Need a new left? The Liberal Democrats fit the bill.

Today in the Guardian, James Purnell and Jon Cruddas talk about their new 'open left' project (www.openleft.com, www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree), along with famous lefties like Billy Bragg. They want a new definition of the left, and bemoan Labour's inability to follow the leftist agenda they, and presumably all the 'grass-roots' members who you always here are committed socialists, believe in. There's a simple solution to these concerns, and it doesn't involve a long and tortuous reform of the labour party. It's to vote Lib Dem.

Whatever prejudice people have about the LibDems, they are the party with the most re-distributive, the most radical, the most socialist, agenda currently; and have been since at least 1997. Jon Cruddas wants to tackle 'top-end issues such as tax avoidance or the imperative to take millions of low-paid people out of tax altogether'. These are two of the main policies the party has had in the last year. Other key policies include nationalising banks, which we were for a long time before Brown did it; and regulating financial markets so investors couldn't make billions by losing poor people's savings.

It would be quite suprising if Cruddas or Purnell switched allegiances: they're MP's and have invested in the party. But for all the Labour supporters who cling to the party despite its constant failure to match up to their beliefs, it's a lot easier. All they have to do is put a cross in a different box. The LibDems - the people and the policies - are much more in line with their beliefs. In ten years this might change, and Labour may again be the party further to the left. If that happened, I would personally have to question my allegiance. But until that happens, it does no good to carry on voting for the wrong party.

Need a new left? Well here's one they made earlier: the Lib Dems.