Why Bristol West MP Stephen Williams supports the Lib Con coalition.

Many Redland residents may be wondering what Bristol West MP Stephen Williams thinks about the Lib Con coalition.

I for one, have been trying to secure an interview with him since the results of the May 6 election.

More recently, I've been seeing Tweets from people who have heard some of his thoughts on the controversial issue.

And yesterday, I received an email (as a Bristol West constituent) outlining his stance on things.

While I am not allowed to fully reproduce the email due to a Parliament disclaimer at the bottom, I can give you the gist of it.

The letter from Stephen Williams begins by thanking the recipient (of which there were thousands apparently) for raising their concerns about the coalition.

He goes on to say he believes that the set up will result in some very positive outcomes for the country as a whole.

"A huge responsibility rested with the Liberal

Democrats to either stand by and do nothing or else try to form a coalition

with either the Labour or the Conservative Party," he said.

He recognised that a coalition could have potentially been formed with the Labour Party but conceded that these talks hit a brick wall with the Lib Dems keen to ensure that some of their key policies were not ignored.

These include fair taxes, a fair start in life for every child, a more sustainable economy and a new open and fair politics with a more proportional voting system.

Mr Williams suggested that key Labour cabinet ministers were very negative in their approach to the negotiations which left the Lib Dems in a very difficult position.

He went on "Conservative Party offered a coalition in which the major Liberal Democrat policies on education, tax, the environment, banking reform, pensions and political reform would all be accommodated."

"The decision then was clear. The Conservative

Party were the only one to be offering a truly co-operative coalition

government."

He said he had been 'pleasantly surprised' by how accommodating Conservative Leader and Prime Minister David Cameron had been and dubbed the Labour Party 'un co-operative'.

He highlighted the fact that there will be a Referendum Bill on the Alternative Vote electoral system and said his party had also secured other policy changes in line with the Lib Dem manifesto.

These include the raising of the income tax threshold to £10,000, the scrapping of the ID card scheme and no third runway at Heathrow.

The full coalition document can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/332kykv" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/332kykv

And the original Lib Dem manifesto here: http://www.libdems.org.uk/our_manifesto.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.libdems.org.uk/our_manifesto.aspx

Mr Williams invites you to compare the two and make your own mind up but what do you think?

Do you reckon that the coalition a good thing for the country, like Mr Williams suggests? Or is it still a betrayal for both Lib Dem and Tory voters?

I have to say, reading his justification certainly helped me be a lot more sympathetic to the move but I guess only time will tell whether it can really work...