Coalition
Well it looks like a Conservative/Lib Dem coalition, which given the numbers on each side offered the only possibility of a remotely stable government. I’m sure it will harm us to some degree to work with the Tories, but I’m confident that Nick and the team have acted in the national interest – acting with integrity means taking actions that you know are right even when it hurts you to do so.
From a statement sent from central office, it looks like a good number of senior Labour figures decided that they did not want to be in government and had not intention of working with anyone to clean up the mess they’ve made of the economy. They’ve judged that it’s best to be in opposition and try to blame others for the failings of their government and will too busy scrabbling for power in their own party – territorial politics at its worst.
Here’s that statement in full:
‘It is clear that the Labour Party never took seriously the prospects of forming a progressive, reforming government with the Liberal Democrats.
Key members of Labour’s negotiating team gave every impression of wanting the process to fail and Labour made no attempt at all to agree a common approach with the Liberal Democrats on issues such as fairer schools funding for the most deprived pupils and taking those on low incomes out of tax.
It became clear to the Liberal Democrats that certain key Labour cabinet ministers were determined to undermine any agreement by holding out on policy issues and suggesting that Labour would not deliver on proportional representation and might not marshal the votes to secure even the most modest form of electoral reform.
It is clear that some people in the Labour Party see opposition as a more attractive alternative to the challenges of creating a progressive, reforming government, not least in the context of a Labour leadership election campaign.’