Is Chris Huhne proving coalitions don’t work?
Daniel Korski 10:56am
This country's not used to coalitions. So when we got one we were sceptical. When it
worked, we remained sceptical. When it worked really well, taking decisions that a majority Labour government dared not take, we began to come around to the idea. Most people seemed to accept that
they could live with a coalition; that it had a certain utility.
Now, we don't know what to think following the spat between George Osborne and Chris Huhne. Is this proof that the coalition cannot work or merely an example of the way coalitions work? There are certainly worse examples of inter-coalition war in countries that often have coalition governments. German Economy Minister Rainer Brüderle was riled at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos when the then Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg had breakfast with 20 economic leaders. "That's not done. There are clear cabinet jurisdictions," Brüderle complained and spent days lambasting his colleague before the world’s media.
In fact there are numerous examples. Belgium, former Prime Minister Wilfred Maartens once told me that he had been negotiating the question of putting Pershing missiles in his country in the White House, when he learnt his foreign minister had undercut his position in a separate negotiation with the US Secretary of State and gone public with the deal. I asked him what he had done. "Nothing", he said. "That's what government is like in our country."
What of the time when the French Interior Minister, Jean-Pierre Chevènement, declared his opposition to granting greater autonomy to Corsica, a policy promoted by coalition leader Lionel Jospin. Similar disagreements are a feature of Israeli politics: how else could Shimon Peres and Yitzak Shamir serve in the same government? In Holland, the new government is made up of the liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Christian Democratic Appeal, but is supported by Geert Wilder’s Freedom Party. These partners do not share a common outlook on the world, to say the least.
Of course, you don't need a coalition to have public and acrimonious disagreements between ministers: think Blair and Brown or Sarkozy and de Villepin or Kissinger and Rogers. That said, without a fully-fledged PR system it seems that coalitions in the UK will do the opposite of what Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems had in mind: provide incentives to turn brinkmanship into an art and posturing into a full-time occupation.
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Sally Chatterjee
May 4th, 2011 11:02am Report this commentThis isn't the problem of coalitions, it is a problem called Chris Huhne. He seems to enjoy the sound of his voice a little too much.
Geoffrey HARRISON
May 4th, 2011 11:06am Report this commentAnswer: Coalitions with Chris Huhne included prove nothing about coalitions that exclude him.
Dave B
May 4th, 2011 11:08am Report this commentI don't see how a 'fully fledged PR system' would change coalition politics. It would just become the norm.
whatawaste
May 4th, 2011 11:09am Report this commentNot at all. What Chris Huhne has proved is that he is not fit for public office. It is perfectly possible to disagree with a colleague without recoursing to throwing his toys out of the pram.
Perry
May 4th, 2011 11:09am Report this commentWell . . . depends on whom you co-alit with.
Can't see that very much ever could emerge or for any length of time with the limp dimwits, a group as liable to change course with the tide and wind direction as any flotsam.
And now, we have the spectacle of 'slebs' offering guidance on AV.
Mon dieu!
Ed P
May 4th, 2011 11:12am Report this commentIf Hoon/Huhne jumps ship, no-one will throw him a lifebelt - good riddance.
Vulture
May 4th, 2011 11:30am Report this commentClegg could buy himself a few more months in powerless office if he gave permission to Dave to sack Huhne who is quite clearly after his job ( again).
But its really all re-arranging the deckchairs on the good ship Titanic. Whatever happens the Lib Dems are doomed.
Stepney
May 4th, 2011 11:34am Report this commentWhat Chris Huhne is proving is what we've thought for a long time: that he's an egotistical man of limitless vanity and considerably modest talent.
The Lib Dem equivalent of Peter Hain but without the modesty.
Boyders
May 4th, 2011 11:46am Report this commentThis really is mostly about his girl friend. He is obviously very keen not to let her down but in his anxiety to be seen putting up a fight he is making an arse of himself. He certainly proves the point that coalition doesn't work if people like him are involved.
alexsandr
May 4th, 2011 11:50am Report this commentjust proves that the limp dems, who made a brand promosing everything to everyone, are unfitted for government.
Now cameron is stuck with the idiots, they are unsackable.
Mebbe cameron should call a snap election after the referendum result and put them out to grass - where they belong.
Private Schultz
May 4th, 2011 11:52am Report this commentNo, as others have said, Chris Huhne is just proving that he is incapable of operating in cabinet or governmnent - not the same as shooting your mouth off when you have very little power or influence, as the Lib Dems have had until now. You should rather concentrate on all the Lib Dems and Tories who have proved how well a coalition can work - Alexander for one.
David B
May 4th, 2011 12:57pm Report this commentCoalition, by its nature, means there are two parties who agree on something and disagree on others. If they can work together on things they agree on and compromise on things they mildly disagree on than it works. They can then let fly at each other on issues that they strongly disagree on. This does not mean the government will fall, it does not mean the coalition is coming apart, it means politics is working and issues are being debated, in public where we the voters can see what is happening. What we see on the AV debate is proof (I hope) that the coalitions honeymoon is over, and they are getting down to the work of doing what they can and letting politics decide on what they cannot agree on.
To violently disagree with the other parties policies is acceptable, to turn it into something personal is not. It also must not become a resigning issue or an issue to bring the government down, they are just issues that the coalition does not agree on, and these issues must not paralyse the whole country (let’s face it a change to our voting system is not life or death!!)
What Hume has done is wrong because he has made it personal. He must make his argument, if he win’s he win’s and if he loses, he loses. Simple as that. If he (and his party) cannot work on this simple basis, then the LIbDems cannot make coalition work, and if coalition does not work, then we must not change our voting system!!
charles hercock
May 4th, 2011 1:00pm Report this commentHuhne proves nothing
As I keep saying he is an immoral toad and after tomorrow the Coalition should start briefing about moral turpitude
Aubrey Herbert
May 4th, 2011 1:12pm Report this commentNo organisation, private or public sector, can thrive if the Board is shafting the CEO. That's the fault line of all coalitions. The German one has rather better manners than ours. I suspect we are witnessing the Huhne path to martyrdom, probably with Purnell-like timing tomorrow, or shortly thereafter.
It won't be on my list of 'Where were you when you heard the news' moments.
2trueblue
May 4th, 2011 1:12pm Report this commentChris Huhne is simply proving that he does not belong at the table. Cameron should pull his seat from under him.
Mr L
May 4th, 2011 1:27pm Report this commentI think Vulture has it right. Huhne is obviously positioning himself with the Party faithful in case Clegg jumps or is pushed.
What bothers me is that this clown is spending huge sums of public money - most of it wastefully (wind turbines come to mind).
JG
May 4th, 2011 2:02pm Report this commentWhat happenened to the convention of cabinet confidentiality?
denis cooper
May 4th, 2011 4:02pm Report this commentI repeat what I said here a couple of weeks ago:
"I think it's extremely unlikely that the coalition will break up over this, but if it does the fault will lie with Cameron both as Prime Minister and as Tory leader.
At the time of the only other national referendum we have had, the 1975 retrospective referendum on whether we should have joined the EEC, Prime Minister Wilson required his Cabinet colleagues to accept an "Agreement to Differ" which permitted ministers to campaign on either side but prohibited them from making personal attacks on each other.
Rather than follow that earlier example and pressing the Tory front organisation NO2AV "to avoid personalising and trivialising the argument", as Wilson put it, Cameron has encouraged them to do just that."
Andy Leeds
May 5th, 2011 9:05am Report this commentHuhne has proved he is unfit to hold office. He has also proved he is an ignorant git, but we all knew that anyway. Actually what he is doing is laying the ground for a coup. If I was Clegg I would get Cameron to sack him.
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