Liberal democrats

Wednesday

Peter Hoskin

The Deputy Prime Minister speaks

Just as the midnight oil burns out, the Lib Dems have finally agreed to a coalition deal with the Tories.  Speaking in Transport House, Nick Clegg confirmed that the parliamentary party and federal executive had “overwhelmingly accepted” the deal.  And … well, that was it, really.  There were few other specifics from the new Deputy Prime Minister.  No confirmations of other Cabinet positions, no firm indications about the Lib-Con policy trade-offs – just “thanks and admiration” for Gordon Brown, and a few assurances that the new government would work towards “fair” ends, even though ” there will, of course, be problems”.  I’m sure that full details will emerge in the

Tuesday

Fraser Nelson

The government takes shape

Here are some details of the LibCon deal, and my brief comments: 1. Clegg as Deputy PM. It’s a non-job, but a senior one – it means Clegg will take PMQs in Cameron’s absence, and will defend all those nasty cuts (sharing the blame for these cuts is the main rationale for coalition). This follows the 1999 Lib-Lab deal in Scotland, where Jim Wallace was made Deputy First Minister to everyone’s surprise. 2. Laws replaces Gove in education. This has not been confirmed yet, and I will not believe it until I see it. Of all of tonight’s moves this is potentially the most concerning – especially for all those

Peter Hoskin

David Cameron is Prime Minister

And he begins his tenure with an unfussy speech outside the door of No.10.  All of the main Tory touchstones were mentioned: the deficit, responsibility, political reform and social breakdown.  But this wasn’t a strident or triumphant performance.  Cameron went out of his way to pay tribute to Gordon Brown and his “long record of public service,” and to highlight the role that the Lib Dems will be playing in a “proper and full coalition”.  Almost with a dash of regret, Cameron noted that this coalition will “throw up all sorts of challenges”. Perhaps he’s had a first taste of those challenges with the protestors who greeted his entry, with

Alex Massie Alex Massie

A Text for Dave and Nick

Hold hands, gentlemen, and say together: Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope. And this, as I suggested a long 36 hours ago, is what it’s all about and why this agreement needs to be for a full parliament: [T]he stakes in this game are much higher than the question of who wins what and who gives what up in the next few days, weeks and months. There is – no, there may be – an opportunity for Cameron to redraw the map in

Peter Hoskin

The waiting game | 11 May 2010

Westminster is working itself into a frenzy as we wait for the official announcements, statements and rituals of state which will surely come in the next few hours.   The very latest is that Cabinet ministers are saying Brown will go either tonight or tomorrow morning; Vince Cable has suggested a Lib-Con deal is “very close”; and all the noises are about a full coalition, perhaps with Nick Clegg as deputy Prime Minister. But enough of that: we shall soon have something more concrete to grasp than all the rumours and helicopter imagery.  And it will be nothing less than the end of 13 years of Labour government.

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Clegg Gets Labour to Drive His Party to the Tories

There’s one thing that may be said of Nick Clegg’s willingness to talk to Labour: it allowed Labour to show Liberal Democrat MPs that a deal with the Tories is the only show in town worth buying a ticket for. Once Labour MPs vowed to derail any plan to force through voting reform without a referendum and once John Reid, David Blunkett and Andy Burnham pointed out the absurdity of a “Loser’s Alliance” that, however constitutionally permissable, would mock the actual, you know, result of the election then even the most sawdust-brained Liberal Democrat MP could appreciate that this bird wouldn’t fly. That leaves a proper deal with the Tories

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Lib-Con deal in the bag

The Lib Dems are holding a meeting of both their MPs and the Federal Executive at 7.30pm. It is now widely expected that this meeting will approve a coalition deal with the Conservatives. Those who have taken the temperature of the Lib Dem Federal Executive say that approval is in the bag.

Martin Bright

The Labour Party Must Accept Defeat and Move On

As I write, the Liberal Democrats and Tories are meeting in the Cabinet Office. The Labour Party should accept this is the end of any hope of a Rainbow Coalition. This election was lost and well lost. The Conservative achievement is substantial. There are now over a hundred extra Tory MPs in parliament and David Cameron has taken his party from being an unelectable basket case to the dominant political force in Westminster. It would be gracious at this stage to admit defeat.  The unwholesome sight of Labour grandees scrabbling around in search of  deal with the Lib Dems is an affront to democracy. The suggestion that Labour has the

Peter Hoskin

Burnham strikes a blow to the Lib-Lab coalition

As James suggested, the mood is shifting against a Lib-Lab coalition this afternoon. And now the idea has been dealt its biggest blow so far: Andy Burnham has spoken out against it public. Taking the kind of deliberate step that suggests he may be up for the Labour leadership after all, the Health Secretary said: “I think we have got to respect the results of the general election and we can’t get away from the fact that Labour didn’t win.” And there’s more. According to the irrepressible Paul Waugh, Burnham first made his discontent known in Labour’s Cabinet meeting last night – where, according to Channel 4’s Gary Gibbon, he

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The obstacles to a Lib-Lab deal

The main development of this morning has been Labour MPs throwing up obstacles to a Lib Lab deal. At the moment there are four main problems. First, David Blunkett and others arguing that Labour would be better off going into opposition and—this is implicit—letting the Tories and the Lib Dems make the cuts. One union fixer told me Labour couldn’t go into a coalition with a party committed to cuts to benefits and tax credits. Second, Jon Cruddas, a champion of party democracy, has demanded that the parliamentary party, the NEC and the unions be consulted on the terms of any deal. Third, there are lots of Labour MPs letting

Peter Hoskin

Whatever happens, Clegg has sullied his credibility with the Tories

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves: some sort of deal between the Lib Dems and the Tories is still a distinct possibility, even if negotiations have been rocked by the events of yesterday. But whether it goes through or not, Clegg has seriously dented his credibility in Tory circles. Backbenchers who were warming to the idea of a formal Lib-Con coalition a few days ago – if only to scupper Labour’s hopes – are now dead set against it. The very notion of Clegg as Home Secretary is becoming a collective anathema. The question now is whether – failing a Lib-Lab coalition – the Tory leadership is more inclined towards

David Blackburn

The Tory right strikes back

Sam Coates reports that the Tory right want Cameron to renege on the commitment to a referendum on AV. You can see why they want to do this but it’s ill-advised. The Lib Dems have destroyed their credibility by indulging blatant self-interest and the Tories should avoid making a similar mistake. The need for unity is absolute. It’s time to put-up and shut-up in the national interest. Right now, that means reaching an accommodation, either in coalition or in a minority government with Lib Dem backing or abstention. If that requires a referendum on voting reform then so be it. Besides, facilitating a referendum is not to endorse reform. The

David Blackburn

Game on for a Lib-Con Coalition

Gary Gibbon reports: ‘Last night’s two-hour meeting of the Lib Dem MPs (with a sprinkling of peers) seems to have swung the party decisively behind a Lib-Con coalition deal. An announcement is widely expected now today.’ It’s preferable to the alternative and as George Osborne made clear this morning the Tories can do nothing without Lib Dem support. There’s a suggestion that Clegg may have forced Cameron’s hand into further concessions with his sudden wooing of Labour, in which case he’s a very clever and brave shyster. I’ll believe it when it happens though. PS: A note of caution, as if one were needed. Clegg can’t put a time on

David Blackburn

This isn’t English

‘The Tories are stuffed,’ a resigned Shadow Cabinet minister tells Gary Gibbon. Endorsing any such view is premature but, with Lib Dem elders counselling Clegg to join Labour, the most likely outcome is a coalition of the losers, albeit nice progressive ones. Ah, the irony of the New Politics – plus ca change and all that. Politics has descended into a grotesque spectacle of blackmail, and bungled devolution is to blame. As James reported last night, talks with the Tories ran aground on sands that are the territory of Holyrood and Scottish Liberals presented every obstacle possible. Plaid MPs prostitute themselves at a £100 million a piece and Northern Ireland’s

Peter Hoskin

The Lib Dem big hitters pushing Clegg towards Labour

Today’s papers have the lowdown on the events of the past few days, and one thing is becoming increasingly clear: a Lib-Con deal faces not just the opposition of the Lib Dem base, but also some of the party’s most influential figures.  In a Times account of a Lib Dem meeting yesterday, it’s revealed that Sir Menzies Cambell “urged his successor not to bind the party into a irrevocable deal with the Tories.”  Meanwhile, the Telegraph reports that “Vince Cable played a significant role in resisting an agreement [with the Tories].”  And Paddy Ashdown was across the airwaves this morning, explaining how a Lib-Lab coalition could provide “stability” and “legitimacy,”

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Blundering Parties

The biggest blunderer today was, I think, Nick Clegg but one can make a case arguing that each of the parties played their hand badly on Monday. Oh, sure, in one sense Labour must be enjoying this: Tories in a fury, Liberals suddenly interested again and, who knows, perhaps there’s a faint glimmer of hope that something may yet arrive to rescue the party and keep it in office. But Labour’s good mood reflects a short-term tactical stroke, not a strategic victory. Gordon might have wrong-footed the Tories today and damaged prospects for a Tory-Liberal arrangement but that’s it. Labour’s overall position had not, I suspect, improved greatly not least

Monday

Alex Massie

A Liberal Red Herring

James reports – and since it’s James doing the reporting there’s no reason to doubt him – that some of the strongest opposition to doing a deal with the Tories came from Scottish Lib Dem MPs. Apparently the poor lambs think they could be wiped out if they were tarred with the Tory brush. I assume that they are fretting about the Holyrood elections next year, not the next Westminster election (though of course, all the jockeying and manoevering must be judged in the light of its potential impact on that contest). Because let’s have a look at their Scottish seats: Gordon: LD 36, SNP 22, Labour 20 Aberdeenshire West:

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Scottish angle

I am told that one of the Lib Dems groups most opposed to doing a deal with the Tories was its Scottish MPs. Their view was that Scotland had voted massively against the Tories and that any party seen as their representatives in Scotland would be massacred. This has set off chatter in Tory circles. There was already irritation that the party has a majority in England and Wales but was still having to compromise on issues that have been devolved to Scotland. But to not be able to make a coalition deal because of your unpopularity north of the border is to add insult to injury.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Tories work to seize the moral high ground

Well, well today just keeps getting more and more extraordinary. The Tories have responded to the Lib Dems beginning formal negotiations with Labour by offering the Lib Dems a referendum on AV in exchange for a full coalition with Lib Dems in the Cabinet. The Tories stress that this is their final offer to the Lib Dems. Having spoken to several members of the shadow Cabinet, it appears that the offer is designed to allow the Tory party to seize the moral high ground. They believe that if the Lib Dems were to join with Labour to ram through a change in the voting system—Labour are offering the Lib Dems