Economist magazine backs a loser but calls vote for LibDems a down-payment for the future
THE Economist has announced its backing for the Liberal Democrats in the election, despite saying the party is “going nowhere” this year.
A leader article in the magazine said a vote for
Tim Farron’s party was a “down-payment for the future”.
It suggested Labour and the Tories could suffer splits, and moderate MPs could join a new “liberal centre party”.
The magazine expressed its hopes the LibDems would “become one element of a party of the radical centre, essential for a thriving, prosperous Britain”.
It derided Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for taking the party to the “loony left”, claiming he “poses as a radical but is the most conservative – and the most dangerous – candidate of the lot”.
Prime Minister Theresa May was criticised for planning to leave the single market and insisting she would cut net migration, although the magazine said the Tories “would be much better than Labour”.
The Economist, which backed Remain in the EU referendum, said: “Both Mrs May and Mr Corbyn would each in their own way step back from the ideas that have made Britain prosper – its free markets, open borders and internationalism.
“They would junk a political settlement that has lasted for nearly 40 years and influenced a generation of Western governments. Whether left or right prevails, the loser will be liberalism.”
It noted that the choice for the magazine was “dismal”, stating it “sees little evidence of our classical, free-market liberal values in either of the main parties”.
It added: “We want a government that maintains the closest ties with the EU while honouring the referendum, and that uses Brexit to reassert the freedom of Britain’s markets and society – the better to keep dynamic firms and talented people around.
“In their different ways, both Labour and the Tories fail this test.”
The article praised the LibDems for their Brexit policies and plans to “reverse the Tories’ most regressive welfare cuts”, despite claiming Mr Farron was leading the party “to a dreadful result”.