Cameron's new best friend

Truthtriumphs

Melanie, you were very good on Question Time tonight.
Well done!

Herbert Thornton

So what else is new?

A lot of people were, in a way, going through a similar sort of process in their own minds when wondering whether to vote for the Cameroons, UKIP or the BNP - and are still wondering whether they made the best choice.

donpatrico

Perhaps Clegg just felt like torturing the brute. You could hardly blame him.

Shaun Harbord

It's called politics. Why are you surprised? Heath did the same in 1974 and, in the same circumstances, Thatcher, Major and Blair would have done exactly the same as well.

Margaret Muller-Johansson

Grow Up Clegg!

GaryO

Its all in the past now.

Ian C

The history of what went on will be fascinating when it is written.

In the meantime we have a much more hopeful future under this curious combination - but there was little alternative and as Heseltine said last night on QT, the option of going it alone was a very grim one - and with the prsopect of getting nothing done immedately, leading to disaster for the Tories.

Cameron has hugged his enemy close. If the Coalition can get through 4/5 years and do most of what is necessary re the economy and political/electoral reform without giving in to the silly stuff invented by Lib Dem's forever in opposition, the next election will be between these two and Labour will have learnt of its irrelevance to England and a much larger chunk of Scotland and Wales.

So yes, highlight the incoherence. It is a coalition that will need to be kept real. But let's see what they can do. Give them a break.

Baron

Melanie, you are pushing too much. These are politicians, virtually everything goes; resenting Cleggy’s stringing it to get a better bargain, why? Cameron could have resisted. He didn’t because he needed the coalition badly, very badly. Going it alone, or letting the two left leaning tribes marrying would have been the end of his reign.

norman goldner

or alternatively clegg wanted brown to delay as the coalition agreement was not yet signed

this is actually more likely than clegg wanting more concessions

brown should have gone to the palace as soon as he realised that labour were unable to form a coalition - his dithering was unacceptable; what then happened was an insane rush for both labour and the conservatives

but it did make for fun TV!

SimonP

Will the Libservatives reverse the laws and social / political climate which locks up, sacks, marginalises and otherwise punishes Christians for deriving their morality from the Bible?

Harry-ca-Nab

What can you expect.

The alternative would have been two left wing parties having to clear up their own left wing mess.

Personally, like many people, I couldn't now care less. This country, and Europe, is screwed.

It is a case of dying quickly under Labour or over a longer time under the Tories.

Just watch this Hoover Institute video to see how we have only a few more generations before we are a part of the Caliphate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQELHJx8Vf0&feature=player_embedded

Neil Craig

This assumes you can trust what it says in the Guardian.

Mrs Gillian Duffy

Oh well, I'll try again. Seems the moderator didn't appreciate my tone.

Mel, you're just plain wrong. The LibDem/Labour deal was off a long time before Brown resigned.

We'll try that as a starter for 10.

Bob, son of Bob

Melanie Phillips - please mention in your blog in advance next time you are going to be on Question Time.

Thanks Harry-ca-Nab for the very interesting link

NH POL

You can see it all here, Bob Junior:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00sfwg8/Question_Time_13_05_2010/

E Hart

Melanie, all politicians deal - what's new? The big problem for Clegg is he failed to get the one policy concession he really needed - PR - his life assurance certificate. It is very difficult to see how under FPTP or AV that the Lib-Dems will be able to recover from this coalition. It's largely academic anyway as the Lib-Cons are taking us on the fast-track to economic oblivion. The shape of things to come will make the Thatcher years attractive by comparison. During the 1930s my grandfather had to take a 30% cut in salary and be pleased he still had a job. That's where we are heading. Double-dip recession with mass unemployment, business closures, more unemployment...
Lord Heseltine was saying it will be five years before we see any sign of improvement; he was being optimistic and generous.
The economic plan is fatally flawed. They are going to clobber growth in its infancy; add to the unemployed; undermine business through immediate public sector cuts; incur more benefit costs; lower tax and NI receipts; induce business failure; house repossessions; collapsing property prices; stifle growth through inceasing VAT and excise all at time when the average British household has debts that stand at 160% of income.

No wonder the palace appeared so attractive to Labour.

Mrs Gillian Duffy

@Harry-ca-Nab

The demographic apocalypse that you are promulgating is a projection as reliable General Election opinion polls.

All that is required is for the Government to send out the right market signals that don't discriminate against working, married couples and the British birth rate will multiply and we will not need high levels of inward migration to supply the workers to pay our pensions, if you are lucky enough to have one. To whit, flexible nursery vouchers that allow working couples to carry on earning which don't penalise families for working co-operatively.

charles soper

Clegg's alleged involvement in 362,550 profit on his Brussels home (according to the Times, FT and Guardian) hardly bodes well for transparency either.

Harry-ca-Nab

@ Mrs Gillian Duffy

Nice and sensible idea but it won't happen.

Since abortion on demand was made available 6 million British children have been "evacuated" and incinerated - a number that has some resonance.

Young couples cannot afford children AND a house of their own whilst benefit claimants/single mums get social housing on tap, as do recent immigrants who are happy on benefits and the "bob a job" child payments for their large families.

Generations of Feminist dogma and legislation too has played its role in making childbirth and motherhood something that young British women no longer see as a way to go - rather it is portrayed as old fashioned and "demeaning" to be a mum.

Mrs Gillian Duffy

@ Harry-ca-Nab

Things change if we make them change. The state needs to recognise the both the role of women in the workplace and create the conditions for a healthy family life. Then it needs to get out of the way.

There is so much that needs to be done in creating a sane family policy from the ashes of NuLab's slash and burn exercise. I hope that the Coalition has the vision, the optimism and the determination to chart a truly progressive course.

Sam ARMSTRONG

Bob, son of Bob
May 14th, 2010 1:36pm

You can see the whole edition of QT on BBC iPlayer, that's where I watched yesterday, as I too didn't realise Mel was on.

Mel was on top form on Thursday. She got several rounds of applause (from a studio of London lefties I might add) and spoke pure common sense.

Well done Melanie.

chrissie

Melanie,
I respect your opinions - generally. But I thought your diatribe against Nick Clegg when you appeared on "Question Time" to be ill-judged. The British people have been very badly served by the Bankers' greed and incompetence, big business and the last Government. Please give the Coalition a chance. Clegg purports to have had (and we should give him the benefit of the doubt) the nation's interests at heart here. And tempering the potential excesses (in terms of harshness) of the Tories is to be welcomed. The Coalition will probably fail, as do all Governments. But give it a chance.

Kennybhoy

Sam ARMSTRONG wrote:

"She got several rounds of applause (from a studio of London lefties I might add).."

Which speaks volumes in itself.

Daniel Maris

This article is founded on an unwarranted assumption. The idea that power-addict Brown would have gone to the Palace if he thought there was a hope in hell of Labour staying in power is ludicrous.

It is much more likely that Clegg was trying to persuade Brown to hang on until the negotiations with the Tories were absolutely finalised, so that there could be a seamless transition - perfectly reasonable.

Come on, this isn't playing fair with the coalition. Criticise their performance once they have performed, not before.

Mr. Mabutoh Afunfa

Clegg left wing liberal he is, I can see it from his face.

Miranda Rose Smith

Off Topic, but I don't see anyplace else to put this: I wish all the religious Jews on this website a joyous Shavuout.

Old Slaughter

Really Melanie, you are better than this.

If you were a terminally unelectable party and were presented for the first time in two generations the opportunity to alter the course of government, what else would you do other than collate a list of priorities and then pursue the angles to get the most of them addressed.

Who else would be able to hold their head up to their party and not do exactly the same?

People may speak of principle but perhaps his principles were based on enacting his policies. He followed them as far as possible.

You are scraping barrels here.

Derek BLADES

The vignette quoted by Melanie showed that Nick Clegg tried to get the best possible deal for the Lib Dems from either the Tories or Labour. Why am I supposed to get excited/indignant/alarmed or otherwise perturbed? I am genuinely puzzled.

Harvey

Unfortunately it would appear that Cameron wasted his free time at uni. Instead of joining the debating society ,he would have been better placed joining the poker school.

Once Clegg began openly playing kiss chase with Labour ,Cameron should have withdrawn from the protracted negotiations and allowed Labour to cobble together a stitch up with the Lib Dems which would have quickly become reminiscent of one of those stagecoaches in the Westerns where the wheel gradually falls off the spindle . Thats if widespread civil unrest had not already broken out at the thought of a second time unelected Brown remaining at the helm.

Brown would have had to go to the polls again, probably in October and would this time be wiped out rendering Labour unelectable for several generations.

Cameron missed the opportunity of a life time and ended up with a grateful but ever scheming spouse.

Cameron may have won the battle but he could have won the war

Harvey

Miranda

You can also wish the not so religious Jews a joyous Shavuout.

Cheese cake anyone?

Liz

Harvey. Quite possibly Dave realised he'd be ousted with little undue ceremony, if he'd done the dutiful thing. Self-interest reigns supreme.

just Louise

So much for a tough stance on terrorism from Dave and team!!!
His Home Sec. - the same Ms May who branded the Conservatives "the nasty party" and set out with Dave and Francis to change their image - will NOT be appealing the crazy ruling which allows two convicted Al Quaeda operatives, who planned bomb outrages, to stay in this country. From Al Beeb - sorry, the BBC - News website:
"The alleged leader of an al-Qaeda plot to bomb targets in north-west England has won his appeal against deportation.
A special immigration court said Abid Naseer was an al-Qaeda operative - but could not be deported because he faced torture or death back home in Pakistan.
Mr Naseer, 23, was one of 10 Pakistani students arrested last April as part of a massive counter-terrorism operation in Liverpool and Manchester.
Another student, Ahmad Faraz Khan, also 23, won his appeal on similar grounds.
Lawyers for the new Home Secretary, Theresa May, said they would not be appealing against the ruling, handed down by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission."

I reckon Brown's lot would have tried harder.

Verity

Both Harvey and Liz ... very astute points.

Margaret Muller-Johansson

"I don't understand" they don't like their muslim countries, they don't like Britain either, the home office should send this crooks back, sooner the better.

just Louise

And multi-flipper-Bercow has been duly ensconsed as Speaker (again) with the enthusiastic blessing of the House, including Dave - who cleared out the moat-and-duckhouse oldies from his benches but proved strangely reluctant to punish the other dodgy expenses claimants.

Archie

Well, indeed Miss Phillips, and did anyone else perchance hear this gem on the Nick Abbott prog on LBC FM on Sunday. It seems that a LibDem bigwig - one Lord Greaves(?) - spilled the beans about the Tory/LibDem "negotiations" and allegedly they were conducted less as hard nosed bargaining that the LibDems were expecting and more like them saying to the Tories 'open your wallets and repeat after me "Help yourself"'! Men against boys was the expression. The Tories were an absolute pushover and caved in to all their demands, so anxious were they to gain power. So much for all the talk of the Tories now consolidating their position! As I posted elsewhere this farago gives Cameron a heaven-sent chance to ditch what is to him obviously embarrassing right-wing ideology.

Bob, son of Bob

NH POL - thanks for the Question Time link. I enjoyed Melanie Phillips putting the Liberals in their place. They did not like it when she said something like she looks forward to them becoming an irrelevance again. The scoffing New Statesman man was pretty annoying interrupting all the time. I was not impressed by the audience.