Coalition politics

Today Peter Bingle, chairman of Bell Pottiner Public Relations, has mused that the coalition may present itself as an electoral vehicle at the next election.

He also thinks that the Conservative party may have come to the end of the road.

As I have written before, the coalition is far more like a Whig government than anything else.

I am not suggesting that a Whig party is about to be re-established but if something like that is going to happen then the party will need members to deliver leaflets, donate money and help formulate policy. Something like that would be more likely after the next general election.

If I am right that the Orange-bookers and Cameroons are more Whig than anything else and Peter Bingle is right that the voters will be asked to support coalition candidates at the next general election, here are the things we should look out for in the next few years:

• Conservative and Liberal Democrat bloggers use the term bloggers for the coalition
• Joint policies will emerge and be announced jointly
• The coalition will last five years
• The economy will grow
• There is a by-election and a coalition candidate stands and wins

Without all or some of those elements, it will be very difficult to impose an electoral pact on the parties.

Time will tell.

Absolutely

Absolutely began in 1989. It is an absurdist comedy that has its roots in the physical and wordplay traditions of Monty Python and Rowen and Martin's Laugh-In.

The only female cast member, Morwenna Banks, went on to appear in an episode of The Thick of It.

Here is the first episode.

Capitalism and free markets

Jock Coats and Kevin Carson have been writing about what the free market means to them.

If you are interested in free markets, the difference between capitalism and a free market as defined by a mutualist then their posts are worth a read.

Jock Coats on a freed market

Kevin Carson on the free market

Jock Coats on the profit motive

Nick Clegg at PMQs

A lot has been written about Nick Clegg's performance at Prime Minister's question time.

What no one appears to have picked up, at least I haven't seen anyone comment on it, is the look on Alistair Darling's face during the question and answers regarding the country's finances.

It is about nine minutes in.

Generally, I avoid party political knock-about on this blog but Darling does look distinctly uncomfortable. And that surely is worth commenting on whatever side of the divide you sit?

David Davis and restaurants

David Davis was on the front page of the FT this Friday for being a little indiscreet at a restaurant.

When he was running for Conservative party leader, I found myself at a table next to his in a Westminster dining establishment. He was with two other people and they were discussing his campaign.

I sat on my own for a while as the person I was waiting for was late.

Davis was quite open about which MPs might be supporting him and who he was trying to win over. I could hear almost everything he said but little of the what the other two uttered.

When the person I was waiting for arrived, Davis could see it was one of the MPs he had mentioned in his list.

I wondered what he made of the coincidence and whether he worried that I might say something to my guest.

I never told anyone of the content of his conversation and that includes the MP I was meeting.

Clearly, Davis is quite relaxed about being overheard but after last week's reporting perhaps he will be more careful i the future.

Review: The Man versus The State

I have already written a brief post on Herbert Spencer's The Man versus The State. That book is made up of four chapters and the published book with that title now has an additional six essays that cover government, society and freedom.

Spencer's writings spans the 1840s to the 1890s. His chief concern is an interfering government and the unintended consequences that follow.

He is without a doubt a classical liberal: he argues for a government that protects liberty but does nothing more. He fears that the Liberal party of the time is evolving into a New Toryism and that the Conservative party, in their desire to conserve, are by default becoming classical liberals.

He offers many example of government legislation that is intended to free people or remove a social ill that leads to more poverty not less. He even worries about where it will all end: a government that tells us what to eat. When he suggests the latter he can't believe that this would ever quite happen.

Spencer's essays are a precursor to Hayek and part of the liberal political tradition. His prose isn't the easiest to read at times but his arguments are well worth exploring.

Nick Clegg begins to tell the liberal story

I said recently that Nick Clegg needs to start thinking about the proposition he is going to take to the country at the next general election.

In a recent speech, Clegg has done just that.

The speech clearly sets out his view of what modern liberalism is.

In the speech he stakes a claim to the political territory that goes from James Purnell to David Cameron.

There are probably some in his party who would rather be to the Left of Purnell and others who would take issue with his view of the State.

Given the broad coalition that the party is, Clegg appears to have taken on board its various voices and synthesised them into a liberal vision for the 21st century.

The voters will decide if they like his definition and if it has achieved the objectives he sets out.

Things that caught my eye in the last week...

Liberal Vision provides a blast from the past with a letter to the Times in 1932; apparently they didn't blog in those days!

The letter is from four economists including Hayek who argue that stimulating the economy might not be such a good idea...

Devil's Knife reports on a debate he participated in at the IEA with a full transcript of his speech. In it he makes the case for friendly societies.

David Thompson set out in April why he doesn't mind that much if he lives in a market anarchist or classical liberal society. I spotted the post last week!

If you like these bloggers or any others you can vote for them in the annual Total Politics poll.

Different views on the coalition

It's great

It's all the same old, same old

It's great - well Dave is anyway

Different views on the coalition

It's great

It's all the same old, same old

It's great - well Dave is anyway

Two new links

I don't normally announce new links but lists are becoming a touch large so additions might be missed.

So I announce...

Richard D North

Freedom Scares Me

Two new links

I don't normally announce new links but lists are becoming a touch large so additions might be missed.

So I announce...

Richard D North

Freedom Scares Me

People might do what they want... where will it end?

After watching Family Guy last night, I turned to BBC News 24 for a quick catch up on what was going on in the world before going to bed.

It was the newspaper review. The first story that got discussed was chosen by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. It appears in today's Observer and is about Andrew Lansley's proposals for reform of the NHS.

Alibhai-Brown disapproved of the changes. She didn't say she disapproved because they were wrong but because it was the thin end of the wedge: eventually people might be allowed to make decisions for themselves about almost everything and where would that lead?

Today, I spotted a cartoon on David Chiverton's blog: the 24 types of authoritarians.

I leave it to others to decide which one Ms Alibhai-Brown fits into.

Liberal Democrats: what's in a name

Timothy Garton Ash believes that the Liberal Democrats should change their name to the Liberal party. Helen Duffet of Lib Dem Voice disagrees.

What name the party decides to call itself could be seen as a bit of a diversion.

The real question is: can the Liberal Democrats stay together as a party over the next five years?

The party, like all political parties, is a coalition. It has liberals, social democrats, green socialists and radicals as members.

There has been plenty of speculation about what might destroy the coalition government. The truth is that the coalition stands a good chance of surviving. On all the totemic issues we have seen compromise, grudging or otherwise.

What is more likely to happen is for a 'black swan' to come along. If that event challenges the values of the Liberal Democrats one could see some form of realignment.

Where all of this might lead is impossible to predict. In fact, there might not be a 'black swan' at all.

Nick Clegg needs to prepare for every eventuality and to begin thinking about the proposition he will take to the country in five years time.

As the Devil's Knife says, if everything goes incredibly well for the coalition, how do the voters return them to power?

One question Clegg needs to consider is whether he wants the party to offer a liberal set of policies to the voters. If he does, then one way to send a direct message that that is what is on offer is to rename the party. In the end, the name might not be such a diversion after all.

Reflections on Joss Whedon's Dollhouse

The second, and final, season of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse is showing on ITV4. If you want to catch it, it is on Wednesday nights at 8pm.

Whedon created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly.

The shows are terrific entertainment with well-written characters and clever scripts. There are recurring themes in each one, around the dangers of giving too much power to one organisation, the nature of self and the desire of the individual to control their life.

In Dollhouse, Whedon brings all of this together to explore what makes an individual.

Just as in his other shows, there is plenty to undermine individualism but however bad it gets people win through, somehow.

They might not be the person they were at the beginning of the story but the spirit of the individual shines bright. And that is appropriate thought for 4 July.