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Obligatory Political Post
May. 8th, 2010 11:47 amI had a great time at the studios of Spark FM on Friday morning, taking over the election analyst role during the Breakfast Show, after the overnight team had all retired to sleep (in some cases, in the studio next door). Thanks to presenters Anthony and Kate and producer Craig for making me feel welcome. Of course, I completely trampled all over their regular format, even getting to set the questions for their occasional trivia quiz, Boy vs. Girl. In which we discovered that Kate had never heard of Screaming Lord Sutch, and guessed that he was a Labour politician. I was very good and didn't quite corpse...
So, now we are into the post-election discussions, and the Lib Dems are facing some hard choices about potential coalition partners:
Labour
Attitude to PR: All of a sudden, wildly in favour. Immediate legislation in first Queen's Speech, without a referendum*
Other policies: Fairly similar general philosophy, significant differences in detailed proposals.
Conservatives
Attitude to PR: Willing to have an inquiry to discuss whether, in the fullness of time, at the appropriate juncture, maybe a referendum on PR could be held. If it is, we reserve the right to campaign against.
Other policies: Very different general philosophy, occasional similarities in detailed proposals
* I think this is what they are saying. The lack of a referendum is actually a key point, since I don't feel the British electorate are (quite) ready to vote for PR in a referendum yet.
When you lay it out like that, it doesn't become a very difficult dilemma. What would have been more interesting would have been if the positions had been reversed, and the party willing to give way on PR had been the one which was ideologically further away.
Add to the mix the fact that some natural Labour supporters are actually very positive about a coalition, rather than just regarding it as a necessary evil. See, for instance, this post from Roz Kaveney, in which she views a coalition deal as a form of redemption for the Labour party, allowing it to jettison some of its more negative baggage, like ID cards and the legacy of the Iraq war.
So, although Nick Clegg is no doubt interested to hear what David Cameron has to say, I suspect that he has Labour Party HQ's telephone number already set up on his mobile phone's speed-dial. I expect negotiations with the Conservatives to break down either later today or tomorrow, and for Peter Hain (former President of the Young Liberals) and Lord Adonis (former special advisor to Paddy Ashdown) to be quickly mobilised to seal a Lib-Lab deal.
So, now we are into the post-election discussions, and the Lib Dems are facing some hard choices about potential coalition partners:
Labour
Attitude to PR: All of a sudden, wildly in favour. Immediate legislation in first Queen's Speech, without a referendum*
Other policies: Fairly similar general philosophy, significant differences in detailed proposals.
Conservatives
Attitude to PR: Willing to have an inquiry to discuss whether, in the fullness of time, at the appropriate juncture, maybe a referendum on PR could be held. If it is, we reserve the right to campaign against.
Other policies: Very different general philosophy, occasional similarities in detailed proposals
* I think this is what they are saying. The lack of a referendum is actually a key point, since I don't feel the British electorate are (quite) ready to vote for PR in a referendum yet.
When you lay it out like that, it doesn't become a very difficult dilemma. What would have been more interesting would have been if the positions had been reversed, and the party willing to give way on PR had been the one which was ideologically further away.
Add to the mix the fact that some natural Labour supporters are actually very positive about a coalition, rather than just regarding it as a necessary evil. See, for instance, this post from Roz Kaveney, in which she views a coalition deal as a form of redemption for the Labour party, allowing it to jettison some of its more negative baggage, like ID cards and the legacy of the Iraq war.
So, although Nick Clegg is no doubt interested to hear what David Cameron has to say, I suspect that he has Labour Party HQ's telephone number already set up on his mobile phone's speed-dial. I expect negotiations with the Conservatives to break down either later today or tomorrow, and for Peter Hain (former President of the Young Liberals) and Lord Adonis (former special advisor to Paddy Ashdown) to be quickly mobilised to seal a Lib-Lab deal.
