Clegg and Freedom

Nick Clegg is nailing his colours to the mast on the subject of the EU Treaty/Constitution. He is very much for the treaty, and expects his MPs to back him up on this position:

"Mr Clegg will order his MPs to vote against having a referendum on the treaty or to abstain - depending on the wording of a Conservative amendment."

On some levels, regardless of what you think of the EU Treaty, you could argue that Clegg’s position is intellectually honest. He has consistently supported the EU, and his piece in The Orange Book spells out that he thinks the EU (albeit in a much reformed state) is the solution to a lot of the current problems of the world. It would be naked opportunism for his to adopt a different stand point.

However… it is one thing for Clegg to hold particular views on a potential referendum, it is something else to force those views on his MPs - both through forcing them to vote against the referendum, and by preventing them from joining certain pressure groups. Sure, you could argue that Clegg is just trying to maintain party discipline. But the EU Treaty is such a fundamental and crucial piece of legislation that it should demand MPs to vote both with their intellect and with their conscience. And Clegg is denying his own MPs that opportunity.

I’ve never understood the mentality of those who passionately advocate the EU Treaty at the same time as denying the right to vote on said Treaty. If their case is strong enough, why not go to the people? Why doesn’t Clegg try to persuade his MPs of the validity of his position, rather than banning them from certain courses of action? Why not give people the freedom to decide for themselves, after the cases both for and against the Treaty have been put to the public?

Because this decision shows Clegg’s Liberal Democrats to be just the same as all other incarnations of the Liberal Democrats – neither liberal, nor democratic.