Nick Clegg’s convoluted description of what he is apologising for is reminiscent of a criminal who is not particularly regretful about the actual offence, but rather that he has been caught red-handed. Rather than drawing a line under the pledges debacle, which could see its ultimate denouement with Julian Huppert losing his Varsity seat in Cambridge, it has triggered an unpredicted sense of hostility to the Liberal Democrat Party. Whilst it is a valid criticism that there is no apology which Nick Clegg could give, which could be accepted by the majority of Labour voters, a number of people sincerely ask whether Nick Clegg shows any remorse at being guilty of ultimately enacting the privatisation of the NHS, or signing the ‘death warrant’ for thousands of law centres and similar establishments around the country.
The way in which the Coalition makes decisions, by ‘diktat’, shows no shame. Michael Gove has ploughed ahead with his E-Bacc system, albeit rooted in a deep-seated sense of dissatisfaction with how private providers have not delivered competition but profit in the GCSE examining system. However, the way in which he has done this is distasteful, as he has not engaged with the teachers or headteachers unions. Likewise, the Conservative Government, whilst having a favourable relationship with Circle, Virgin and Serco, have not been able to engage the goodwill of the Royal College of Practitioners, making the notion that GPs are leading the recovery an unmitigated joke. Nick Clegg has become a laughing stock, with LibDem strategists apparently behind-the-scenes questioning his judgement over providing a bare-faced apology with such bare-faced cheek.
That his party will be annihilated in 2015 is not in any question, but he seems to have virtually no insight into the demise of his party. His activists have not experienced a crisis of insight yet, which means that they are currently delusional in their party conference in Brighton. The feeling that Nick Clegg will always look after himself, and look after his chauffeur-driven cars, has always pervaded the sense of business of this government. The “out-of-touch” label previously attached to the Conservatives still promises to do much damage to the Coalition in general, more so than the economy. George Osborne is not particularly sorry for wilfully denying a Keynesian stimulus, thus reversing the economy from growth to recession in a space of about two years. He has not said sorry for this, and nor will he. He has not said sorry for the tax cut benefit which has been of benefit to a substantial number of his core supporters, and nor will he. He has not said sorry for the borrowing requirement, in the face of rampant corporate tax avoidance of a much bigger magnitude, and nor he will he. However, George Osborne is not alone in his lack of apology. Iain Duncan-Smith has not apologised for the fact that the disabled citizens of the UK feel demonised and victimised by this Government, feeling that the new welfare reform mechanisms will be unfair. It has been warned that the administration of the ‘universal credit’ and ‘personal independent payment’ will be a disaster, and, whilst the ATOS contract was initially awarded under Labour, nobody appears to be accountable over the problems which have led to an unusually high rate of successful appeals on benefits decisions. Nick Buckles appears to be ‘sorry’, but does not wish to return the money that G4s received for the Olympics to the taxpayer.
Chief Whip, Andrew Mitchell, at least has said ‘sorry’. After police prevented him from leaving the main Downing Street gate on his bike on Wednesday, the cabinet minister reportedly launched into a class-based rant against the officers. According to the Sun, he demanded: “Open this gate, I’m the Chief Whip. I’m telling you — I’m the Chief Whip and I’m coming through these gates.” When officers refused to do so, he allegedly responded:
Best you learn your fucking place. You don’t run this fucking government.
You’re fucking plebs.
It is the alleged use of the pejorative “plebs”, denoting those of a lower order, that is toxic for Mitchell and the Tory-led government. Like Mitt Romney’s attack on “the 47%“, it’s brilliantly designed to confirm the view that this is a government of the wealthy for the wealthy. Mitchell has already apologised for the altercation, although he denied using the language ascribed to him by the Sun. In a statement he said: “On Wednesday night I attempted to leave Downing Street via the main gate, something I have been allowed to do many times before. As well as the deep-seated ‘out-of-touch’ issue above, however, there is also a pervasive theme from the Hunt handling of Hackgate; Gategate like Huntgate reveals an element of two-facedness, where the Tories appear to tell the public one another and act behind-the-scenes in a completely different manner. Trust is of course something which voters concern; apparently both parties are not trusted on the economy, despite the economic incompetence of the Tories being well evidenced. The Conservatives have been able to maintain their fraudulent lie that Brown’s government overspent recklessly because Sir Mervyn King, outgoing Governor of the Bank of England, has never explained why such a big stimulus was necessary to prevent the global economic crash in the UK turning into an outright depression, and the state broadcaster, the BBC, somehow became complicit in producing a distorted narrative for the general public. The social media, however, have been able to undermine this fraudulent lie, however, in recent times.
Andrew Mitchell and Nick Clegg may be sorry, but not as sorry as we are. Due to the nature of fixed term governments, the incompetent Coalition will not be thrown out until May 8th 2015. Instead of producing solid government in a time of uncertainty, they have provided disunity exacerbating massively a sense of uncertainty. If the economy continues to go downhill (and a Keynesian stimulus would not have effect for several years now), with poor GDP output and continued recession for after 2015, it is very plausible that the UK will lose in fact its coveted ‘credit rating’. The economy is ‘broken’, with shareholders reaping massive dividends from imperfect privatised markets, and successive Governments have done everything they can to undermine the employment rights of workers and employees. Labour of course has a chance to remedy this on behalf of its ‘core vote’, and the critical next step will be the policy review. If Ed Miliband is unable to produce a coherent direction for Labour soon, the 2015 election, if it delivers a Conservative majority, will see the E-Bacc inflicted on the UK for certain, and the first ever mandate for the NHS privatisation. At that time, all the Liberal Democrat carping about “that illegal war” will simply be a painful memory, as indeed their party will also be a painful memory for many on the left.
