When I started writing this blog, I made a decision to avoid national issues unless they were unavoidable. The issue of who Nick Clegg goes to bed with is unavoidable. I personally hope Nick Clegg does a full deal with the Conservative Party. PR, reform of the tax system, reform of education, Vince Cable as Chancellor and Nick Clegg as foreign secretary. Now this will all take two years. I would also like to see it be a part of the deal that Parliament will run for a fixed term of two years and David Cameron will under no circumstances call an election before or after two years.
This may surprise anyone who knows my political views, but there are good reasons for this.Most importantly, the economy is F*****D. From what I've seen only Vince Cable has the authority and intellect as chancellor to sort t out. I trust Vince Cable not to indulge in ill thought out slash and burn Tory economics. A Lib/Lab/everyone else deal will just have too many vested interests and the Nationalists will ensure a carve up which will bankrupt us all. London will foot the bill for scotland, wales and Northern Ireland to be spared the knife. However much I hate the Tories, that is not fair and will kill the UK. Why Clegg as foreign secretary. Quite simply because the Lib Dems have called the big issues better than the other parties, most notably Iraq. It will keep him out of the way and let Cameron actually be Prime Minister. Having said that I think two years is quite enough of such an arrangement. If they are all working to a fixed timetable, they won't be tempted to pick petty squabbles and call a crunch election the first time the polls look appealing.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a prospect I like. The thought that I spent five months campaigning for this kills me, but the Lib Dems have lost their political virginity and they now have a very nasty STD. Ultimately though, if this deal is done, there is one massive benefit. In their desperation to grab power by any means, the Tories will have taken poison. Any change to the voting system will make it harder for them to have an outright majority. This will make the possibility of a hard right Thatcherite Conservative Government a virtual impossibility. A centre right Coalition is a price worth paying of that. As to the performance of this Government. If Vince Cable saves the economy, we all win and the Lib Dems will get credit from the electorate. If he fails, then Cameron is Prime Minister and will be rightly punished.
One thing no one has mentioned at all. What happened the last time we had a Conservative Prime Minister in Coalition with Liberal cabinet colleagues? They saved the country. What happened next - a Labour Landslide victory. To quote Karl Marx "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce".
coalition of all the losers just isn't feasible. I hope what happened yesterday would make Tories offer a proper referendum on PR and with a 6 month deadline.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. Last week Clegg was telling the world he was a politician with integrity. Now we know he is a two-faced whore who will jump into bed with whoever gives him the most. The Conservatives should refuse to even talk to him again.
ReplyDeleteFor Cameron to do a deal with Clegg after the events of yesterday will rightly be seen by the public as the shameless pursuit of power for power’s sake. Let Labour and the LibDems form a coalition of all the losers (COAL). It will finish them both off!
It is better for Cameron to try run a minority government - as Harold Wilson did in 1974 - which would allow him to return to the electorate within the year seeking a clearer mandate.