Thanks David, Thanks Nick

So we now have to live with 20% VAT. I don't seem to recall that being in any manifesto, do you?

As a consumer will you notice it. Well your Starbucks coffee will go up by 6p a cup (at a guess) but will you notice it? I'll tell you who will notice it in a big way. People like me who run small businesses. Just suppose you have to find £10,000 a quarter in VAT. You'll have to find nearly £1,500 extra. Last year business rates shot up. It just makes it harder and harder to run a small business. Losing another £6,000 a year to the taxman when people are spending less, fuel costs are shooting up and margins are being hammered will be a killer blow to many small businesses, that two years ago were trading profitably.

What help has the small business sector had from the coalition? Absolutely nothing. What help have they had from Barnet Council? Absolutely nothing. What help have they had from the nationalised banks? Absolutely nothing. The majority of small businessmen vote Tory. What do they get in return for their support? Absolutely nothing. Gordon Brown was slagged off by all sides. Ill informed pundits said his temporary VAT to 15% made no difference. I know for a fact that it gave many small businesses a shot in the arm. It was probably the only change in taxation for the last 10 years that helped. Millions of people are going to be looking for jobs soon. As the public sector is being slashed, the only place to turn to is the private sector and small business provides a lifeline to millions. Clobbering it again is completely illogical.

Thanks David, Thanks Nick. For nothing.

Death by poison

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".