September is the cruellest month(最残酷的月份) for political commentators because it is when something has to be said about the Liberal Democrats. They are a play without a plot(没有情节的戏), a chorus line of seemingly endless “don’t knows”(一排没完没了的“不知道”). Their leader, Ed Davey, recently warned that “we’re in the fight of our lives(一生中最关键的斗争)” to defend the values of liberty and equality. Really? How can this be when Davey is becoming about as relevant as Count Binface?(戴维都快变得和“垃圾桶伯爵”一样无关紧要了，这怎么可能呢？)
对政治评论员来说，九月是最残酷的月份，因为每到这时，总得对自由民主党说点什么。他们是一出没有情节的戏，是一排似乎永远在说“不知道”的合唱队。他们的领袖埃德·戴维最近警告说，为捍卫自由和平等的价值观，“我们正在进行一生中最关键的斗争”。真的吗？戴维都快变得和“垃圾桶伯爵”一样无关紧要了，这怎么可能呢？
The Lib Dems’ central predicament(困境) has remained unchanged for a century, ever since the decline of David Lloyd George(英国前首相劳合·乔治) and the rise of the Labour party. There is simply no space in Britain for a centrist party when so little divides the big parties and they broadly stick to the prevailing ecomomic orthodoxy.(当两大党分歧甚微、大体上遵循 prevailing 经济正统时，英国根本没有中间派政党的生存空间。)
自由民主党的核心困境一个世纪以来从未改变，自大卫·劳合·乔治衰落、工党崛起以来便是如此。当两大党分歧甚微、大体上遵循 prevailing 经济正统时，英国根本没有中间派政党的生存空间。
But there is now a ray of hope(一线希望). One of the newer developments in British politics is the rise of single-issue(单一议题的) parties. In Scotland and Wales, the Scottish National party and Plaid Cymru(威尔士民族党) demand independence from the UK, while in England the Reform party(英国改革党) has dedicated itself to curb(限制，抑制)ing immigration.
但现在出现了一线希望。英国政治较新的发展之一是单一议题政党的崛起。在苏格兰和威尔士，苏格兰民族党和威尔士党要求从英国独立，而在英格兰，改革党则致力于限制移民。