Timothy Garton Ash's Blog, page 32

Timothy Garton Ash: This can be the election to change all elections. Vote Lib Dem, to make it so

Ignore siren calls for tactical voting. Keep head and heart together, and we will compel the change we need

This time, vote Liberal Democrat. Vote Liberal wherever you can. Vote Liberal as if your life depended on it. Vote Liberal if you want a transformed politics and a modern, free country with a realistic view of its place in the world. No matter if you didn't last time; no matter if you won't next time. This time: seize the chance. Take the risk.

I say this as someone who has never...

Election 2010: Economic reality hits home at last | Timothy Garton Ash

The Institute for Fiscal Studies showed that politicians were being coy about cuts. But voters want the truth

This election already has one clear winner: the Institute for Fiscal Studies. There was a day last week when every second sentence on the Today programme seemed to begin "the Institute for Fiscal Studies says". None of the politicians interviewed dared to challenge frontally the IFS figures on public spending cuts. The same happened on Question Time with David Dimbleby.

Yet what those f...

British politicians will need to act more like the Germans – only faster | Timothy Garton Ash

If there is no clear winner two parties must rapidly agree voting reform and spending cuts. The bond market sharks are circling

In Berlin last weekend, people kept asking me about the British election and I kept asking them the German for "hung parliament". None of them could help me. The German for "hung parliament" is simply "parliament", because the system of proportional representation the Federal Republic adopted in 1949 routinely produces parliaments with no overall majority. At a quick ...