Category Archives: coalition

The One That Is Watching It Fall Apart. . .

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So we’re what? Two months into the coalition? Looks like we’d better reach for the polyfilla ’cause the cracks are looking quite bad already.

Firstly the Tory media seems to have turned on the new coalition new politics big society government, with the Mail, that normally most reserved and austere publication flying into an uncharacteristic fit of rage. Concerned looks over at Conservative Home.

Then of course we’ve David Davis’ little attack in the FT this morning (I’ve taken it from the Metro, as the FT is as dull as ditchwater, I’m also unsure if it’s part of the whole charging for reading on the intermong thing).

The Tory MP was dining with a group of around a dozen non-politicians at a wine bar in Southwark on Thursday and was unaware that several journalists from the Financial Times were eating at a nearby table.

Of course, of course. He was totally oblivious to the fact that there could have been some reporters from the FT sat in a pub which is as close as next door to their offices as makes no difference.

Despite his back bench status Davis is a ‘big beast’. He could perhaps be considered unlucky to lose the leadership election to Cameron. His stand on the 4500 days detention (or however long it was) was a vainglorious shot across the bows of his party leader and there is little doubt that he represents the majority constituency of the Tory party. That majority are now looking at the Blair lite leader they have, his relationship with Clegg, and the fact they’re spending a lot of time telling everyone what great mates they are. It does look a little like Blair and Brown, doesn’t it?

The difference between Labour and the Tories is that the Tories can get rid of their leader in the time it takes to prepare a bowl of cornflakes.

We’ve also seen a lot of Douglas Carswell since the election, and I don’t think that is any accident either. Davis has been setting his peices up waiting for the right time. And where Carswell is, you can be sure Hannan isn’t far behind. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t some escape route from Brussels to Westminster set up.

The more Libertarian wing of the Conservative party must be looking with unease at this ‘Big Society’ plan Cameron has. The way he talks about ‘allowing’ us to take control. He talks about the importance of voluntary service. The first I take exception to, we don’t need his permission. The mark of the 20th century politician, a complete incomprehension of the concept that he is there to do our bidding. We are not there to do his. The second I agree with wholeheartedly. But then we have the mark of the 21st century politician, ‘it’s voluntary, but if you don’t do it voluntarily, we’ll make sure you’re obliged to do it.’ Nice.

There seems to be concern that Cameron is pandering to the 50 or so LimpDim MPs rather than the 200 Tory MPs. Well, what did you expect? Cameron wants Cameron to be in power, not the Tories, they are just a convenient vehicle for this. He’s shown his true colours with the immasculation of the 1922 committee and the blocking of the election of Bill Cash to the chair of the European Scrutiny Committee.

No, there’s very little change here.

But there is an important one. Unlike the Labour party membership, the Tories can remove their leader with great ease, and traditionally will do so with great relish. Not for them the dirty inter-factional infighting we’ll see in the run-up to the Labour leadership election. It will be clean and surgical.

Let’s hope this coalition breaks up. Let’s hope that the LimpDims are hugely damaged. Let’s hope that Cameron is left twisting in the wind. Let’s hope that Labour have the foresight to elect the ridiculous Abbott or the twisted and poisonous Balls to the leadership, because then we’ll have three completely unelectable parties.

I said a couple of years ago that the election after next will be the important one. Well that election will now be the next one. Looks like my predicition could be along the right lines.

The One That Is Progressive. . .

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Charlie ‘Mine’s a Double’ Kennedy has been banging on about it. Some NuLab goon on Sky News this morning used the word about a thousand times in the space of one interview this morning.

It would appear that Labour are progressive. Lib Dems less so and the Conservatives not at all.

Kennedy felt so strongly about progressive wossname that he very nearly summoned the courage to vote against the coalition, but then decided to not vote at all. That’ll show ‘em.

I’ve got a question, what the hell does progressive actually mean? Let’s have a look at the definition on dictionary.com, shall we?

making progress toward better conditions; employing or advocating more enlightened or liberal ideas, new or experimental methods, etc.: a progressive community.

Well, that clears that up. See you next time.

Oh, no hang on. That doesn’t clear it up at all.

Making progress towards better conditions. For whom? In what area? Employing or advocating more enlightened or liberal ideas. Hmmmmm.

It’s a bit wishy-washy, a bit vague, isn’t it? I suppose I can only approach it from my point of view, you could well have a different perspective on what constitutes better conditions and enlightenment and liberalism.

What would constitute better conditions and enlightenment and liberalism for me?

For a start the rolling back of the interference of the State in my life would be nice. I’d like to see the ID card scheme scrapped and would love to see the database that went with it loaded up onto a rocket and fired into the sun. That would be an improvement in conditions for me and seems a good deal more liberal than that which went before it.

I wonder if we’ll ever have a government that will do that? What? We already do? But that can’t be true because Kennedy and Labour are telling me that this government is not progressive. My, I’m getting confused.

Have I misunderstood the meaning of the word liberal?


(often initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform.

Oh, for crying out loud, we’re just going round in circles here. What’s this?

favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.

Well, reading the second section of the definition of liberal, it would seem to me that the last Labour government (please, God, let it be the actual last Labour government we ever see) were not at all liberal, not at all progressive. In fact I would state that they were the antithesis of progressive and liberal, they were regressive and illiberal. They took freedoms away from us and subjected us to more control. That’s not progressive or liberal at all.

Kennedy says in his Observer article:

Like many others I was keen to explore the possibilities of a so-called “progressive coalition”, despite all the obvious difficulties and drawbacks.

Like the complete failure of the Labour party to safeguard our liberties, indeed they attacked them and removed them at every opportunity. I would have thought that what with you being the former leader of a party with the word ‘Liberal’ in their title that you would have seen them as a anathema to your ideals. Or is that you aren’t really that Liberal?

Don’t bother answering that one, I know it already. Numerous conversations with Lib Dem members where I tried to work out the common ground between the Libertarians and Lib Dems have shown me that there is precious little common ground. Liberty to them seems to mean liberty to make decisions about what everyone should be doing and how they should do it, with lots of talk about people not getting left behind.

Oh dear, I’m approaching this from the wrong perspective aren’t I? The only thing they want to progress to is a situation where they are in charge and telling us what to do, rather than just standing behind the Tories going ‘yeah!’ when they tell us what to do. That’s what they mean by progressive, isn’t it? Getting from here to there.

So for the next three, four, five years we’re going to have this argument about centre left vs. centre right, and we’re going to hear the word ‘progressive’ spat out from the Labour benches, from the Mirror and the Groan and the left wing blogosphere and twatterfeeds.

Progressive will become the new Nazi-Racist-Bigot, it’ll cease to have any meaning as Labour and the Lib Dems strive to show that they are totally different from the Conservatives without actually being significantly different. The Milibands and Balls will claim to be the progressive candidates for the leadership of a progressive party in this new era of progressive politics.

One thing is for sure, they’re all the same, they will demand our compelte obedience and adherence to their ‘vision’ (God I hate that word) and total submission to their will.

The One That Doesn’t Hate It. . .

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It’s a rum old thing, this hung parliament malarkey, and amongst my circle its causing quite a stir.

First there are my Lib Dem friends who obviously believe in their ideals more than they want to be in power. A few of them are very angry that Clegg and co have decided that having a chance to pull the levers and press the buttons is worth a bit of compromise and have resigned their membership. Interestingly, those I have spoken to would have done the same had the ‘rainbow alliance’ taken shape as well.

A few of my Labour supporting friends are purple with rage. I’m having trouble finding out what it is precisely that has angered them so. They’re certainly angry because they lost (and yes, I know nobody won, but that doesn’t mean Labour didn’t lose), but that anger seems to be divided between Brown, the electorate and the Tories and Lib Dems (the best suggestion I’ve heard for a collective name is Dem Tories).

Brown because of his performance both as Prime Minister and during the campaign. There seems to be a feeling that he let the side down, but, crucially, that he should still somehow be Prime Minister. Weird.

They’re angry at the electorate for voting for the other parties, and this is one of the more telling effects of New Labour’s 13 years. There is this disbelief that people would dare to oppose the bright new dawn which has spectacularly failed to break for the last decade. Note, that isn’t that people would disagree with it, but that they would have the temerity to actually go out and vote against it. How dare they? Stifling dissent and discourse may work within the party, but you can’t control the public, try as you might.

The Lib Dems are now seemingly the class traitors. Setting up camp with the Tories? I can almost hear the phrase ‘after everything we did for them’ leaving their lips. The high pitched whine of ‘it’s not fair’ will not be far behind. Labour still had stuff to do, visions to wossname and social ‘justice’ to . . . whatever it is you do with social ‘justice’, reject it if the election is anything to go by. It’s almost as if the Lib Dems have been viewed as the Labour second XI and their cosying up to the Tories is obviously a monumental betrayal.

Most opprobrium has been kept for the Tories. Thatcher. Poll Tax. Fox Hunting. Poshness. Private Schools. The Miners. All that guff. It doesn’t matter, in politics it is ancient history, it’s akin to refusing to go to Rouen because of the Norman conquest, it’s an irrelevance now. What Labour supporters fail to understand is that non-members or supporters don’t share their blind, violent hatred of the Tories. From where the average joe is sitting, the Tories are marginally better than Labour because they’ve not spent the last 13 years fucking about with stuff. If you say ‘Conservatives’ to Average Joe, he isn’t going to spit on the ground, or cross himself, or stand in a circle of salt. His bottom lip isn’t going to start trembling and he’s not going to wet himself in panic and run off to mummy. Unfortunately for Labour, their whole campaign was based on telling people that the Tories are really nasty. Well, we know that, but you failed to persuade us that you are less nasty. The fact of the matter is that Labour lost the support of the public. It was not taken by the Conservatives, or Rupert Murdoch or climate change deniers or anything else. You simply trod on our toes too many times.

So how do I feel about this coalition?

Well, it’s a stitch-up, but that’s the reality of the system we have. I don’t like it, I’d like it to change, but we are where we are.

What have we lost? Very little as far as I can make out. Mandleson no longer has any power. That is a very good thing. One of the most shambolic and unhinged leaders in this country’s history is himself history, another tick in the good column. The most illiberal, paranoid, controlling and devious government we’ve had has been sent packing. Another good tick.

I’m struggling to think of things to put in the bad column under the heading ‘things lost’.

What have we gained?

Not a great deal. I’m hopeful that perhaps the Lib Dems will act as a brake on the Tories more outlandish policies, and vice-versa. A stable government is fine, a strong government is always bad news for people that aren’t that government’s mates. So a tick in the good column, we’ve a stable yet weakened government. That’ll do for now.

It would also appear that we’ve gained a Great Repeal Act. ID cards and the odious database that went with it and HIPS seem to be the first things to go. Hopefully the power of the pseudo-plods and inspectors will be next, along with the retention of the DNA of the innocent. Another plus in the good column.

I’ll be more than happy to see these nasty, grubby measures gone, but don’t expect me to be high fiving Dem Tories, this is not a high virtue, this is doing stuff that I would expect any party (except the BNP and Labour) to remove from the statute as a matter of urgency. The fact they seem to want to do this is pleasing, but I’m not about to give a good deal of credit for something that you should be doing as a matter of course. It would be like giving an OBE to someone because they gave their kids some dinner.

So, early indications are that I can live with this government, I don’t hate it. Yet. There’s plenty of time and policies to come that can change that though.