We have a fixed term of parliament, whether we like it or not. The Tories and the Liberal Democrats argue that this brings stability – rather, it brings certainty about this ‘managed decline’ of England which they have relentlessly pursued since coming to power in 2010.
Sooner or later, the mud will stick, and David Cameron will no longer be Mr. Teflon. It suits Cameron to have Nick Clegg as the lightning conductor, and most seasoned observers expect the Liberal Democrats to be in trouble in making their case in 2015. However, looking at the mechanics of elections, it’s in the Tories’ best interests for the Liberal Democrats to be demolished as that is the most powerful way to deliver a huge majority for the Conservative Party.
In fairness, the Liberal Democrats will have contributed to this managed decline of England. They took full-on, with Danny Alexander as a critical figure, an agenda for austerity which ignored investment in the soul of the infrastructure of England. Despite experienced critics in economics including Nobel Prize winners, the Coalition pursued a policy which has seen stagnant GDP and increasing unemployment, with the deficit not being paid off until 2017 at the latest.
The economic policy is a mess, but George Osborne will wish the public to believe that this mess is not of the Government’s making: this is a lie, if he pursues that. The Tories have been allowed to destroy the valued infrastructure of England, including a trusted system welfare benefits for disabled citizens, SureStart, libraries, legal aid, employment support allowance, to name but a few.
David Cameron, furthermore, represents the worst of ‘irresponsible capitalism’, leading to the necessity of the #Leveson inquiry. Irresponsibility lies at the heart of the legal and moral agenda, believing that ‘nudge’, for example, is sufficient to deal with all problems; nudge by itself won’t stop individuals from getting lung disease from polluted air.
Their lasting legacy will be a rapid progression of the worst policies of New Labour. With an ideological pursuit of market forces in legal aid and the NHS, the unprofitable (and unpopular) services will suffer, such as dementia, welfare benefits or asylum. Certain private providers, already in talks with this government, will do very well from it. It is a tragedy of the highest order, but it’s erroneous to believe that England is better off with a weakened Liberal Democrat party.
