Coalition Falling Apart

The Lib Dem & Conservative Coalition is beginning to unravel. The proposed reforms to the NHS are a step too far for many grass root Lib Dems and now some MPs are beginning to voice real dissent. The backlash began at the Lib Dem Spring Conference, when delegates overwhelmingly defeated the leadership by rejecting their support of the reforms. Since then, MPs, councillors and ordinary party members led by Shirley Williams, have continued to demand pulling back from the reforms.

Norman Lamb - Clegg's right hand man

The clearest signs of a split came on live TV today, when Nick Clegg's right hand man, Norman Lamb, threatened to resign as Clegg's Parliamentary Private Secretary - if the reforms were passed. The proposals have been supported by Clegg, who is now becoming indistinguishable from his coalition colleagues in the Conservative Party. It hasn't gone unnoticed. Take a look at the stage at the Lib Dem Spring Conference. It has taken on a rather Conservative blue hue, compared with the traditional Lib Dem yellow backdrop of previous years.

Clegg feeling blue this Spring

How it used to be

The fact is that Clegg, like most politicians, has been seduced by the power of office. He has sacrificed the principles of the party and its supporters in order to be in power. The presence of the Lib Dems in government has secured the success of the most reactionary right-wing policies in a generation. It is not what Lib Dem voters expected or wanted. What is the point of being in power if all you can deliver is the complete opposite of what you stand for?

One seriously has to question whether what has transpired is so objectionable to Nick Clegg. He is to traditional Liberal Democracy what Blair was to traditional Labour philosophy - not very! Clegg was once a member of the Cambridge University Conservative Association and one has to wonder what has changed.

All politicians have signposts to their true intentions. Blair had his Good Friday Agreement moment (see video clip below) - when he suggested, and I quote... 'a day like today is not a day for soundbites, really. But I feel the hand of history upon our shoulders. I really do'. Blair gave the game away with that quote - he just couldn't help himself. It was clearly what was on his mind - he was obsessed by his place in history.  This was a historic moment - and he would be remembered for his role in making history. 'Go on' he was saying, 'remember me. I am making history'.

Clegg's signpost moment was flagged up when the result of the election was announced. Labour, a more natural ally of the Lib Dems on the centre left, had lost the election and did not have enough MPs to secure a definite coalition. That was going to take other participants - a broad coalition of like-minded centre-left parties. It would be difficult and there would be no guarantees. Instead, Clegg turned to the Conservatives, because - as he put it - they had achieved the largest number of MPs.

Maybe, in some universe somewhere, that made sense. As criteria for forming coalitions go, this one made sense only if your chief concern was being in some sort of power - to get a seat in the Cabinet - to be in the government. It certainly did not make any sense if you actually cared one fig about implementing Liberal Democratic policies. Going into coalition with the Conservatives guaranteed Clegg's real objective - to be in power. The price of that power was to put into government a party that most Lib Dems would rather sacrifice a leg rather than support.

Nick Clegg's priority should have been to seek a coalition with like-minded parties. The Lib Dems should have attempted to bring Labour and the Scottish Nationalists on board in a broad-left coalition, putting aside peripheral differences in favour of a focussed economic policy, based upon a Keynesian stimulus. It would have been well suited to restoring the economy in an emergency situation - and in keeping with the principles of Liberal Democracy. It would have been difficult - of that, there is no doubt. But it might just have saved the country from the devastating ideological cuts from this right-wing excuse for a government.

Spot the difference

It think that the game is up. I predict that the AV Referendum will be a disaster for the Lib Dems. I expect that such a loss will loose the binds and the coalition will finally fall apart. Given the state of the polls, Labour would almost certainly get back into power. The Lib Dems will be demolished for a generation. Clegg's lust for power will be their undoing and an opportunity to advance the wishes of their voters will have been lost. I hope he does the honourable thing, though I suspect that whatever happens in the coming months, Nick Clegg will still be sitting alongside his fellow Tories in the House of Commons. Probably as a Tory. Frankly, they are welcome to him.