Posturing Or Government?

This morning is a rather dreary May day with some light rain and a cool breeze from the east. I read on the BBC web-site that some rail fares have quadrupled in a year - because the railway companies have changed peak hours to include more of each day. More volcanic dust is drifting across from Iceland and Spanish air space is closed. Iceland - with a population of just over 300,000 and some dodgy banks - has been a troublesome country over the years. Remember the cod wars? Their volcanoes pose a continuous threat - it is even suggested that a volcano in 1787 and 1788 produced so much dust that harvests across the whole of Europe were affected, leading to hunger among the poorest people, increased deaths and, in France, the French Revolution. The dust seem to be by-passing us at the moment.

On the other hand, the dust of our General Election seems to be settling - slowly - although we still do not have a new government. Tories and Lib-Dems are carrying on discussions to see if they can form an alliance of some kind. There are reports coming out of opposition inside the Tory Party as well as from the Lib-Dem camp. Much seems to revolve around the matter of electoral reform. The Lib-Dems want it; the Tories do not. I can understand this but if we assume that the Lib-Dems do not go into a coalition because of this then they risk electoral oblivion and - I would argue - they will deserve it. As Harold Macmillan said many years ago, the biggest problems he had to deal with as prime minister were "Events, dear boy, events!" That is the situation for the Lib-Dems. There is no point in sticking for electoral reform if they are not part of a coalition. They can agree to back the Tories on specific issues without an alliance but this really amounts to responsibility without power and it will not make the Tories change the electoral system. In any case, a change in the electoral system will not matter until we have another general election, which, with a stable government, will be four years off. They can argue the merits of their case and, surely, a commission of all parties with a set timetable leading to either confirmation of the present system or a change - approved via a referendum - is an acceptable step forward. Nick Clegg has to trust David Cameron. If he does not, he needs to say so and give up on an alliance and on giving the country a stable government. If the Lib-Dems chicken out of this one they will exacerbate the UK's economic problems and after struggling on for some months, David Cameron will have another election and the Lib-Dems risk annihilation. I will repeat: the two parties have a duty to the country to form a stable government. Together they have the support of 60% of the electorate and, if they believe in democracy, then they have to come together. It is of no use waffling on about principles if you are never in a position to get anything done. It may be that some in each party are just posturing - hopefully, most of the beans and sandals wing of the old Liberals should now have gone to the Greens - but our economic woes do not allow for posturing. We need action by a stable government. Tories and Lib-Dems together would have a majority in parliament of 76, which is more than adequate and would allow for individual groups to disagree on specific bits of legislation without bringing down the government. We will probably know the best - or the worst - by Monday.

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