Purely theroetical idea: a grand coalition?

I very rarely do mainland UK politics as, although very interested, I do not have any instinctive feel for it and regard commenting from a position of interest but little knowledge the height of arrogance. However, the problems of the Hung Parliament continue with no easy end in sight. The Conservatives seem set to try to link up with the Liberal Democrats: that much is obvious; the alternatives presumably being a Lib Lab pact (though it will still leave them short of a majority), or a minority Conservative government with the acquiescence of the other parties. However, there are common themes in the current situation: the deficit needs to be cut; the question is when, where and how. In addition public services need to be protected to a significant extent. Those of course are massive issues and divide the parties very significantly at least in public. Some economic commentators, however, seem to feel none of the parties have been honest about the scale of the problem and all will have to do remarkably similar things whatever the rhetoric.

There remains one mathematical possibility which commands an effortless majority: a Labour / Tory pact. Clearly that is utter nonsense: the parties would never agree to it; the views are utterly divergent whatever Cameron’s claims to be the “heir to Blair.” However, if one thought that this economic crisis was as serious as the one in the 1930s one might note that we had national governments then although it split the Labour and Liberal parties down the middle. On a more recent note a Grand Coalition of Christian and Social Democrats ran Germany from 2005 to 2009. I know it is utter foolishness in a UK context but it is an interesting concept. In addition even if he did not mean to do it it would make either Brown or Cameron look very statesman like.

Turgon

This author has not written a biography and will not be writing one.