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Seems to sum up a lot of the discussion yesterday @paulhindley2210.bsky.social.

The conservative reaction on the Left also misses something crucial: Sometimes your opponents are actually right about what's wrong, even if they're wrong about what's right.

6\6...OBR (implicitly exempting it from criticism). The Greens still have buckets of useful institutional criticism to make (especially around economics) although sometimes such radicalism can take on an unhelpful conspiratorial accent. It's important to be critical without being paranoid.

5/6 The Labour version was "Liz Truss was clearly nuts therefore we must be fiscally responsible". In practice, this meant going along with the dominant view of Treasury officials (which tends to be "if its good for the City of London, it's good for the rest of us") & giving more power to the...

4/6...and it certainly isn't good the BofE or indeed Bailey. But then Ed Davey was similarly un-inquisitive when evidence of the Horrizon scandal was offered to him. He simply trusted officials & didn't challenge the institutions involved. The Starmer machine was similar in conservative reflex.

3/6 Last year, when Ed Davey spent a week in his calendar defending the independence of the Bank of England, I thought to myself, this is a very conservative tone for someone who heads a Liberal Party. I'm sure exempting BofE from criticism thrilled Andrew Bailey, but it isn't good for the public...

2/6 Labour & the LibDems in particular are forgetting a basic instinct of the Left: Every established authority must be open to regular & systematic criticism. To exempt established authority from criticism is to pretend that institutions are not made by, & staffed with, fallible human beings.

2/2 '...and among those who benefit so much from the new technology, as those of us who have been active in the old Liberal Party. I believe that a majority of people want liberalism, but so far they have not been offered it' (Jo Grimond, 1987). 🔶️

This international network of Whitman admirers is really fascinating.

🔥🔥🔥

Powering Up PhoenixALT: Powering Up Phoenixstatic.klipy.com

Providing lots of Yorkshire content for @quakeitup.bsky.social today 🏵🧡

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It's such a gem. Good luck with the service. 🧡