Mind the culture gap

Danny Finkelstein’s column this morning is one of the most important things to have been written since the coalition was formed. Danny makes the point that the coalition has no ideas infrastructure in place. There’s nowhere for it to go to get new ideas.

Think tanks will rush to fill this void. But as Danny notes, there will also have to be a cultural comfort with the other side. That there isn’t at the moment is demonstrated by the look on Tory MPs’ faces when you debate whether Nick Clegg should be invited to address Tory conference.

One of the clever things that the coalition agreement has done is to make the main tax cut of this government a Lib Dem one. It is a reminder to the Tory party that the Lib Dems believe in freedom too. But there’ll have to be plenty more of this to make this partnership work.