When Nixon goes to China...

... Lower Your Expectations!

Only Richard Nixon could have gone to China to make peace with Mao, for it was Nixon who was the most staunchly anti-Communist of Republicans and had been embedded in McCarthyism in the 1950s. If the step had been made by a Democrat then they would have been torn apart by the right-wing media. Only Obama can legally enshrine killing American citizens aligned with the "associated forces" of al-Qaeda, even as the conservatives accuse him of being a 'socialist' and the liberals remain silent just to keep the Republicans out of office. This is the lowering of expectations that Alexander Cockburn talks about. The business of conventional politics is rooted in a kind of realism which forecloses any manifested opposition to the ruling-class. We can see this in Britain where the Labour Party signed onto the Thatcherite programme in the 1990s, which amounted to nothing less than an assault on the minimal living standards of working-class people.

The architects of New Labour were well aware that the trade unions would hang on no matter what, a large chunk of Scotland and the North would vote Labour no matter what, so it was only a matter of winning over the Southern middle-class. Under Blair the Party quickly dumped it's commitments to any kind of socialist development, indicatively the common ownership of the workplace by workers was abandoned. It was only because of Labour's history that it could hand over the Bank of England to the private sector and let the markets run amok in the NHS. So it should be no surprise that Ed Miliband has signed onto every pathetic decision of the Conservative Party to trash health-care, education, pensions and benefits in general. The opposition has been foreclosed. Now no one stands on the side of the vulnerable and the exploited in this time of great turmoil. No doubt if Blair was in power he would be pushing through bigger cuts than the Conservative Party could get away with.

So it would seem that the Labour Party is beyond reform, you can thank Tony Blair for that. In another sense then the ground is ripe for the radicals to tap into popular disillusionment, widespread grievances and the people's wrath. We need some major decisions, perhaps the trade unions should break off from the Labour Party and align themselves with the Greens. Of course, the unions won't because they're afraid that would forfeit any influence in Parliament whatsoever. The trite of Ed Miliband is the best they can hope for and clearly the unions have lowered their expectations. There is widespread outrage at what has gone on for the last 30 years. Now we have to think of what is to be undone. It wouldn't take much to reach out to ordinary people, we've seen nearly 1 million march against cuts through the streets of London. The Coalition of Resistance seems to have petered out since Ed Miliband gave a crap speech at the March for the Alternative. The Occupy movement is a good thing in terms of popular energy, but it is insufficient in many respects.

We can't lower our expectations and give in to this crowd. We should remind ourselves that it isn't all gloom and doom. Take a close look at the hubbub around SOPA and PIPA, what do you see? So Wikipedia goes on strike because libertarian Jimmy Wales wants to take a stand for free-speech online. Can't you just make out one of the contradictions of capitalism prevalent today? The more the common is captured as private property, the more its productivity declines and yet the further expansion of the common undermines the relations of property.  Neither the state nor the market has any substantive answers to this matter. Both have demonstrated a remarkable ability to shoot themselves and each other in the foot. Jimmy Wales took a stand for free-speech and undermined property rights in doing so. The state acted to defend the interests of corporations vested in private property, but it will only reduce the productivity of the system if it succeeds. This is just another repeat of when Nixon went to China, except we won't be lowering our expectations this time!


As for the question of what's your alternative? We shouldn't shirk away from central planning even though it was largely a disaster in the 20th Century. There does exist a model for socio-economic planning within the current system and this is reason enough to not dump all talk of planning from radical programmes. In a capitalist system the markets are meant to provide coordination to an intricate network of firms, the only alternative is central planning to coordinate a network of worker self-management. The Left doesn't want to talk seriously about the question of coordination. The corporation is the most advanced, sophisticated and dynamic command and control system in world history. It is a profit-based planning system but the corporate model is not a free-market one, it sends order through supply chains to extract and distribute resources. These techniques of planning can be ripped out of the capitalist system and applied to an egalitarian end.

Hacked Off!

"The journalist's 'lack of convictions', the prostitution of his experiences and beliefs is comprehensible only as the apogee of capitalist reification." - Georg Lukács

The love affair between Rupert Murdoch and the Establishment may have finally come to an end, or at least it has been derailed by the people of this country and not it's owners. Rupert Murdoch walked away from his bid to takeover BSkyB just before it faced a vote in Parliament which would have no doubt opposed News International. Though it would have been interesting to see who exactly stands by Murdoch after all of this. It has been quite a journey, just last week Rupert Murdoch was standing by Rebekah Brooks and he has just nudged her off of the cliff. The difference is that The News of the World is now gone after 168 years, 43 of which have been spent in the claws of Murdoch - at least until it is relaunched as The Sun on Sunday. As I'd like to see burning mountains of The Times and The Sun in the streets of London I have to admit that this is a damn good day. It is even possible that the damage done to News International is enough for yet more closures, this could be the beginning of the end for Murdoch's "animal spirit".

It was clear that the Murdoch press has been out of control for quite some time. The public was disgusted when it turned out that the paper had hacked the phones of a murdered teenage girl, to the extent of actually deleting voice mails in order to receive even more voice mails. This functioned to give the illusion that the girl might be alive to her family. Then it turned out that these journalists also hacked the phones of war widows and the victims of 7/7. Now there is even word of hacking the phones of 9/11 victims. The criminal conspiracy went as far as bribing police officers and even enveloped the Conservative Party as Andy Coulson made the jump from tabloid fuck-monkey to public relations fuck-monkey. But this is not an entirely new dimension to the drama of Murdoch-Tory relations. Let's not forget what happened in Wapping back in 1986 when the collusion between the Conservative government and the Metropolitan police with Rupert Murdoch left the print unions smashed. It was also The Sun that led the media campaign against the Miners in '84 to '85.

In 1988 The News of the World was one of the tabloids that hounded the gay chat-show host Russell Harty and upped the ante as Harty lay dying in a hospital bed from hepatitis. Journalists from all of the tabloids even posed as junior doctors to get a hold of Harty's medical notes and photographers rented a flat just opposite Harty's hotel room. Alan Bennett later said, at Harty's funeral, that "The gutter press finished him." There was an immediate reaction from Murdoch's attack dogs, specifically in The Sun, "Stress did not kill Russell Harty. The truth is that he died from a sexually transmitted disease. the press didn't give it to him. He caught it from his own choice. And by paying young rent boys he broke the law. Some - like ageing bachelor Mr Bennett - can see no harm in that. He has no family. But what if it had been YOUR son Harty had bedded?" It was that same red-top that claimed in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster that fans robbed the dead and pissed on "brave cops". Murdoch made Kelvin MacKenzie apologise through his teeth for that one.

This is just the tip of the ice-berg. In the US the Mephistopheles found Roger Ailes to run Fox News as the propaganda wing of the Republican Party. It was Roger Ailes and Lee Atwater who designed the campaign ads for George HW Bush in 1988, the basic message of which was "Vote for George HW Bush or a Black man might rape your girlfriend." So we should not be surprised to find a disgusting band of reactionaries at Fox News, where Glenn Beck was taken off the air because of the huge losses in advertising revenue and a fall in ratings. Now Mr Ailes is bracing himself in case the FBI discovers News Corp has hacked the phones of 9/11 victims and then it will be game over for Fox News. Why the hell did it take the phone-hacking of a dead girl to make us angry about Rupert Murdoch? The man controls around 40% of British media and we only cared once he crossed a clear ethical line. The BBC and the Labour Party are as much at fault here as the Conservative Party. The party-line is still that the system is sound in spite of a few excessive elements, e.g. The News of the World.

Now we can read The Sun and it's reaction to the words of Gordon Brown, if we could tear our eyes away from the delicious news that Rupert Murdoch backed out of the takeover bid to avoid the humiliation of a landslide vote against him in Parliament. It's important to remember that if the scandal had never erupted you could guarantee that the Conservatives and the Labour Party would currently be singing "Hey big spender!" to Rupert Murdoch. No doubt David Cameron and Ed Miliband would have danced around in suspenders and basques for the old dog. Whenever we see Tony Benn today we forget about the media campaign against him led by the Murdoch red-tops to label him as a "loon", going as far as actually putting words in the mouth of a prominent American psychiatrist to try and make out that Benn was mentally unstable. The press went through Benn's rubbish and he was aware that his phone was being tapped, by who we do not know specifically. Murdoch played the exact same tune with Neil Kinnock, who was well to the Right of Tony Benn.

As Conrad Black has pointed out, Rupert Murdoch has no loyalty except to his company and he has betrayed every political leader who ever helped him. The only exceptions to the only is Ronald Reagan and possibly Tony Blair. As Murdoch seeks to rid the world of dignity and respectable institutions out of a so-called "anti-elitism" he kisses the arses of the Chinese Communists. All the while News International runs on a reactionary populist platform in Britain and on a commonsensical conservatism in America. The way he sees public entertainment and civic values is similar to the depiction of both in The Simpsons: all politicians are crooks while the masses are an ignorant lumpenproletariat. The irony being that this man climbed in bed with the police and the political class, whilst railing against them and supposedly 'supporting' the working-classes against the corrupt elite. The liberal commentariat has turned the narrative around and now we find it is those noble journalists who are speaking truth to power once more.

Whether or not the Labour Party has slashed off all remnants of the impact Murdoch has had on the Party is another matter. Ed Miliband has led the way on the motion to ask the Mephistopheles to reconsider the bid, a motion not so hardline as it would seem and just a week ago Miliband was calling for Rebekah Brooks to think about quitting. I bet that one had the Murdoch empire trembling in it's wake. Now that the 'evil ginger' has finally resigned we should keep in mind it was Murdoch who gave her the boot and not Miliband. The same goes for Les Hinton, who has worked with Murdoch for 52years and used to lead the British wing of News Corp before Rebekah Brooks succeeded him. These are "professional" not "personal" moves on the part of Rupert Murdoch to insulate himself and News Corp from the scandal. The basic complaint of the government is that the red-top went too far and that there is a need for discipline and responsibility to be instilled. A radical change in the mainstream media is unimaginable, we just want The News of the World without the phone-hacking of dead children and in that sense we want the sleaze of the tabloids without the sleaze.

We find ourselves embedded in ideology when Miliband calls this a great victory for "people up and down the country", a platitude if there ever was one, we should reject this liberal reduction of the situation to the glorious struggle of the little guy and the investigative journalist against a corrupt media corporation. The adversarial self-image which the BBC holds so dearly to whilst fawning to power and all opposition is conveniently absent from the discussion. There is no alternative to cuts and we can tell because the BBC refuses to air the alternatives! Except when the alternatives can be easily dismissed as 'lunacy'. We should have no illusions, the disgusting 'aberrations' of News International are being rooted out by the system as a form of corruption and no one in their right mind would defend the phone-hacking of dead people. This will not change the fact that the political system is broken, it has been reduced to a form of management in which the 'rabble' of special individuals consent to passivity in the midst of mindless chatter from the middle-class liberals at the BBC.

The Tories are still Blue.

 

Some of you, my fellow coach potatoes, will note the debate over the "Big Society" was reignited with a notable appearance from Phillip Blond on 10'Clock Live back in February and it will no doubt come up again in the future. As the proponent of a new kind of a communitarian conservatism Blond has found himself influential in the Conservative Party in recent years. The impact of the 'Red Tory' has been to shift rhetoric from the "compassionate conservative" limbo to a consistently conservative message. 'Red Toryism' has been posited as a viable alternative to the failures of the egalitarian Left and the pro-market Right, socially conservative but sceptical of neoliberalism. Though the commentariat have yet to buy it and many feel it is simply a "cover for cuts". On 10'Clock Live he took part in a discussion with liberal columnist Johann Hari and Conservative Shaun Bailey hosted by David Mitchell. The clashes between Hari and Blond were notably entertaining, though the government has still failed to promote the "Big Society" especially in this time of public spending cuts. 

The progressive credentials of David Cameron can easily be seen. Cameron is the product of affirmative action for rich white-men, he was born the fifth cousin twice removed to the Queen and got his first job with the Tories after he was recommended by an equerry at Buckingham Palace - not to mention the recent revelations about Clegg's internship. Aligned with the Eurosceptic wing of the Conservative Party David Cameron has joined his German and French cousins in his opposition to multiculturalism. Cameron also maintains the Atlantic alliance between the US and the UK, whilst he is also a friend of Rupert Murdoch as well as to homophobes and anti-Semites in Europe. Never mind his advocacy of small government, austerity and Victorian family values on top of all this. These are not the credentials of a progressive, these are the warts of a reactionary which are hidden behind the well crafted veneer of a youthful, soft and modern conservative. This is an inversion of the 'Nixon in China' principle. Only Nixon, the anti-Communist, could sip tea with Mao and only a progressive can slash and burn the welfare state.

The only sense in which the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats could be considered progressive is in the Enlightenment sense of history as Progress. Conveniently this interpretation of history eliminates the need for radicalism of any kind: We will get there in the end, so why make big changes now? This is compatible with the economics of market liberalism, from which we might hold that there is full employment in the long-run so current trends of unemployment are only temporary. Along this road of Progress towards a liberal utopia, reminiscent of North Oxford, there are numerous obstacles that must be removed swiftly. There are the barbarous ideas and the dangerous enablers of such ideas, in the way that Islamism is supposedly empowered by liberal multiculturalism. Not that there is a need for a common project to unite people, as that would presuppose a different take on history, but rather that a "muscular liberalism" should succeed the multicultural order. Similarly, the culture of dependency has to be jettisoned along with all inefficiencies in the public sector.

Then we have the shattering revelations over the very warm relationship between the Conservative Party and the financial hub of the British economy should not be a surprise to any serious commentator. And if we lived in a free society there would be such a degree of transparency that the ordinary citizen would be informed of all the details, by which I mean all the figures of contributions to the parties. Contributions from the City of London to the Tory Party have risen since Cameron became Party leader in 2005. When David Cameron just came to lead the Party, funds from 'Big Finance' accounted for just less than £3 million which would represent around 25% of total donations. 5 years later and the Conservatives had received over £40 million in funds from Canary Wharf. Though it would be interesting to see the details of all three major parties, as in the US every election is won by the candidate who spends the most on the campaign trail. As I suspect the rich dumped New Labour  in favour of the Conservatives in the run-up to the 2010 General Election.

Keep in mind the strong support Cameron received from over 1,000 business leaders and the blessing of Rupert Murdoch, which may well have swung the election in 2010. Notably Blair received similar support from business leaders before his victory in 1997. The Murdoch media empire has been notably influential in elections for a long time and has acted as a base of media support for Thatcher, Major and Blair. From 2006 to 2009 the contributions added up to £16 million and in 2010 the Party raised £11 million from Canary Wharf - this is equal to the amount Labour raised from Unite from 2006-2009. Until recently this is all we knew about the financial ties to the Conservative Party, but now we know that the donations received by the Party are over £40 million since 2005. Under the leadership of David Cameron financial support procured from 'Big Finance' has literally doubled, the wealthy have leaped from 'Blue Labour' to 'Red Tory'. The same old platform has been recycled and refined slightly, it's pursuit of class interests even more brash and vicious than before.

When asked by Dylan Jones as to what his views on the City, and whether a Conservative Prime Minister can be a meaningful critic of the banks, Cameron responded "I think a Conservative Prime Minister can and should be a friend of business, where you praise and reward good business practice and then feel absolutely free to criticise bad business practice." Cameron went on to clarify that he does not believe the answer to every problem is regulation and legislation. Instead he opts for public debate and advocates responsibility in the business community - this is as shallow as it gets. Note Mr Cameron's words as we can now read of the Black and White Party, formerly known as the Winter Ball, where each of the 900 guests paid a minimum of £400 and went on to bid for City internships which could pave the way for their children to become hedge-fund managers and stock-brokers. Five were sold for £14,000 that night. All together the event may have raised £500,000 for the Conservative Party, funds which will be used to tell us all that "We're all in this together."

The "Virtual Parliament" of investors who vote on government policy minute-by-minute and will seek to undermine particular social policies and reforms - that strikes at the interests of the rich - through capital flight, this is the result of the financialisation of the economy over the last 30 years. We're talking about the global ultra-rich now, the people who have accumulated $40 trillion by 2009. The bailouts of 2008 to 2009 were a way of maintaining high rates of profit which could not be gained from the exploitation of labour. The same can be said of the bailouts of Greek, Irish and now Portugese banks. As a man of corporate public-relations David Cameron knows a good slogan when he sees one, which might explain why he ripped off the Obama theme of "Change". But at a time when profits have to be wrested through accumulation by dispossession we are already seeing the re-use of methods of race-baiting and military aggression. The current global situation could lead to movements for independence emerging in developing countries, as seen in the Middle East recently, as well as attempts by organised labour and the radical Left to fight against austerity.

A Year of Living Rough.

 

8 months since the Coalition took power from a bankrupt Labour government and the pitch hasn't changed one bit. Still the government claims to be leading the "Good Fight" against a budget deficit created by a one-eyed dour Scotsman. Though the Conservatives have stopped going around promising change and no longer speak critically of the politics of the last 30 years. As that might be a fly in the ointment when the public notice the similarities of the current regime and those we've endured since 1979. The shadow platform of the Lib Dems is now laid bare for all to see, with the consequences visible in plummeting approval ratings. Meanwhile New Labour has found a new leader who strongly resembles a Simpson, which isn't bad considering the Conservative leader looks more like shiny evil than an actual organism. On a more serious note Ed Miliband made positive detours from the lurch to the Right by the Labour Party, which saw Britain being led into wars for oil and gas, but has presented a luke-warm opposition to the Con-Dem Coalition on the cuts and tuition fees.

David Cameron, the harbinger of an austere Dickensian future, has issued a New Year message which begins by reassuring us that he is an optimist when it comes to people, human nature and the future of Britain. Going onto claim that the Prime Minister begins the New Year with the same positive outlook he had back in May. In doing so Cameron displays a caution for negativity, which can be a turn-off for voters, opting for a golden mean of rhetorical prestidigitation. He stresses that if we resolve the "real problem" of British society, namely the budget deficit and the economy, we can be one of the "international success stories of the new decade". Then Cameron reverts to a commonsensical position, "We have been living seriously beyond our means, we have to sort this out. Every sensible person knows this." He then posits that it would be easy to delay the cuts and highlights action (e.g. immediate and savage cuts) as the right course to take. This is a conscious attempt to evoke not only the dark outlook of conservatism but also the "idealistic" side of resolving problems by preserving traditional values, responsibility and order.

Keep in mind that the Conservative Party of today is most definitely Thatcherite, if not hyper-Thatcherite, in character and the only traditional values that matter are the ones established in 1979. Forgot community, civic duty and responsibility. Remember individuality, freedom and self-interest. Private vices equal public benefits, or so they will claim. Buying goods produced in sweat shops is good because it employs children, keeping them from abuse and sexual exploitation (in theory), this is the thinking of the Conservative Party. The Coalition is not lying in claiming to be creating the "Big Society" as a society in which government is small may be one which could be considered "big". Public relations at its best.  We've been sold cuts from the very start of Cameron's term. The long-term aim is small government, where everything from the NHS to the BBC is privately owned and taxes have been cut in half - more like Goldwater Conservatism than Red Toryism.

The Prime Minister goes on to say that "Britain has a really bright future to look forward to. 2011 is going to be a difficult year as we take hard but necessary steps to sort things out. But the actions we are taking are essential, because they are putting our economy and our country on the right path. Together, we can make 2011 the year that Britain gets back on its feet." This is emotive waffle, words typed up to sound nice and reassure the listeners to the insecurity of the path the Cameron ministry is taking this country. Following this waffle Cameron inserts some interesting claims, apparently New Labour racked up the biggest deficit in peace time history. Actually government debt didn't drop below 70% until the late 70s and early 80s under the Irony Lady, before that it was well over 100% for almost 50 years and during that time the welfare state was constructed. He goes on to evoke the widely covered crises in Greece and Ireland, even though we're not in the same situation as either country. Let alone the hypocrisy, David Cameron has backed the bailing out of Irish banks this year and will not doubt do the same during the next financial crisis here.

It becomes evident that Mr Cameron fears the country's credit rating is at stake, that we're facing rising interest rates and falling business confidence, before keenly reiterating that the deficit was inherited from New Labour and Gordon Brown - Labour's John Major. He conveniently forgets to mention that the Irish debt increased following huge austerity measures and that Britain had the lowest debt in proportion to GDP out of the G7 countries. After this Cameron goes on to claim that the Coalition has already "pulled Britain out of that danger zone" through some tough decisions in the Budget Review. At this point the Prime Minister introduces a justification, the ends justify the means, economic growth is predicted to rise from 2011 and even further in 2012. After attributing the growth achieved in 2010 to the Coalition's policies, and not Labour's "imprudent spending", Cameron concludes that we must swallow the Con-Dem prescription of austerity. He then repeats the old Thatcherite mantra "There is no alternative" and claims that it would be irresponsible to avoid cuts.

Following this is a load of noise about intentions, the national interest, aspiration, practicality and not ideology, as well as a reminder that "We're all in this together" before claiming contradictorily that "We want to bring people with us". Some noise about economic dynamism, more bank lending, greater deregulation and greater investment in the "sectors of the future". All of which is so vague no one could oppose them, except the part about deregulation which partly caused the financial crisis. After all this noise, the Prime Minister reminds we the people of the threat of international terrorism and radical Islamism. Noting the recent arrests of terrorist suspects the Prime Minister states this government will give the police the full support and defeat those who threaten our values and way of life. Just like New Labour the Con-Dems are looking to get the public to accept repressive policies - whether it be an attack on civil liberties or the welfare state - by evoking patriotism and advocating defensive violence against an external threat.


To avoid any scandals Mr Cameron highlights that the threat of Islamist violence is from a minority in the Muslim community. Soon after Cameron ensures that the door for more wars overseas is open by saying "We also need to take action with our international partners (US) abroad." As WikiLeaks has shown we are currently in the grips of another pro-American government, which has no problem with paying £80 billion to replenish American nuclear weapons we're allowed to hold onto and use when Washington gives the order. In the last minute the message descends into pure emotivism, the words were mostly hollowed out for public consumption, like a speech at a fascist rally. The emphasis is on making Britain is a "better, stronger and safer country" which is a meaningless platitude as no one would ever want to make Britain worse, weaker and less safe. The New Year message ends with words crafted by a PR-team "If 2010 is the year we stopped the rot, we can make 2011 the year that Britain gets back on her feet." To the government the public are a bewildered herd to be feared and manipulated, this is the reason behind the rhetoric and the gloss.

Who said "Aye" to Raising Tuition Fees?

This is a list of all the MPs who voted "aye" to raise tuition fees, including the slim amount of Lib Dems who voted for the proposal. You may notice some prominent names here and even your own MP. If you're concerned with what is happening to our society you should act, even if it is just a letter or an email to the MP. There have been numerous demonstrations in recent weeks and there will be more to come in 2011 no doubt. Feel free to join us on the streets against this morally bankrupt government and help cut the democratic deficit. The format for emails being alexanderd@parliament.uk to take Danny Alexander as an example. First up are the Liberal Democrats who were vital in squeezing this proposal through Parliament.

Danny Alexander

Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey

LDem

aye

Norman Baker

Lewes

LDem

aye

Alan Beith

Berwick-upon-Tweed

LDem

aye

Gordon Birtwistle

Burnley

LDem

aye

Tom Brake

Carshalton and Wallington

LDem

aye

Jeremy Browne

Taunton Deane

LDem

aye

Malcolm Bruce

Gordon

LDem

aye

Paul Burstow

Sutton and Cheam

LDem

aye

Vincent Cable

Twickenham

LDem

aye

Alistair Carmichael

Orkney and Shetland

LDem

aye

Nicholas Clegg

Sheffield, Hallam

LDem

aye

Edward Davey

Kingston and Surbiton

LDem

aye

Lynne Featherstone

Hornsey and Wood Green

LDem

aye

Don Foster

Bath

LDem

aye

Stephen Gilbert

St Austell and Newquay

LDem

aye

Duncan Hames

Chippenham

LDem

aye

Nick Harvey

North Devon

LDem

aye

David Heath

Somerton and Frome

LDem

aye

John Hemming

Birmingham, Yardley

LDem

aye

Mark Hunter

Cheadle

LDem

tellaye

Norman Lamb

North Norfolk

LDem

aye

David Laws

Yeovil

LDem

aye

Michael Moore

Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk

LDem

aye

Andrew Stunell

Hazel Grove

LDem

aye

Jo Swinson

East Dunbartonshire

LDem

aye

Sarah Teather

Brent Central

LDem

aye

David Ward

Bradford East

LDem

aye

Steve Webb

Thornbury and Yate

LDem

aye

Here are the names of Liberals who voted against the proposals:
Annette Brooke
(Dorset Mid and Poole North)
Sir Menzies Campbell (Fife North East)
Michael Crockart (Edinburgh West)
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Andrew George (St Ives)
Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South)
Julian Huppert (Cambridge)
Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
John Leech (Manchester Withington)
Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne)
Greg Mulholland (Leeds North-West)
John Pugh (Southport)
Alan Reid (Argyll and Bute)
Dan Rogerson (Cornwall North)
Bob Russell (Colchester)
Adrian Sanders (Torbay)
Ian Swales (Redcar)
Mark Williams (Ceredigion)
Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire)
Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central)
Simon Wright (Norwich South)

Lib Dem Abstainers: Lorely Burt (Solihull), Martin Horwood (Cheltenham), Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark), Chris Huhne (Eastleigh), Tessa Munt (Wells), Sir Robert Smith (Aberdeenshire West and Kincardine), John Thurso (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) and Stephen Williams (Bristol West). Note that Huhne and Horwood would have voted in favour of the proposals but were unable to make it to Parliament.

Here are the few Conservatives who rebelled from the party-line:
Philip Davies (Shipley)
David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden)
Julian Lewis (New Forest East)
Jason McCartney (Colne Valley)
Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole)
Mark Reckless (Rochester and Strood)

Now here are the Tories voting almost unanimously for higher tuition fees and cuts for higher education. But they couldn't have done it without the Liberals.

Nigel Adams

Selby and Ainsty

Con

aye

Adam Afriyie

Windsor

Con

aye

Peter Aldous

Waveney

Con

aye

David Amess

Southend West

Con

aye

Stuart Andrew

Pudsey

Con

aye

James Arbuthnot

North East Hampshire

Con

aye

Richard Bacon

South Norfolk

Con

aye

Louise Bagshawe

Corby

Con

aye

Steven Baker

Wycombe

Con

aye

Tony Baldry

Banbury

Con

aye

Harriett Baldwin

West Worcestershire

Con

aye

Stephen Barclay

North East Cambridgeshire

Con

aye

Gregory Barker

Bexhill and Battle

Con

aye

John Baron

Basildon and Billericay

Con

aye

Gavin Barwell

Croydon Central

Con

aye

Guto Bebb

Aberconwy

Con

aye

Henry Bellingham

North West Norfolk

Con

aye

Richard Benyon

Newbury

Con

aye

Paul Beresford

Mole Valley

Con

aye

Jake Berry

Rossendale and Darwen

Con

aye

Andrew Bingham

High Peak

Con

aye

Brian Binley

Northampton South

Con

aye

Bob Blackman

Harrow East

Con

aye

Nicola Blackwood

Oxford West and Abingdon

Con

aye

Crispin Blunt

Reigate

Con

aye

Nicholas Boles

Grantham and Stamford

Con

aye

Peter Bone

Wellingborough

Con

aye

Peter Bottomley

Worthing West

Con

aye

Karen Bradley

Staffordshire Moorlands

Con

aye

Graham Brady

Altrincham and Sale West

Con

aye

Angie Bray

Ealing Central and Acton

Con

aye

Julian Brazier

Canterbury

Con

aye

Andrew Bridgen

North West Leicestershire

Con

aye

Steve Brine

Winchester

Con

aye

James Brokenshire

Old Bexley and Sidcup

Con

aye

Fiona Bruce

Congleton

Con

aye

Robert Buckland

South Swindon

Con

aye

Aidan Burley

Cannock Chase

Con

aye

Conor Burns

Bournemouth West

Con

aye

Simon Burns

Chelmsford

Con

aye

David Burrowes

Enfield, Southgate

Con

aye

Alistair Burt

North East Bedfordshire

Con

aye

Dan Byles

North Warwickshire

Con

aye

Alun Cairns

Vale of Glamorgan

Con

aye

David Cameron

Witney

Con

aye

Neil Carmichael

Stroud

Con

aye

Douglas Carswell

Clacton

Con

aye

William Cash

Stone

Con

aye

Rehman Chishti

Gillingham and Rainham

Con

aye

Christopher Chope

Christchurch

Con

aye

James Clappison

Hertsmere

Con

aye

Greg Clark

Tunbridge Wells

Con

aye

Kenneth Clarke

Rushcliffe

Con

aye

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

The Cotswolds

Con

aye

Therese Coffey

Suffolk Coastal

Con

aye

Damian Collins

Folkestone and Hythe

Con

aye

Oliver Colvile

Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport

Con

aye

Geoffrey Cox

Torridge and West Devon

Con

aye

Stephen Crabb

Preseli Pembrokeshire

Con

aye

David Davies

Monmouth

Con

aye

Glyn Davies

Montgomeryshire

Con

aye

Nick de Bois

Enfield North

Con

aye

Caroline Dinenage

Gosport

Con

aye

Jonathan Djanogly

Huntingdon

Con

aye

Stephen Dorrell

Charnwood

Con

aye

Nadine Dorries

Mid Bedfordshire

Con

aye

Jackie Doyle-Price

Thurrock

Con

aye

Richard Drax

South Dorset

Con

aye

James Duddridge

Rochford and Southend East

Con

aye

Alan Duncan

Rutland and Melton

Con

aye

Iain Duncan Smith

Chingford and Woodford Green

Con

aye

Philip Dunne

Ludlow

Con

tellaye

Michael Ellis

Northampton North

Con

aye

Jane Ellison

Battersea

Con

aye

Tobias Ellwood

Bournemouth East

Con

aye

Charlie Elphicke

Dover

Con

aye

George Eustice

Camborne and Redruth

Con

aye

Graham Evans

Weaver Vale

Con

aye

Jonathan Evans

Cardiff North

Con

aye

David Evennett

Bexleyheath and Crayford

Con

aye

Michael Fabricant

Lichfield

Con

aye

Michael Fallon

Sevenoaks

Con

aye

Mark Field

Cities of London and Westminster

Con

aye

Liam Fox

North Somerset

Con

aye

Mark Francois

Rayleigh and Wickford

Con

aye

George Freeman

Mid Norfolk

Con

aye

Mike Freer

Finchley and Golders Green

Con

aye

Lorraine Fullbrook

South Ribble

Con

aye

Richard Fuller

Bedford

Con

aye

Roger Gale

North Thanet

Con

aye

Edward Garnier

Harborough

Con

aye

Mark Garnier

Wyre Forest

Con

aye

David Gauke

South West Hertfordshire

Con

aye

Nick Gibb

Bognor Regis and Littlehampton

Con

aye

Cheryl Gillan

Chesham and Amersham

Con

aye

John Glen

Salisbury

Con

aye

Zac Goldsmith

Richmond Park

Con

aye

Robert Goodwill

Scarborough and Whitby

Con

aye

Michael Gove

Surrey Heath

Con

aye

Richard Graham

Gloucester

Con

aye

Helen Grant

Maidstone and The Weald

Con

aye

James Gray

North Wiltshire

Con

aye

Chris Grayling

Epsom and Ewell

Con

aye

Damian Green

Ashford

Con

aye

Justine Greening

Putney

Con

aye

Dominic Grieve

Beaconsfield

Con

aye

Andrew Griffiths

Burton

Con

aye

Ben Gummer

Ipswich

Con

aye

Sam Gyimah

East Surrey

Con

aye

William Hague

Richmond (Yorks)

Con

aye

Robert Halfon

Harlow

Con

aye

Philip Hammond

Runnymede and Weybridge

Con

aye

Stephen Hammond

Wimbledon

Con

aye

Matthew Hancock

West Suffolk

Con

aye

Greg Hands

Chelsea and Fulham

Con

aye

Mark Harper

Forest of Dean

Con

aye

Richard Harrington

Watford

Con

aye

Rebecca Harris

Castle Point

Con

aye

Simon Hart

Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire

Con

aye

Alan Haselhurst

Saffron Walden

Con

aye

John Hayes

South Holland and The Deepings

Con

aye

Oliver Heald

North East Hertfordshire

Con

aye

Chris Heaton-Harris

Daventry

Con

aye

Gordon Henderson

Sittingbourne and Sheppey

Con

aye

Charles Hendry

Wealden

Con

aye

Nick Herbert

Arundel and South Downs

Con

aye

Damian Hinds

East Hampshire

Con

aye

Mark Hoban

Fareham

Con

aye

George Hollingbery

Meon Valley

Con

aye

Philip Hollobone

Kettering

Con

aye

Adam Holloway

Gravesham

Con

aye

Kris Hopkins

Keighley

Con

aye

Gerald Howarth

Aldershot

Con

aye

John Howell

Henley

Con

aye

Jeremy Hunt

South West Surrey

Con

aye

Nick Hurd

Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner

Con

aye

Stewart Jackson

Peterborough

Con

aye

Margot James

Stourbridge

Con

aye

Sajid Javid

Bromsgrove

Con

aye

Bernard Jenkin

Harwich and North Essex

Con

aye

Gareth Johnson

Dartford

Con

aye

Jo Johnson

Orpington

Con

aye

Andrew Jones

Harrogate and Knaresborough

Con

aye

David Jones

Clwyd West

Con

aye

Marcus Jones

Nuneaton

Con

aye

Daniel Kawczynski

Shrewsbury and Atcham

Con

aye

Chris Kelly

Dudley South

Con

aye

Simon Kirby

Brighton, Kemptown

Con

aye

Greg Knight

East Yorkshire

Con

aye

Kwasi Kwarteng

Spelthorne

Con

aye

Eleanor Laing

Epping Forest

Con

aye

Mark Lancaster

Milton Keynes North

Con

aye

Andrew Lansley

South Cambridgeshire

Con

aye

Pauline Latham

Mid Derbyshire

Con

aye

Andrea Leadsom

South Northamptonshire

Con

aye

Jessica Lee

Erewash

Con

aye

Phillip Lee

Bracknell

Con

aye

Jeremy Lefroy

Stafford

Con

aye

Edward Leigh

Gainsborough

Con

aye

Charlotte Leslie

Bristol North West

Con

aye

Oliver Letwin

West Dorset

Con

aye

Brandon Lewis

Great Yarmouth

Con

aye

Ian Liddell-Grainger

Bridgwater and West Somerset

Con

aye

David Lidington

Aylesbury

Con

aye

Peter Lilley

Hitchin and Harpenden

Con

aye

Jack Lopresti

Filton and Bradley Stoke

Con

aye

Jonathan Lord

Woking

Con

aye

Tim Loughton

East Worthing and Shoreham

Con

aye

Peter Luff

Mid Worcestershire

Con

aye

Karen Lumley

Redditch

Con

aye

Mary Macleod

Brentford and Isleworth

Con

aye

Anne Main

St Albans

Con

aye

Francis Maude

Horsham

Con

aye

Theresa May

Maidenhead

Con

aye

Paul Maynard

Blackpool North and Cleveleys

Con

aye

Karl McCartney

Lincoln

Con

aye

Anne McIntosh

Thirsk and Malton

Con

aye

Patrick McLoughlin

Derbyshire Dales

Con

aye

Stephen McPartland

Stevenage

Con

aye

Esther McVey

Wirral West

Con

aye

Mark Menzies

Fylde

Con

aye

Patrick Mercer

Newark

Con

aye

Stephen Metcalfe

South Basildon and East Thurrock

Con

aye

Maria Miller

Basingstoke

Con

aye

Nigel Mills

Amber Valley

Con

aye

Anne Milton

Guildford

Con

aye

Andrew Mitchell

Sutton Coldfield

Con

aye

Penny Mordaunt

Portsmouth North

Con

aye

Nicky Morgan

Loughborough

Con

aye

Anne-Marie Morris

Newton Abbot

Con

aye

David Morris

Morecambe and Lunesdale

Con

aye

James Morris

Halesowen and Rowley Regis

Con

aye

Stephen Mosley

City of Chester

Con

aye

David Mowat

Warrington South

Con

aye

David Mundell

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale

Con

aye

Sheryll Murray

South East Cornwall

Con

aye

Andrew Murrison

South West Wiltshire

Con

aye

Bob Neill

Bromley and Chislehurst

Con

aye

Brooks Newmark

Braintree

Con

aye

Sarah Newton

Truro and Falmouth

Con

aye

Caroline Nokes

Romsey and Southampton North

Con

aye

Jesse Norman

Hereford and South Herefordshire

Con

aye

David Nuttall

Bury North

Con

aye

Stephen O'Brien

Eddisbury

Con

aye

Matthew Offord

Hendon

Con

aye

Eric Ollerenshaw

Lancaster and Fleetwood

Con

aye

Guy Opperman

Hexham

Con

aye

George Osborne

Tatton

Con

aye

Richard Ottaway

Croydon South

Con

aye

James Paice

South East Cambridgeshire

Con

aye

Neil Parish

Tiverton and Honiton

Con

aye

Priti Patel

Witham

Con

aye

Owen Paterson

North Shropshire

Con

aye

Mark Pawsey

Rugby

Con

aye

Michael Penning

Hemel Hempstead

Con

aye

John Penrose

Weston-Super-Mare

Con

aye

Claire Perry

Devizes

Con

aye

Stephen Phillips

Sleaford and North Hykeham

Con

aye

Eric Pickles

Brentwood and Ongar

Con

aye

Christopher Pincher

Tamworth

Con

aye

Daniel Poulter

Central Suffolk and North Ipswich

Con

aye

Mark Prisk

Hertford and Stortford

Con

aye

Mark Pritchard

The Wrekin

Con

aye

Dominic Raab

Esher and Walton

Con

aye

John Randall

Uxbridge and South Ruislip

Con

aye

John Redwood

Wokingham

Con

aye

Jacob Rees-Mogg

North East Somerset

Con

aye

Simon Reevell

Dewsbury

Con

aye

Malcolm Rifkind

Kensington

Con

aye

Andrew Robathan

South Leicestershire

Con

aye

Hugh Robertson

Faversham and Mid Kent

Con

aye

Laurence Robertson

Tewkesbury

Con

aye

Andrew Rosindell

Romford

Con

aye

Amber Rudd

Hastings and Rye

Con

aye

David Ruffley

Bury St Edmunds

Con

aye

David Rutley

Macclesfield

Con

aye

Laura Sandys

South Thanet

Con

aye

Andrew Selous

South West Bedfordshire

Con

aye

Grant Shapps

Welwyn Hatfield

Con

aye

Alok Sharma

Reading West

Con

aye

Alec Shelbrooke

Elmet and Rothwell

Con

aye

Richard Shepherd

Aldridge-Brownhills

Con

aye

Mark Simmonds

Boston and Skegness

Con

aye

Keith Simpson

Broadland

Con

aye

Chris Skidmore

Kingswood

Con

aye

Chloe Smith

Norwich North

Con

aye

Henry Smith

Crawley

Con

aye

Julian Smith

Skipton and Ripon

Con

aye

Nicholas Soames

Mid Sussex

Con

aye

Anna Soubry

Broxtowe

Con

aye

Caroline Spelman

Meriden

Con

aye

Mark Spencer

Sherwood

Con

aye

John Stanley

Tonbridge and Malling

Con

aye

Andrew Stephenson

Pendle

Con

aye

John Stevenson

Carlisle

Con

aye

Bob Stewart

Beckenham

Con

aye

Iain Stewart

Milton Keynes South

Con

aye

Rory Stewart

Penrith and The Border

Con

aye

Gary Streeter

South West Devon

Con

aye

Mel Stride

Central Devon

Con

aye

Graham Stuart

Beverley and Holderness

Con

aye

Julian Sturdy

York Outer

Con

aye

Desmond Swayne

New Forest West

Con

aye

Hugo Swire

East Devon

Con

aye

Robert Syms

Poole

Con

aye

Peter Tapsell

Louth and Horncastle

Con

aye

Edward Timpson

Crewe and Nantwich

Con

aye

Justin Tomlinson

North Swindon

Con

aye

David Tredinnick

Bosworth

Con

aye

Elizabeth Truss

South West Norfolk

Con

aye

Andrew Turner

Isle of Wight

Con

aye

Andrew Tyrie

Chichester

Con

aye

Paul Uppal

Wolverhampton South West

Con

aye

Edward Vaizey

Wantage

Con

aye

Shailesh Vara

North West Cambridgeshire

Con

aye

Martin Vickers

Cleethorpes

Con

aye

Theresa Villiers

Chipping Barnet

Con

aye

Charles Walker

Broxbourne

Con

aye

Robin Walker

Worcester

Con

aye

Ben Wallace

Wyre and Preston North

Con

aye

Robert Walter

North Dorset

Con

aye

Angela Watkinson

Hornchurch and Upminster

Con

aye

Mike Weatherley

Hove

Con

aye

James Wharton

Stockton South

Con

aye

Heather Wheeler

South Derbyshire

Con

aye

Chris White

Warwick and Leamington

Con

aye

Craig Whittaker

Calder Valley

Con

aye

John Whittingdale

Maldon

Con

aye

Bill Wiggin

North Herefordshire

Con

aye

David Willetts

Havant

Con

aye

Gavin Williamson

South Staffordshire

Con

aye

Rob Wilson

Reading East

Con

aye

Sarah Wollaston

Totnes

Con

aye

Jeremy Wright

Kenilworth and Southam

Con

aye

Tim Yeo

South Suffolk

Con

aye

George Young

North West Hampshire

Con

aye

Nadhim Zahawi

Stratford-on-Avon

Con

aye