- FRONT PAGE
-
BLOGS
-
Natalie Bennett
:Jobs You Can Build a Life On: The British Economy Isn't Delivering
-
Stef Benstead
:The Reality of the Welfare Reform
-
Alice Farmer
:A real life 'Hunger Games'
-
Mehdi Hasan
:As a Muslim, I Struggle With the Idea Of Homosexuality - But I Oppose Homophobia
-
Francis FitzGibbon
:It Could be You
-
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
For two and a quarter years, media commentators have been predicting the imminent demise of the coalition. Now the sharks are circling again - and this time there is indisputably blood in the water.
Clegg and Cameron still need each other, their fates are entwined with the deficit and the economy. Just don't expect them to be nice about it.
While the country is basking in Olympic glory, this week seemed like a good time for the Deputy Prime Minister to announce that his wish for Lords reform is dead. Unsurprisingly, he wanted to blame everyone but his own party.
There's a cabinet reshuffle looming, one that will be a defining moment in the history of this coalition government. HuffPost UK will be following every development, and indulging in more than a little healthy gossip along the way.
Lots of politicians have 20:20 hindsight. Foresight, however, is generally in shorter supply, which explains why Vince Cable is being acclaimed once again, tipped at the age of 69 both as a potential successor to either the 40-something George Osborne as Chancellor and/or the 40-something Nick Clegg as Lib Dem leader.
In the early moments of this morning it all became clear that we had a champion at the helm. After months and months of worry, indications that he may not carry it off, and general concern that after everything he's done, everything he's put himself and the country though, that we might not make it.
Exploitation and oppression have been with us since the dawn of time, by the strong of the weak, men of women, the rich of the poor. A measure of civilised societies is their effectiveness in mitigating and controlling such unfair and unjust practices.
The dust seems to have settled on the discussion about the House of Lords. For now. Politicians have spent a century discussing how to reform it, and we all still seem none the wiser. All we know is that it needs reform. But what exactly?
Finally it's happened. After two years, the mouse has finally roared. That pesky minority which refuses to acknowledge that they are an irrelevant adjunct to the government, has come out and opposed the Coalition Agreement.
Let us traverse across time and return to those fateful days in May 2010. Like a spectre haunting the past, we recall the infamous 'rose garden love-in' and the the level of expectations the coalition was building. Health, economic, education, transport, social, political, constitutional and banking reform was all promised; this would be the most radical government ever witnessed in Britain, it would dwarf the statue of the reforming administrations of the 19th Century.
Today the government announced £9bn worth of investment into Britain's railways. This will include upgrading track and electrifying several lines. It's good to see the UK's 19th century infrastructure finally brought into the 20th. But if we want real economic growth, shouldn't we be thinking about 21st century infrastructure instead?
Like many people, my instincts favour reform, but in practice I think that the House of Lords is currently doing a rather better job than the House of Commons, and any reforms are likely to weaken its ability to hold the Commons to account.
Today's joint appearance by David Cameron and Nick Clegg is the latest attempt to shift the focus away from what divides the two parties (Lords reform and much else) and onto what unites them - in particular the urgent need for action on economic growth. A "mid-term review" is also promised.
Since privatisation the cost to the public purse of running the railways has risen by a factor of between two and three times.
Privatisation is often blamed for the shortcomings of Britain's railways. This is unfair. Genuine privatisation never happened. Nominal ownership may have been transferred to the private sector, but the government remains firmly in control.
You might very well be forgiven for thinking that today's rail announcements were mainly about trains. But they're really about two other issues: (1) getting the coalition back on track and (2) the coalition's intended final destination, the 2015 general election.
Most Popular
