So, it's Official

[miss_s_b]

Cameron has announced full coalition. While we wait for the details of the agreement, I shall just list a few things that will and won't happen.

Things that will happen:

• The media will continue to speculate furiously, and will probably not read the agreement properly and will need to have their mistakes pointed out by bloggers.


• Tories shackled in government by a coalition with the Lib Dems will be orders of magnitude better than Tories in government unfettered and running amok.


• Nick Robinson will continue frotting Dave until Dave can stand it no more.


• We will lose members, supporters and voters who don't understand how we can coalesce with the Tories and put tribalism over making things work.


• The Murdochised press are not going to be fair to us - but we're used to that.

Things that will not happen:

• Lib Dems will not suddenly start being lovely to Tories; we will be keeping a close eye on what they do because it now affects us too.


• I am not not going to start paying attention to any Tory blogs that I am not already reading. Unreasonable people do not suddenly become reasonable just because our parties are in coalition.


• The world will not end just because that smug twat is occupying #10 Downing Street.

This is not ideal. Not by any means. But it's better than it could have been. Lets wait for the details to emerge, and then we can do what we Lib Dems do best: disect them and point out the flaws :D

Comments

[burkesworks]

I'll be posting more about this in the morning; whatever way we slice and dice it, it was apparent that this was the only realistic outcome other than a Cameron minority government, especially after Miss Hoolie stabbed Wee Eck in the back over possible SNP involvement. Notice which of the Labourites were keenest to torpedo any chance of the "progressive" god I hate that word when not referring to Rick Wakeman coalition; many of them were the worst of the illiberal, authoritarian, statist ratbags who have reinforced my antipathy towards Labour over the last 13 years.

I have little time for the Tories, as well you know; but thinking about this outcome, far better it has panned out this way than an untrammelled Conservative government, or worse, one propped up by bible-bashing Orangemen. For the moment, the membership card remains in one piece and the standing order has not been cancelled.

Hmmm, Gideon confirmed as Chancellor. At least we know whose fault it will be if the economy does go mammaries perpendicular.

[francescaelston.wordpress.com]

That's a very good point. Horrific as it is, given the economic outlook, it might be a better long-term option because the fault will be more apparent.

[miss_s_b]

I possibly have less time for them than you, but we're Lib Dems. We're used to being dealt a shitty hand by fate and turning it into something better than anyone expected. Lets see what happens.

[gominokouhai]

> Gideon confirmed as Chancellor. At least we know whose fault it will be if the economy does go mammaries perpendicular

This might actually be a very good thing. Let's see if Nick is playing the long game I hope he's playing.

> especially after Miss Hoolie stabbed Wee Eck in the back

I must have missed this bit---didn't know it was ever on the table. But speaking as a Scot, you do not want to let Eck play with the big boys. That way lies madness.

[ggreig.livejournal.com]

As a Scot, I have to respectfully point out that some of us disagree; and the definition of "big boys" depends on your perspective. The SNP have come first or second in share of the vote in Scotland in the last three major elections (UK, European and Scottish Parliamentary elections). I'm not sure that cutting them out is a smart move.

[gominokouhai]

At risk of derailing the discussion in this thread, I agree. I've no intention of cutting them out, not that I could. But my perspective is that of the UK, of which Scotland is a tiny part. I'm not sure where I stand on independence, but I know that Eck is not the man to deliver it: he knows damn-all about anything else, and if we ever get independence we're stuck with him in charge.

[ggreig.livejournal.com]

Good point about not hijacking the thread and I won't respond further. However, there are a couple of things it's worth suggesting first.

An alternative UK perspective is that Scotland is one of four member nations, rather than one tenth of the population. These views aren't necessarily mutually exclusive; depending on the topic, one may be more appropriate than the other. Think federal UK.

Regarding Alex Salmond, he was a respected oil economist before entering Westminster, and he's run a successful minority government within a UK institution for the last three years, so I think perhaps your statement that "he knows damn-all about anything" but independence is a little unfair.