresses young voters over the shortcomings of the Lib Dems in the coalition government (The Lib Dems helped wreck my 20s. Young voters, beware, 18 November). Yes, the Lib Dems reneged on their promise to end tuition fees. Yes, they were too cravenly supportive of the Conservatives over austerity. But that was then. And the past is – hopefully – another country.

As a woman of 75, I have witnessed much passing of time. The achievements of the postwar Labour government were remarkable. More recently, Labour has been tainted by aspects of Blairism, in particular by Blair’s kowtowing to Bush over Iraq. (Incidentally, it was the then Lib Dem leader, Charles Kennedy, who had the guts to stand up and disagree with him.) Some of us welcomed Jeremy Corbyn, only to find ourselves disillusioned.

But I don’t believe any single party – or person – can have all the right answers. In this micro-macro world, we all make mistakes – large or small. We hope the elected political parties will make the right choices on our behalf, but sadly this often isn’t the case. The huge mistake was the referendum that led to this current fiasco over Brexit.

Yes, the Lib Dems showed a lack of stamina in coalition – but shouldn’t they now be given the opportunity to move on?
Jan Woodhouse
North Walsham, Norfolk

• It has taken me rather longer than Rhiannon Lucy Coslett to change my attitude to the Liberal Democrats. As a left-of-centre voter I have lived for 50 years in a safe Conservative seat. In every election from 1970 to 2010 I voted first Liberal and subsequently Lib Dem. After their hasty decision to enter the coalition I can no longer do so.

They accepted George Osborne blaming Labour for the financial crash of 2008 and enthusiastically supported his austerity programme. This from the party of Beveridge and Keynes. They sold their consciences in exchange for a referendum on an inferior version of electoral reform. The austerity they embraced so enthusiastically led many voters in the north and the Midlands to vote leave in the 2016 referendum and yet they have the gall to pose as the main supporters of remain.

If Jo Swinson wants my vote the least I expect from her is an apology for her party’s actions in coalition from 2010 to 2015.
Ian O’Neill
South Croydon, London

• It is understandable that Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett wants to eject the Tories for reasons such as housing, the climate emergency and tuition fees. It is also encouraging that youthful activists and university lecturers are encouraging students and other young people to sign up to vote. But it is now time that the baby boomers publicly entered this fray, and not just for fears for their children and grandchildren’s futures, but for their own.

My school friends and I soared up the Attlee escalator with improved schools and healthcare, a growing economy and youth culture. Those who wanted to were actually paid to go to college. We mostly got secure jobs and if we worked hard could afford to buy a home, bring up a family. and many of us now have good pensions.

Five more years of a Johnson government will be bad for the young, but far grimmer for the number of years we baby boomers have left, as we become more dependent on the NHS and care facilities. These already inadequately financed institutions are now under further threat from the US drug and private health companies licking their lips at the thought of a vulnerable NHS and a grovelling Johnson government forced into trade deals on Trump’s terms. So whether we loathe or admire Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon or Jo Swinson, we baby boomers must vote tactically to protect all our futures.
Colin Hines
East Twickenham, London

• Millennial Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett says the Lib Dems ruined her 20s. As a Generation Xer I can sympathise. Thatcherite Tories “ruined” my 20s, as I graduated in the late 1980s when over 3 million of us were on the dole. The Tories also took their best shot at ruining my generation’s 40s and 50s with almost a decade of cuts to the vital public services that we, our children or parents depend on, followed by the endless disaster of Brexit that will ruin lives for decades to come.

So if you want to avoid re-electing the worst Tory government in British history, I urge you to look hard at which candidate has the best chance of keeping the Tory out in your constituency, then forget political or generational tribalism, grit your teeth and vote for them. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good (or even half-tolerable).
Chris Webster
Gümligen, Switzerland

• Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett offers unbalanced advice on how we should vote to avoid Boris Johnson’s Brexit. She naturally thinks people should vote for Labour candidates where only they can beat the Conservatives. But she neglects to mention that if the Lib Dems fail to defeat the Conservatives in enough constituencies where they are the main challenger, a majority Conservative government and a hard Brexit will be the inevitable consequence. Whatever she may feel about them, she should recognise that a strong enough breakthrough by the Lib Dems in such places could actually enable a Labour government.

We must vote tactically to defeat the Conservatives. Moreover, for this to be maximally effective, it should be based on more recent polling figures, including from this year’s EU parliament election, rather than on the 2017 election which Cosslett seems to prefer.
Richard Hassall
Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

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