A series of sad events

While I have been away on holiday, two things have dominated the news: the appalling incident in Cumbria and the resignation of David Laws.

Obviously, the first of these has little bearing on the coalition other than meaning the news media’s spotlight will be firmly turned away from Westminster in the coming days. However, one test of the liberalism of the new government will be the reaction to the tragic events in Whitehaven.

Gun laws in Britain are strict. Indeed, the banning of Olympic training in many shooting events suggests that things have gone too far. You cannot legislate for people going totally off the scale. Fortunately, these events only occur once in many many years. Stopping the legitimate use of firearms due to these events would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

The David Laws mini-scandal is interesting.

While many will feel sorry for him, the extent to which he portrayed himself as an expenses saint in the general election campaign prevents me from doing so to any great extent.

He knew full well that he had opted not to comply with the changes to the rules on paying rent to partners in order to keep his place in the closet. He could have quietly stopped making the claims or, had he been so desperate to keep his sexuality under wraps, as he had every right to do so, he could have rented a small flat for a similar amount as his base.

By choosing to continue flagrantly breaking the rules, while making himself out to be whiter than white in some astounding (in hindsight) leaflets, he has made his position in Government untenable.

What is staggering is the arrogance of the political class that allows them to claim to be aiming to clean up Parliament while suggesting Laws should not have resigned and that he’ll be back in Government shortly.

If he’s back within a year, the coalition will prove that their statements on probity in public life are nothing more than rhetoric.

An unnecessary step for the PM

The worst wounds are those that are self-inflicted. David Cameron has given himself a nasty slug in the shoulder that may well give him gyp in the cold months to come. While he basks in the afterglow of an impressive formation of the Lib/Con coalition, he will feel invincible. But he could have just sewn the seeds of his own downfall.

The bid to include Ministers in the 1922 is a naked grab at controlling the Tory backbenchers. The 1922 is the talking shop, or grumbling house, that makes Tory timeservers, has-beens and never-will-bes feel better. It lets them feel they have power behind their moaning.

The key is that rebellion can still forment, whether or not Cameron has his yes-men in the Committee room. It is obviously not yet clear how many of his backbenchers are now undeclared enemies of the Prime Minister, but it is not fanciful to suggest they may, given the pitch to the centre that the coalition documents set out, soon outnumber the Liberal Democrats on the government benches.

The 1922 saw off the quiet man. They may decide in the future to go back to their roots, and see off another coalition.

While I remain in favour of the vast majority of the coalition programme, I can’t help feel that further aggravating already uneasy right-leaning backbenchers is a major error.

Ashes to Ashes - Dave goes back to the 80s in Scotland

David Cameron's visit to Scotland highlighted one of the main reasons why the Tories failed to achieve a majority in the general election. Scotland.

The chants of: ‘Tory, Tory, Tory. Out, out, out.’ And ‘Eton toff, fuck off’ were enedifying to say the least and proved that the anti-Tory tribalism is still strong north of Hadrian’s Wall.

Why is this?

Even after the Poll Tax debacle, John Major actually GAINED Aberdeen South in 1992 as well as reversing Nicol Stephen’s by-election victory in 1991. So to blame Mrs Thatcher for the continued failure of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party is far too simplistic.

Annabelle Goldie’s team need the coalition to be a success. If not, they may be better off following the plans advocated by many of demerging from the London party.

Of course, this blog highlights the challenges facing the coalition and it is clear in the furious, if twee and antiquated, protests that the Lib Dems have taken a huge risk in tying themselves formally to the Conservatives.

David Cameron boasted that the coalition got more votes in Scotland than the SNP. Whether that will be true in 2011 remains to be seen.

European difficulties should help the coalition thrive

One major potential pressure point for the newborn Government is the vastly different attitudes to the European Union; both of their MPs and, indeed, of their supporters and activists around the country.

On paper, it looks like the Tory Eurosceptics have won the day; there will be no further transfer of powers to the EU.

But the EU has far more pressing concerns than the bureaucratic navel-gazing of the past at the moment. The financial crises are so serious, and will require such a huge investment of time and money, that there will be no attempts to corral more from the UK any time soon.

Further European integration and the expansion of the eurozone has been firmly placed on the back burner. It is highly unlikely to become an issue in the next few difficult years.

The financial problems in Europe are obviously very concerning, but they also help glue the two parts of the coalition together as they remove a major policy difference from the table.

Question Time on Thursday night was a fascinating insight to the problems that the people without the centre ground have with the coalition Government. Both the left and right have a strong intolerant streak.

But Simon Hughes showed some obvious discomfort and it is clear that he is concerned that aligning his party with the Conservatives has serious long-term risk for his party. He is right, of course, but it is in his interests to make the coalition work. That way he can sell the message of new politics to his voters in Sou

Money where their mouth is

The new Government will have to ask people to tighten their belts.

It is therefore only right and proper that they first show they will be joining in. A 5% pay cut and a Parliament-term pay freeze is a great gesture.

Today's press was warm and today's actions should take the goodwill through to the weekend.

Another few weeks of decisive and positive action, with the allied noises of co-operation and they will get to the summer recess.

This just might work!

A New Beginning

It seems likely that over the next few days, a full coalition Government will have been created.

British politics has a new comedy double act at the top.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqh8e4W5PtM

Will the policy of having every department being run as a partnership between Lib Dem and Conservative ministers work?

Only time will truly tell.

But for the good of the country, it can only be hoped that Coal Is King is a relevant blog title for some years to come.

Success could change British politics for the better.