Liberal democrats

Friday

Daniel Korski

Government, Russian-style

Правительство, в русском стиле Britain is being governed by a duumvirate. Britons may not understand how two-headed government works; but Russians should have no trouble at all. They have long been accustomed to a two-headed form of government. Perhaps at the next UK-Russian summit, the quartet of Cameron, Clegg, Putin and Medvedev can swap tips. Clegg’s importance to the Conservative-Liberal government will transform the previously honorific role of deputy Prime Minister. He will retain the right to fire Liberal Democrat ministers, if not directly then by threatening to remove their party whip. And, like on the continent, government re-shuffles, sackings and promotions will be negotiated between the Prime Minister and

Peter Hoskin

In the foothills of Brown’s debt mountain

After the sunshine of the Downing St rose garden, the gloom of the public finances. This morning’s newspapers are full of stories about the tax hikes and spending cuts that our coalition government is looking to introduce. The Sun and the Times dwell on yesterday’s forecast for a rise in VAT. The Guardian outlines possible cuts to middle-class benefits. And there’s plenty more besides. Two articles, though, are particularly indicative of the tensions that the government will face.  Interviewed in the Sun, David Cameron has to go on the defensive about tax rises; insisting that “The Conservative party is still a low-tax party, a tax-cutting party – and that’s in

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Clause 4 Moments

One of my favourite bloggers, Sunder Katwala, has a typically fine post asking if this coalition really is, as some of us think, Dave’s “Clause 4 Moment”. He makes a number of pertinent point, not the least of which is his contention that, actually, it’s Nick Clegg who has imposed such a choice upon his party. True, Cameron has forced change upon his party and, if it holds and works, the coalition may see some perceptions of the Tory party change but, in this instance anyway, that change has in turn been forced upon him even if I do think that Dave is happier with this arrangement than he would

Thursday

Peter Hoskin

The emergency Budget will be the true measure of this coalition

So who agrees with the economists forecasting that VAT will rise – perhaps to 20 percent – this year? I’m not normally one for making predictions but, as far as I can tell, this one seems pretty likely. Various politicos have been leaning towards this measure over the past year. And the new government will need quick ways to plug the fiscal gap while spending cuts filter slowly through the system. Problem is, it might make Vince Cable’s silly attacks during the election look even sillier in retrospect. Oh well. This opens up the wider question of how the coalition will rebalance our public finances. The Lib Dems have said

Daniel Korski

Let the reforms begin today

David Cameron and Nick Clegg want their coalition government to be seen as a reforming government. They can begin showing their seriousness today, as they fill out the junior ministerial posts in their government. Rather than appoint a slew of ministers, parliamentary secretaries etc, they should keep to one Secretary of State and one junior minister for each Department. Don’t listen to me; take the advice of such radicals as Sir John Major and Lord Douglas Hurd, who wrote in The Times in June 2009: “There are too many ministers. The total could be reduced by about a third. Only Cabinet ministers need parliamentary private secretaries. The Treasury should remain

Wednesday

Alex Massie

Playing for Keeps

So will it work? I’m more optimistic than Fraser and, unlike him, think that this really could, for reasons I’ll get to in a minute, be a “new era”. Of course, Fraser is not alone in questioning the long-term viability of the coalition. The excellent Steve Richards also thinks it cannae last. The sceptics may yet be proved right. Nevertheless, it strikes me that viewing this government as an awkward marriage of convenience between a left-wing party and a right-wing party is a mistaken or less than wholly useful approach. Is opposing ID cards a left-wing or right-wing position? Is the localism agenda owned by the right or by the

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Reasons for real hope amid the misplaced optimism

Today’s civil partnership between two men who look uncannily like each other will, I suspect, be remembered as a festival of misplaced optimism. Cameron overdid it a little, making out that this was his ideal outcome. It seems rude to point it out, but there were two podiums in that rose garden because he flunked the election (see Tim Montgomerie’s superlative report for details). The cost of his failure to win is having to do a deal with Nick Clegg. The country didn’t vote for a new politics: the Lib Dems did worse than last time, so polls show most voters would have preferred Cameron to have formed a minority

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The coalition agreement at a glance

I have just had a quick read through the coalition agreement and a few things jumped out at me. First, this new government will not abolish Lord Mandelson. The agreement states that while the parties are committed to a wholly or mainly elected Lords ‘likely there will be a grandfathering system for current Peers’.   The Tory manifesto commits a Conservative government to introducing ‘new rules so that legislation referring specifically to England, or to England and Wales, cannot be enacted without the consent of MPs representing constituencies of those countries.’ The coalition agreement has watered this commitment down significantly. The new government will merely ‘establish a commission to consider

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Liberal Moment

Well, so far this new government is doing rather well. It hasn’t passed any unecessary and intrusive legislation yet… One of the curiosities of the reaction to our new Liberal Conservative coalition has been the wailing and stamping of feet from the Guardian-left complaining that the Liberal Democrats have somehow betrayed progressivism or something. There are some on the left who refuse to accept that liberalism and the Labour movement are not the same thing and the former isn’t simply a subset of the latter.(See Mehdi Hasan for an excellent example of this comical thinking.) It’s true that there has often been an anti-Conservative majority but there’s also often been

The Spectator-Leader

Victory! | 12 May 2010

This magazine had hoped for a Conservative government. We have what is arguably the next best thing: a government led by David Cameron but supported by some political mercenaries put in the positions where they inflict the least harm — and reform-minded Tories in positions where they can do most good. The strategy is fairly clear: give Lib Dems more Cabinet crowns and chauffeurs than they could have dreamed of. Tie them in for five years, and have them defend Tory policy on the airwaves. And then, crucially, let them share the blame for the Irish-style spending cuts to come. Three appointments make this government, on balance, a victory for

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The new power broker

Ed Llewellyn, David Cameron’s chief of staff, is going to be one of the most influential people in Downing Street these next few years. He has already played a crucial role in the negotiation between the Tories and the Lib Dems; having worked for Paddy Ashdown in Bosnia and being friends with Nick Clegg’s wife from his Brussels days he has good relations with the Lib Dems.   Llewellyn has extensive links across government and it is telling that Sir Peter Ricketts, who was appointed as the national security advisor this morning, has worked with Llewellyn twice. He was Hong Kong desk officer at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office when

David Blackburn

Who is missing?

The Cabinet is taking shape, admittedly with one or two surprises and not all of them good ones. There is still a way to go, even though action has already been taken on the NI increase. I understand that Michael Gove will be education secretary, which obviously leaves the hugely impressive David Laws to find another brief. Work and Pensions is a possibility, a job that has also been earmarked for the equally impressive Philip Hammond. There is a very obvious lack of women – Sarah Teather is highly regarded on the Lib Dem side, probably more so than her counterparts on the Tory side. I’ve heard rumours that she’s

David Blackburn

The Cabinet takes shape

New Cabinet Ministers are arriving at their offices. I’ll update this as the day unfolds and we expect 5 Lib Dems to sit in Cabinet, but here’s the order of battle as it stands: Prime Minister: David Cameron Deputy PM: Nick Clegg Chancellor: George Osborne Foreign Secretary: William Hague Home Secretary (And Minister for Women and Equality): Theresa May Justice Secretary: Ken Clarke Business and Banking: Vince Cable Health Secretary: Andrew Lansley Education: Michael Gove Scottish Secretary: Danny Alexander Work and Pensions: Iain Duncan Smith Defence Secretary: Liam Fox Energy and Climate Change Secretary: Chris Huhne Chief Secretary to the Treasury: David Laws Attorney General: Dominic Grieve Transport: Philip Hammond

David Blackburn

Game on for the Labour leadership

The Coalition Cabinet remains unformed as yet – it’s rumoured that Chris Huhne is going to environment and Michael Gove and David Laws are out doing one another in the ‘I’ve no idea where I’ll be’ stakes. All the sounds are very positive but the contents of would-be ministers’ statements are careful, as doubtless final decisions are being made. The Labour leadership has its own spot on Westminster’s backdrop of delicate intrigue. Yesterday, Andy Burnham positioned himself as the candidate of sense, opposing Lib-Lab talks and acknowledging that Labour needed to reorganise itself in the aftermath of defeat. The preferred path to renewal is clearer this morning. Alan Johnson has

Peter Hoskin

The Deputy Prime Minister speaks

Just as the midnight oil burns out, the Lib Dems have finally agreed to a coalition deal with the Tories.  Speaking in Transport House, Nick Clegg confirmed that the parliamentary party and federal executive had “overwhelmingly accepted” the deal.  And … well, that was it, really.  There were few other specifics from the new Deputy Prime Minister.  No confirmations of other Cabinet positions, no firm indications about the Lib-Con policy trade-offs – just “thanks and admiration” for Gordon Brown, and a few assurances that the new government would work towards “fair” ends, even though ” there will, of course, be problems”.  I’m sure that full details will emerge in the

Tuesday

Fraser Nelson

The government takes shape

Here are some details of the LibCon deal, and my brief comments: 1. Clegg as Deputy PM. It’s a non-job, but a senior one – it means Clegg will take PMQs in Cameron’s absence, and will defend all those nasty cuts (sharing the blame for these cuts is the main rationale for coalition). This follows the 1999 Lib-Lab deal in Scotland, where Jim Wallace was made Deputy First Minister to everyone’s surprise. 2. Laws replaces Gove in education. This has not been confirmed yet, and I will not believe it until I see it. Of all of tonight’s moves this is potentially the most concerning – especially for all those

Peter Hoskin

David Cameron is Prime Minister

And he begins his tenure with an unfussy speech outside the door of No.10.  All of the main Tory touchstones were mentioned: the deficit, responsibility, political reform and social breakdown.  But this wasn’t a strident or triumphant performance.  Cameron went out of his way to pay tribute to Gordon Brown and his “long record of public service,” and to highlight the role that the Lib Dems will be playing in a “proper and full coalition”.  Almost with a dash of regret, Cameron noted that this coalition will “throw up all sorts of challenges”. Perhaps he’s had a first taste of those challenges with the protestors who greeted his entry, with

Alex Massie Alex Massie

A Text for Dave and Nick

Hold hands, gentlemen, and say together: Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope. And this, as I suggested a long 36 hours ago, is what it’s all about and why this agreement needs to be for a full parliament: [T]he stakes in this game are much higher than the question of who wins what and who gives what up in the next few days, weeks and months. There is – no, there may be – an opportunity for Cameron to redraw the map in

Peter Hoskin

The waiting game | 11 May 2010

Westminster is working itself into a frenzy as we wait for the official announcements, statements and rituals of state which will surely come in the next few hours.   The very latest is that Cabinet ministers are saying Brown will go either tonight or tomorrow morning; Vince Cable has suggested a Lib-Con deal is “very close”; and all the noises are about a full coalition, perhaps with Nick Clegg as deputy Prime Minister. But enough of that: we shall soon have something more concrete to grasp than all the rumours and helicopter imagery.  And it will be nothing less than the end of 13 years of Labour government.