The fault-line at the heart of Liberal Conservativism

Andrew Rawnsley has done well to identify the problems the coalition is having deciding its line on national security. His column today is a colourful evocation of the deadlock David Cameron and Nick Clegg face over control orders and 28-day detention without charge. He calls it “alarmed semi-paralysis”, which is about right. Now they have seen the secret evidence and had the briefings from the intelligence services they somehow don’t feel so liberal any more.
It is the sign of a mature democracy that it favours the liberty of its citizens over the control of them. But it also a lot easier to say you would be prepared to take risks with the lives of those citizens when you are in opposition. The Liberal Democrats and the liberal wing of the Conservative party (and some libertarians such as David Davis) have always found New Labour’s authoritarian interventions distasteful. So this will be a real test of their nerve.