Iain Dale has an interesting piece on his blog today about a report from the LibDem leaning think thank, CentreForum, which suggests the possibility of the LibDems entering into a coalition with the Conservatives is much more likely now than ever before.  What I found most interesting in the report was one of the reasons given for a lack of cooperation between the parties thus far:

"Second, there are good reasons to believe that the Conservative party is not engaged in as fundamental a re-invention as David Cameron would like the electorate to believe. At its 2007 conference, the party committed to reducing significantly the number of foreigners entering the UK, increasing the number of people in prison, and introducing a £3 billion tax cut for the wealthiest families in the country. Meanwhile, its hostility towards the European Union remains undiminished. Such an agenda can be justified, but not by reference to liberalism." 

Oh really?  Certainly the Conservative Party’s commitment to reducing the level of immigration can legitimately be said to stand at odds with a strict application of classical liberalism, as indeed can the commitment to increase the number of people in prison.  But what of the other things that are claimed to be at odds with liberalism? 

Introducing a £3 billion tax cut for the wealthiest families in the country:

Last time I checked reducing the level of taxation stood at the very centre of economic liberalism.  What’s interesting is that CentreForum have concentrated on the fact the proposed tax cut focuses on the ‘wealthiest’ as if, in terms of liberal thinking, the State had a greater claim to their money than to the money of the poorest, or indeed anyone in between.  Perhaps CentreForum should pick up a copy of Bastiat’s The Law. 

Hostility towards the European Union

The EU is a massive bureaucracy which wastes tremendous sums of taxpayer money, tends toward centralisation, and the regulation of anything and everything that comes into its sight (did somebody just say something about regulating the bend of bananas?).  That being so it’s fair to say that any number of reasons exist for opposing the EU in terms of liberalism. 

CentreForum’s understanding of liberalism is an interesting one indeed, and perhaps explains why the think tank is so loved by the Not-Quite-So-Liberal Democrats.  The Conservative Party may have changed a lot under Cameron, but compared to the LibDems the level of change is minor indeed - Gladstone must be turning in his grave.