Nick Clegg and party president baroness Ros Scott face the Lib Dem Federal Executive - to get the deal
Good grief – I meant to use a rather more forceful expletive, but … well … good grief – this is the House of Lords; though not as we knew it. First day back and not only is it all change, it’s complete change. I left as a front bench Lib Dem spokesman forever condemned to opposition – not even official opposition – and I come back as a part of Government – well lets not exaggerate, a member of one of the two government parties. I hadn’t even gone back to my constituency – where as a Lord I didn’t even have a vote – to prepare for Government. This particular outcome hardly occurred to me.
But what now? Who is going to sit on what benches? Will we crowd out the bishops? Will there really be another 200 of us appointed to get the maths right? Is this term really, finally, our very last gasp of breath as an unelected body as the Lib Dem/Tory coalition agreement states?
Well for a start the Conservative and Lib Dem benches are generally reckoned to loathe each other the most – Europe, law and order, climate change – to mention but a few points of needle. Now we’re destined not just to be classmates but buddies for a full five year term. This will be interesting. Will our former informal Labour friends now snub us in the bars and spit in our faces?
Watch this space – there’s a lot of practical detail on the floor of the House still to be worked out. Not least will be getting back-benchers who are there for life – or were there for life – to vote for compromise policies, and even the other partner’s policies they don’t believe in at all, all in the name of the national good and stable government.
One thing is for sure though. As a member of the party’s Federal Executive, I voted after some mega-soul searching in favour of this coalition – with conviction. I wanted to see Lib Dems back in Government and a good dollop of our policies delivered rather than endlessly talked about. At the Lords end it will probably be a coalition of the not quite so willing. But we are going to make it work. It will be an exciting ride.
The Conservatives seems to have changed their minds regarding your few points of needle, “Europe, law and order, climate change” and in so doing, have moved a long way from their core voters.
Who now, is going to fight against the European Empire, the abuse of science by the warmists and the destruction of the historic freedoms that we used to have under Common Law? It is no longer the Conservative Party, or so it seems.
Maybe Labour will change also, and understand these threats, at last or does something strange happen to politicians when they breathe the Westminster air?
Lord Teverson,
Fear not. The opera isn’t over until the fat lady sings. And she hasn’t even cleared her throat yet.
I give the Change Coalition 3 years tops. And nobody will be able to agree on what form a new, ‘improved’ revised proportionally represented House of ‘Lords’ should take in that short time.
You’d think they’d get on better really, the LD MPs are all white – must be like the Tories looking at an old party photo!
At a local level there have been coalitions when needed. Even on Europe I wonder at times. My local LD candidate informed me his opponent was a former-MEP which seemed odd for a pro-European party.
The DPM’s remarks this evening were unlike any previous DPM that I can think of!
The Rt Hon Mr Prescott knew that he did not have the intellectual skills of his .. better.
I’ve often found the idea that politicians are always at each other’s throats hilarious. It is a bit like QCs who are fighting each other in the trenches during the day, but retiring to the club in the evening to talk things over with a glass of port to hand.
I suspect a lot of, ahem, ‘extra-curricular’ activity is taking place across party lines.
Sally Bercow seems to cope with ‘sleeping with the enemy’ pretty well, so it will be interesting to see how the more prosaic need to get along with parliamentary business works in what is rather fatuously called ‘new politics’.
“idea that politicians are always at each other’s throats”
Some are. One Tory lady MP for the West country
was attacked and villified systematically 2001-2005. Quite unnecessary, and yet one cowardly Labour member orchestrated such attacks, which in any place other than parliament would have been libellous.
She finally declared that she would take such proceedings where ever it was declared,if it continued.It stopped.
I think it`s time to cut the hot air and do something especially to cut the waste and privacy invasion by Local authorities.
“New research conducted by Big Brother Watch – the non-partisan grassroots campaign fighting intrusions on our privacy and freedom – reveals that councils in Great Britain have authorised over 8,500 RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act) operations in the past two years.
Top lines from the report include:
•372 local authorities in Great Britain have conducted RIPA surveillance operations in 8,575 cases since 1st April 2008
•Councils alone have carried out over eleven surveillance operations every day in England, Scotland and Wales over the past two years
•Newcastle-upon-Tyne is the worst local authority in the country for RIPA investigations, having spied on their residents 231 times in two years. West Berkshire and Walsall follow closely behind with 228 and 215 authorisations respectively since 1st April 2008.
•Authorities have used covert surveillance for reasons including spying on their own employees, dog fouling, people breaking the smoking ban and even the test purchase of a puppy!
The Report
http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/TheGrimRIPA.pdf
The article
http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/home/2010/05/the-grim-ripa-local-councils-authorising-11-covert-surveillance-operations-a-day.html