No, not a libertarian government, but an alliance between liberal Tories and Orange Book Liberal Democrats is arguably the closest thing we can get to it. Peter Oborne has a splendid column in the Observer today which makes the key point:
Quite, though I’m not sure I entirely share Peter’s optimism that the Conservative party is as on-board with all this stuff as the leadership might hope. Plenty of Tories might grow to love the surveillance state. Which, again, is one reason to be glad that the party does not have a thumping majority.Indeed the prime minister and his supporters are wrong to argue today that the Liberal Democrats and Labour have far more in common than Lib Dems and Conservatives. Ideologically, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats share one massive idea. They are both doctrinally suspicious of central government. They favour localism, decentralisation, individual freedom and accountability. The want to destroy the big state and all of its paraphernalia: bureaucracy, secrecy and central control.
Incidentally, on the matter of electoral reform Peter raises the example of Conservavie opposition to devolution.
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