Duncan Hamilton: MPs' revelations leave the Lib Dems in an untenable position

Published on Wednesday 23 June 2010 19:22

IN HIS autobiography, Tony Blair explains that he ultimately chose not to enter coalition with the Lib Dems in 1997 "because of what I thought was their lack of the necessary fibre to govern".

For Mr Blair, "the Lib Dems seemed to be happier as the 'honest' critics, prodding and probing and pushing but unwilling to take on the mantle of responsibility for the hard choices and endure the rough passages". Thirteen years later, it seems he was right.

How else can we interpret the taped interviews with Lib Dem MPs published this week? They range from personal attacks on the Prime Minister and Chancellor through to confirmation of the vast policy chasm which apparently exists between the two coalition partners. They paint a vivid picture of a government at war with itself.

The revelations were hardly extracted under pain of death. All it took was a journalist turning up at a constituency surgery with a tape recorder and the Lib Dem MPs sang like canaries.

It now puts the Lib Dems at a defining crossroads. It is time to choose. Either they remain that party of "prodding and probing" or they complete the mutation into the party of government they promised to be. This week has exposed that they have not crossed the political Rubicon. They must now do so, or withdraw from the government.

The revelations could scarcely have been more damaging. They confirm that many of the core policies of the coalition are not even supported by the Lib Dem ministers and MPs who routinely vote for them in parliament. They confirm an overwhelming sense of duplicity - the arrogant assumption that it is acceptable to express one view for the consumption of a bovine public, and another contrary opinion in private.

The most damaging intervention came from Vince Cable. For me, his position is now utterly untenable. He is an honourable and good man by all accounts. He therefore knows, I suspect, that whilst he is adored by party activists, his position within government is irreparably damaged. He cannot now be trusted by Cabinet colleagues. He has revealed, to a complete stranger claiming simply to be a curious constituent, that he is aggressively pursuing his own agenda, not that of the government. He apparently profoundly disagrees with the Cabinet position on bank bonuses, immigration, reform of the NHS and local government. He talked openly of "wars" and "battles" within the coalition. He even threatened to bring down the government by resigning. There simply is no way back from such damaging indiscretion.

Then there was Scottish Secretary Michael Moore, who said that his support for introducing tuition fees in England was the "worst crime a politician can commit, the reason most folk distrust us as a breed". He is right: duplicity, double-dealing and hypocrisy are exactly what corrodes trust in public office.Little did Michael Moore imagine that even as he spoke into the concealed microphone, he was providing further and more damning evidence.

But the issue is bigger than individuals - it goes right to the heart of whether the Lib Dems are able to remain as a coherent part of a coalition.

Interestingly, the Tories seem to have adapted well to power-sharing. By contrast, the Lib Dems seem utterly ill at ease. This, from the party which champions proportional representation and the superiority of the model of coalition government, is remarkable. Having lambasted the Westminster system and mocked it by comparison with coalition-led parliaments all round the world, it is in fact the Lib Dems who have done most to undermine the concept of coalition government at Westminster. As avowed constitutional reformers, they might reflect on that as a spectacular own goal.

David Cameron has been wounded by this too. His own party see blatant double-standards at play. They see ill-disciplined coalition partners and have ample evidence of the contempt in which they are held by many Lib Dem MPs.

In truth, the Lib Dems are revealed as a party which neither has the courage to govern nor the courage to oppose. This is a coalition government in name only. The Lib Dems have utterly failed to take ownership of this government, to understand that this is their government. They are not a pressure group within the government, they are the government.

There are two paths facing the Lib Dems which offer redemption. The first is to embrace the coalition with relish and pride and to work positively and sincerely on making their mark. That choice means taking hard decisions, being unpopular but ultimately gaining respect as a genuine party of government.

The alternative is to accept that the alliance with the Tories cannot work and to withdraw from formal coalition and force a Tory minority government to govern on an issue-by-issue basis, thus allowing parliament to press for concessions on areas of controversy. In that scenario, the Lib Dems can at least present themselves as holding the Tories on something of a leash.

What is utterly unsustainable is the sense that the country is being run by two parties with divergent agendas, deepening mutual suspicion and a willing disregard for the concept of collective responsibility.

Is such a dysfunctional coalition more in the national interest than a Tory minority government? What such a government would lose in not having a parliamentary majority it would gain in clarity of focus and unity of effort. David Cameron has much upon which to reflect over this festive period.