Coalition Conferences

For the first time in living memory of any living Briton, a Liberal (of sorts) gets up at a conference and talks about being in government. As a natural conservative I would have preferred a fully-fledged Conservative government. However, the voters, ever more hurtling towards electoral pipolar disorder, plumped for a situation where no party held a majority in the Commons. So, in the face of dire financial circumstances, two parties agreed to a coalition government. But before it had started, the gainsayers tried to start to unravel the newly-knitted coat of two colours. "It won't last!", they cried, as if doom and gloom were far better bedfellows. The BBC is quite keen on seeing the coalition crash before the year is out. Questions abound on possible calamities, possible rifts. Who cares? THERE'S A CRISIS AT OUR DOOR!

Apparently 40% of the electorate are still moaning about not voting for a coalition. I sometimes wonder if some people should ever get near a ballot box. They seem to think an election is a kind of affirmation of their views and their views alone. David Miliband, celebral geek that he is, even suggested that the last general election was in some way an affront to his democratic decencies. Really?!!

Nick Clegg is right when he says that this coalition government must be judged on five years of achievement or failure. However, carping before anything has happened is just going to lead us into a self-inflicted catastrophe. With the bankers and corporate bonus baggers reaping undeserved pickings.