The Times
Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, urged Tory voters to turn to “the party of local democracy and conservation”.
Hansard
Take the planning reforms mentioned by the former Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Maidenhead—I agreed with her points about those. The Conservative Government’s proposals for new planning laws will ride roughshod over the views of local people and create a developers’ free-for-all. As millions of pounds of campaign donations from property developers pour into Conservative party coffers, local communities will be silenced. That is not democratic, and it is not right. There is a much better way to get the homes we need. The local neighbourhood planning reforms that Liberal Democrats champion would produce a community-led planning system, not a developer-led one; where it has been tried, it has been hugely successful. Neighbourhood plans put the houses where communities want them, with the facilities and infrastructure that those communities need. Those undemocratic planning reforms are, I am afraid, just another example of this authoritarian Government
Its a natural strategy. The Green are overtaking the Lib Dems – the answer then, be more reactionary, be more resistant to new housing, be more in favour of foot dragging on local plans, be more in favour of scheloric internationally discredited planning systems. They might peel a few reactionary young person hating voters from the conservatives. It would trash everything the Liberal party historically stood for, building housing, liberal controls with the state leading in key public service areas but hey, he might pad it out to the last election.
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions 