Senior Tory Peer Lord David Howell described what we can expect from a coalition government in an exclusive interview with the-news.co.
“Coalitions are difficult things.” Explained Lord Howell. “They are marriages of sorts and not necessarily happy ones. However they are driven by the arithmetic of Parliament because the governing group has to have a majority. They have to put the numbers together and even if there is disagreement on a whole range of lesser issues there has to be an understanding that when it comes to a confidence vote, and prior to that the Budget, the Coalition must all vote together. The basic things, particularly the Budget can go through.
“Can it achieve broader aims? Well it depends what those aims are. Substantial agreement was reached on taking more people out of the tax bracket, some school reforms, and on international policy shaping Britain’s repositioning in this dangerous world which we now live in.
“But can a party push through a detailed programme? No, it can’t. It’s bound to be objected to, and there are differences between the grassroots of the Conservative Party and that of the Liberal Democrat Party, and the leaders, if they want to stay leading, have to keep some of their grassroots happy and that means disagreeing at the top.
“We have seen plenty of disagreements on Lords reform, on alternative voting, on the itching hand of the Liberal Democrats to tax all kinds of wealth at very high levels if they can establish how to do it. And in generally favouring extreme pro-european measures that submerge the nationalities of the nation states in a single united lump called Europe which is complete anathema to not only the Conservatives but also to every centre right party in Europe.
“The Liberal Democrat leaders could not have dreamt in their wildest dreams that not only would they become part of a coalition but also their leader would become Deputy Prime Minister, and they would do it with fewer seats than last time. It all goes back to that fatal decision of Gordon Brown, which I am afraid our Conservative Party connived with, to let Clegg come on the television for a tripartite performance. It was a full toss to the boundary for Clegg. He is sharp. He is quick and stood there saying he hated the big parties and didn’t like their leaders and he was the small, good guy. The viewers loved it. This gave momentum to the Liberal Democrats and shaved enough votes off the Tories to prevent an overall majority and so we are stuck with this coalition and it is not good but neither side is going to part from it at the moment because if they did labour would get in.”
