Dave’s coalition baby is thriving

By James Valentine

Political commentators and activists are preoccupied with the question of how long the coalition will last. Labour has been encouraged by an influx of new members, at least some of whom are former Lib Dems, and Ed Miliband, for example, is effectively picking up some of this support. There’s already a minority, like the clever people at Social Liberal Forum, who talk in very similar language to Labour.

But let’s not delude ourselves; the coalition is working well for David Cameron. We should by all means welcome enlightened Lib Dems but all the evidence is that their party as a whole is participating enthusiastically in the new venture.

Locally, the Lib Dems seem in good heart, and I still regularly receive their “Focus” newsletters. “Huge Savings on Office Costs….Town Hall to go at saving of £1 million per year” runs the headline of the latest leaflet to appear through my letterbox. It seems that they have happily taken on board the myth that the UK is broke and we all have to make sacrifices. Parsimony, it appears, sits well alongside poo and potholes – the party of already low expectations relishes lowering them still further.

Cameron has quickly appreciated how easily his partners can be led by the nose. Sitting happily alongside Nick Clegg in the AV debate in the House of Commons yesterday, it would be an understatement to say that he looked like the cat who swallowed the canary; he looked as if he’d swallowed a whole flock. I don’t accept the argument that he wants to abandon the coalition – it’s far too convenient for him and he knows it sets up difficult questions for Labour, as Darrell pointed out this morning.

It certainly hasn’t hindered the Tory project. On the contrary, with regards to the key issue of the economy, the Lib Dems are supporting a government whose eagerness to slash the state surpasses that of even Margaret Thatcher, and they’re egging it on to go still further.

At the same time, they’re politically useful. The Lib Dems, for Cameron, collectively represent what John Prescott individually provided for Tony Blair – a token “conscience” figure, albeit not entirely controllable, and a useful lightning conductor when things go wrong. How Cameron’s spin doctors must have jumped for joy when not just Laws but then Huhne got into personal difficulties. What a neat idea it was to elevate the prig Danny Alexander as their very own Lord High Executioner.

The politics are working out so well that for many electors, sadly, only circumstances will make the difference – once they see the economy buckling, unemployment soaring, health waiting lists going up and the new academy and free schools arrangements going sour.

Huge, destructive changes are taking place while Labour is relatively weakened by the leadership election process; the shameful BSF announcement is a case in point. At the same time, Ed Balls’ combative performance yesterday perhaps offers a glimmer of hope for the real opposition possible after 25 September.