Why I'm backing the Lib Dem - Conservative coalition (updated version)

This Sunday, I will be travelling to Birmingham to attend the special conference of Liberal Democrat members called by Nick Clegg to approve the formation of a coalition government with the Conservative party. I plan to vote in favour of this new alliance and having been chosen by my branch party to represent them to this conference, I feel compelled to explain why.

I should begin by clearly stating that ideally in a hung parliament scenario, I would always prefer my party to retain its independence and work with a minority government on a case by case basis in return for co-operation on passing the reforms expected of them by the voters. However, these are exceptional times and minority governments don't tend to last long in this country. Maintaining the tentative recovery of the economy is everyone’s top priority right now and I therefore agree that the decision to commit ourselves to a long-term agreement was the right one.

Despite the near unanimous approval of the coalition deal by Lib Dem MPs and the federal executive, thereby circumventing the formal need for a conference, Nick Clegg has wisely chosen to consult with the party’s membership nonetheless to ensure their views on his new ‘kind’ of government are heard. To be sure, there will be many who will echo the reluctance of several MPs to enter into coalition with the Conservatives at the expense of a ‘progressive alliance’ with the Labour party. I will not be one of them.

Ultimately, the numbers game alone made any possibility of such a pact unworkable in that even a full Lib-Lab coalition would have had to operate as a minority government, relying on the support of a wide range of other parties each with their own demands. However, my opposition to a partnership of any sort with the Labour party was more fundamental than that.

As hard as it is to admit, it cannot be denied that Labour and the Liberal Democrats were the losers of this election and the Conservatives the winners; they just didn't win by enough. As the party of proportional representation, a hung parliament presented the Liberal Democrats with a unique opportunity to sell the desirability of coalition government to the public. To use their new found power to freeze out the party that received the most votes and the most seats would have had precisely the opposite effect.

I am also bemused by the notion that an alliance with this Labour party would have been a progressive one. I still remember Glenda Jackson, the Labour MP for my home constituency, defending her party’s record on the economy by unashamedly admitting that Labour ‘courted’ the City to win election after election. I still remember Gordon Brown abolishing the 10p tax band, doubling the rate for some of Britain’s poorest earners. I still remember the attempts to allow 90 days of pre-charge detention. I still remember the illegal invasion of Iraq.

Instead, let us call a spade a spade and realise that there is no progressive alliance to be made, but rather a sensible compromise of campaign pledges. Let us also give credit to David Cameron’s Conservatives for the concessions they have made in return for our support. Liberal Democrat MPs now hold five cabinet posts, positions awarded at the expense of five Conservative shadow secretaries. In addition, we now have commitments to a referendum on the Alternative Vote, to our plan to lift low earners out of income tax and restore the earnings link of state pensions, to pupil premiums, financial reform, and perhaps most importantly fixed parliaments to ensure the long term survival of the coalition.

Finally I would urge any Liberal Democrat members who remain sceptical still to consider the alternative: a minority Conservative government. It is doubtful that such a government would last long on its own. It is certain that we would be blamed for forcing another election in which our opponents would have no problem convincing the public we could not be trusted with real power and in which the Conservatives would almost certainly achieve the sweeping majority they crave. In the meantime, the passage of any legislation would be dependent on the support of hard-right Tory backbenchers enthusiastic about tax cuts for the rich and spending cuts for everyone else as well as hostile to gay rights and our continued membership of the EU.

So, while I will definitely heed the calls of my fellow members to demand that Nick Clegg think carefully when dealing with the issues that will inevitably arise as the new government gets to work such as deciding on a cap for non-EU immigration, consolidating the parties’ divergent positions on nuclear power, and realising the full implications of the proposed ‘sovereignty bill’, I also urge them to join me in offering their full support for the coalition deal as it is put before us on Sunday.