An open letter to Nick Clegg MP

Dear Nick,

I have been a Liberal, and then a Liberal Democrat supporter for many years, in fact since Sir David Steel was leader of the Liberal Party. As a teenager I campaigned in elections, delivering leaflets for my local candidate as a member of the Liberal Radical Youth, and as an adult I have voted Liberal or Liberal Democrat in every election, bye-election, or local government election that there has been to date where I have been living in the UK.

I now withdraw my support for this Liberal Democrat/conservative coalition government, and my support for the LibDems while they are led by you. This is because of your complete and utter failure to protect the rights of sick and disabled people in this country, because you have allowed sick and disabled people in this country to be portrayed as lazy scroungers, without once to my knowledge showing support for us or objecting publicly to those government policies and attitudes which demean us, policies which seek to deny us the right to live dignified and independent lives, because you have allowed this government to arbitrarily withdraw benefits from sick and disabled people based on a work capability assessment which has been thoroughly discredited by the British Medical Association, and because of your continued failure to support EDM 295 ATOS, which would at least allow these matters to be debated in the house.

Furthermore I commend your decision to continue to fight the next election as leader of the Liberal democrats, this shows me that you will continue to bury your head in the sand while innocent people suffer. My vote is one that you will not have, and nor I hope will you have the votes of those sick and disabled people that find themselves in my position.