Oaten runs out of ideas, tries Liberalism

Mark Oaten has finally discovered the virtues of Liberalism, it seems. From the Guardian:

Mr Oaten also warned that some Lib Dems were failing to live up to their liberal belief in individual freedom by falling in with "nanny state" proposals to ban smoking or outlaw foxhunting.

He said: "A lot of my colleagues would support a ban on smoking, but as a liberal I'm uncomfortable with that, so I do challenge the party to be tough about its liberal values and stick to them even when it challenges something we believe in."

Glad to see you come round to our point of view, Mark. I would be a bit more impressed if you hadn't

• Tried every other political ideology except Liberalism en route.
• Lectured the radical liberals in the Party about how unelectable they were.
• Waited until you were running for the leadership of a liberal party to discover Liberalism.

You never know, if you hadn't taken so long you might not have been reduced to getting rent-a-mob MP's to sign your nomination papers.

Mark, even the Conservative Party abandoned Conservatism a month before you did. So I'm still not voting for you.