Copy of Lib Dem coalition agreement with Tories

[James Barber]

Please see attached for copy of the Liberal Democrat coalition agreement with the Conservatives.

Tell me what you think. Shame Labour didn't take a potential coalition seriously.

[James Barber]

-- moved topic --

[MitchK]

Good luck. As a Tory, I hope it will work well.

I do think Europe will prove a difficult topic though.

[EDmummy]

@James, that is a little disingenuous of you. A deal with Labour would have been incredibly unstable purely because of the numbers. Thankfully, some of those in the Labour camp recognised this.

[katie1997]

MitchK Wrote:

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> I do think Europe will prove a difficult topic

> though.

I'm not so sure it will as Cameron should be able to bat off protests from the anti-Europe camp by citing appeasement of the Libdems. He might be able to steer a path that is very centre-right on Europe. Coalition both already agreed to no Euro according to this.

[Gimme]

There is definitely a lot of optimism about the coalition government - it could be a historic change that makes British politics forever. I would be absolutely delighted if it works. But most people I have spoken to trust the Tories as far as they can spit them and think that there's a big shafting coming at some point.

What happens when the AV bill goes to Parliament and the Tory backbenches ignore the whip and it gets voted down? The offenders get a smack on the hand, the Lib Dems pull out of coalition, the country goes to the polls and the Lib Dems get wiped out as everyone sees the failure of the Coalition as making a Lib Dem vote irrelevant.

It would be great if Cameron really wants this coalition to work but can he keep his sneaky, self-serving party on the leash for more than the honeymoon period?

[James Barber]

Hi EDmummy,

Sunday night one Lib Dem MP I spoke to was hoping for a coalition of national unity with Lib Dems, Labour and nationalists. I found this the most attractive possibility and Gordon Brown enabling that by announcing his standing down from Labour Party leader seem to herald this progressing.

The parliamentary maths isn't quite what it seems as IRA never attend. Additionally, nationalists should be nervous of tories trying to run a minority administration as they have one Scottish MP and tories had remarked about 70% of spending in Wales being government and that this should be reduced.

Problem seemed lack of serious negotiation and backbench Labour MPs such as Blunkett queuing to be on the telly saying no way and they wouldn't support it. For many such MPs First Past The Post guarantees them a job for life. AV threatens that + proposed right to recall an MP to fight a by-election + house of lords being elected which is currently used for retiring MPs to soften the blow.

Frankly I don't get it. Either you want your policies or as many as possible or you don't really care. To throw away the potential of a coalition preferring to see a mix of Lib Dem and Tory policies. I just don't get it.

Do take a look at the agreement. Interesting reading of what the next 5 years should bring.

Hi Gimme,

Ditto. My instincts nationally.

Except serious breaches will involve an election. Not sure voters would relish an election caused by breaching an agreement MP's consented to enter. I'd hope for wreckers to be punished by voters. But I'm an idealist.

[Ladymuck]

Firstly, thanks for providing this Mr. Barber.

Personally, I would have preferred a red/yellow coalition. However, we don't always get what we want but, now that the blues/yellows are in power I hope it works in the national interests of all our citizens. I can't help being cynical though - the Tories' record with respect to the poor doesn't inspire me.

That said, I am pleased to note that the blue/yellow coalition will be raising the capital gains tax rate to streamline it with income tax as well as increasing the income tax threshold to ?10,000. Hopefully, both these measures should go some way to reducing the huge income equality gap between the richest/poorest. Though much more needs to be done.

Still, it's a promising start.

[Loz]

I am just loving the Civil Liberties section. 13 years of authoritarian, big brother government to be rolled back. The UK is rolling back the police state.

[tomk]

Selling out to the Tories. Well done Lib Dems.

[Loz]

How do you see this as selling out? Considering they came to the table with a mere 57 MPs, I'm not sure of how they could have done any better. Thanks to Labour at least looking like they were interested, I think the LibDems have done better than they'd ever hoped. A good proportion of their manifesto is now part of the coalition manifesto, they have five cabinet ministers and one-third (!) of their MPs are going to get ministerial roles. After years in the political wilderness, they have a chance to put their ideas into practice.

And isn't that why people voted LibDem? Or do you think they vote for them to be an ineffective minority voice in opposition. As soemone who did vote for them, I am tremendously pleased. The Tory's ability to manage the economy with the LIbDem as their social conscience. As they say, it's crazy, but it just might work.

What did you expect them to do, tomk? Team up with five different parties into an unworkable coalition, or sit down with the Tories and hammer out a solid and credible plan for government? The Tory/LibDem coalition may or may not come off. The 'traffic light' coalition was doomed to failure.

And, believe it or not, it's good for Labour. Any party in government for too long becomes tired and bereft of ideas, and the past Labour administration was no exception. A period in opposition will allow them to strip away the dead wood and come back refreshed under one of the Milibands. That is, unless the are stupid enough to elect Ed Balls.

[tomk]

Minority Tory govt.

[JohnL]

and now apparently

The NI increase for Employees next april goes ahead !!!!!!!!

Glad I didn't fall for the spiel.

[tomk]

Lost on: economy (first year cuts, Cable away from Treasury), tuition fees, Trident, Afghanistan, Education, Mansion tax, Immigration, asylum seeker, PR, AV (which will be opposed now by both major parties), no posts of any significance for a Lib Dem (Alexander sent to Scotland where the LDs are now detested, Cable in charge of 'new ideas' according to the press conference!, Dep Pm for Nick Prescott, Laws chucked into Treasury as he's seen as right-wing and city-friendly- likely to be marginalised by Osbourne).

Most of the compromises seem to be areas which would never have made it through a minority govt - inheritance tax, repeal of human rights act, married tax allowance) or areas where Tories already agreed- ID cards etc-thereby negating any gain through coalition.

The Tory party were advocating a tax cut for the wealthy while planning the removal of SureStart. To me this says it all. As long as LD voters are happy that they are now Tory wets (and I think a lot are) then fine.

[JohnL]

They have the option of crossing the floor once Milliband senior becomes Labour leader ... and the proverbial starts hitting the fan.

.... and didn't Sir Geoffrey once give his indication of what he thought of the Deputy PM post.

[James Barber]

Significant parts of the Lib Dem national manifesto is part of the coalition agreement. Significant parts of the Tory manifesto is not. It's called compromise.

Labour party could'nt deliver compromises and prefer to be in opposition than compromise. Clearly its not that bothered about having its policies in place.

I'm really looking forward to a rapid increase in the tax allowance upto ?10,000. Many people will during the next five years be taken out of paying income tax.

[tomk]

From the coalition document: 'we also agree to a longer term policy objective of further increasing the personal allowance to ?10k, making further real terms steps each year towards this objective. We agree that this should take priority over other taxcuts...'

Good luck with getting this to ever actually materialise, especially when we enter the the LibTory 'Age of Austerity' with Osbourne claiming the figures are FAR worse than the Labour liars ever admitted - leaving nothing for tax cuts at all.

And it's 'Labour's financial crisis' apparently - strange that I remember Obama and Bush being right in the middle of sorting it out. Good to see that the 'new politics' hasn't changed the old blame-game. Thanks Nick. PS. Any women in the cabinet? Anyone not privately-educated? Has it gone above 5 yet?

Thanks Lib Dems.

[????]

You're confusing THE global Financial crisis with the state of our public finances, the latter IS very much down to Gordon, sorry. Now tory tax cuts would have looked awful and been irresponsible (though fiscally not amounting to much) but the state of our budget defeceit and the carnage that's to come is a result of a continued long term overspending by the state in general (Labour and Tory) which has been horrendously accelerated and amplified by the totally politically motivated, hubristic and irresponsible spending spree of Brown in his 'no more boom and bust' phase. Once he left the Tory defined plan on public spending in the early 2000s (remember when he was prudent) our spending and defeceit has spiralled out of control on Gordon's credit card binge. It was unsound, stupid and basically our country needs to stop living beyond its means or we will be Greece, as it is it's not going to be pleasant as with Pensions, Education and Health ringfenced (rightly so but that's well over half of total spend) the we are going to have to cut the remaining budget by 50% or so in the next 3 years to get back on track, utterrly awful....Labour just wouldn't have been able to do that, it's not in its DNA nor would it's high percentage of Unison/unite MPs allowed it....once more, that's the problem with socialism you eventually run out of other people's money...(or I'd add credit). We are near that point.

The sooner people take this on board, as to a degree the Liberal Democrats have, then we can get on with trying to sort this mess out over the next painful 5 years or so, people in general and the left just seems completley unwilling to face up to these basic numbers there is no way out of this. Painful as it is we would be best to accept it take our painful medecine in unity...if we run out of credit and default believe me it will be the weak, poor, marginalised, ill and elderly

who will suffer the most. Reality check.

[Brendan]

I can sympathise with tomk?s position but I think those arguments would only hold up if the Labour party were a viable option, an actual liberal opposition to a right wing conservative government and not just an ideologically vacuous vote winning machine with autocratic leadership completely out of touch with the realities of modern society and reliant only on traditional allegiance for the core support it has.

[Keef]

A good friend of mine, who has been very interested in politics since our school days (when the rest of us had no idea or interest, he was working at party conferences), sent the following to his Lib Dem MP this morning. He was Labour for a long time, and then went Lib Dem. He now feels betrayed.

I am now leaving the party as a result of this deal.

It is the terms of the deal that has left me feeling so betrayed and angry.

I did not walk countless streets delivering leaflets and canvassing to elect a Lib Dem MP who would then:

*Support a cap on immigration

*Support immediate spending cuts

*Support the replacement of trident

*Not push for more integration with Europe

*Give up on the Euro

*Ring-fenced NHS spending

*Giving up on the Citizens pension

*Support grounding orders for young people and numerous other right-wing policies.

*Support Tory policies on University funding

Our MPs will also be forced to abstain on issues they have campaigned so strongly against such as nuclear power and tax cuts for married couples.

The referendum on AV is a also an enormous sell out of our parties long held belief in PR. AV is no fairer or proportional than FPTP. We all know this and have said it for ages. If this then passes, we will get no more proportional elections and we have it it will put genuine electoral reform and PR off the agenda for a generation.

The tax agreement is also only words - and you will 'move towards raising the threshold to ?10,000'

Everything that makes us distinctive and everything that I pushed for on doorsteps after doorsteps for 8 years around the country has been left ou

The deal is done but I applore you to do all you can to try and influence it further and rein in their worst excesses

I suspect this won't be the only letter like this that various Lib Dems will be receiving.

Edited to just leave the important points, and less of the emotion.

[????]

That's the reaction they'll get from many for what is actually a very brave decision to try and avert this country from financial catasrophe.......their braveness will almost certainly not be reawarded because most people have no conception or willingness to take on board how dire our situation is. The Labour inner guard know it which is why they are mainly pleased that they won't have to take these tough decisions (again). This country was going bust in the late 70s and is again now.

[Keef]

their braveness will almost certainly not be reawarded because most people have no conception or willingness to take on board how dire our situation is.

Then perhaps Clegg should push for this all party, + bank of England + whoever else, group, that he went on and on about, to look at the deficit, and tell everyone exactly where we stand.

As far as I can see, they need to be as transparent as possible, letting the country know why they are doing things. That way, they can be judged fairly, and we'll be able to see if they are doing well or not. If they don't do this, they'll be slung out at the earliest possible opportunity.

[????]

They' re looking at the scale of the problem now.

Labour didn't even have the balls to lay out their spending plans as they knew how bad it was. The Tories hinted at it nad saw their polling scores drop......we don't want to knwo! Most economist know how bad it is.

[James Barber]

Sad to see that knee jerk letter/email.

Lib Dems haven't given up on our beliefs or aspirations. But many wont happen in the next five years. Without a coalition very few would happen under the tories or labour.

We have a number of our policies in the coalition agreement. A number of policies we don't. Ditto for the tories.

Deficit. When the economy was doing well labour were still increasing the deficit. At such times you pay back national debt to prepare for bad times. Gordon Brown stated he'd brought about the end of boom and bust - King Canute moments.

As a result little room for fiscal stimulas that we would have had if greater prudence during the good times.

[Keef]

Sad to see that knee jerk letter/email.

I can promise you, the chap who wrote it is not some sort of muppet who will follow a headline. He is someone with passionate beliefs, who feels cheated. Don't be so quick to dismiss.

We have a number of our policies in the coalition agreement. A number of policies we don't. Ditto for the tories.

Yeah, but not really the big ones that won you a lot of your votes. I have traditionally voted Lib Dem, I didn't this time, but I literally felt undecided as I walked in to cast my vote. The things that I did like, that would have made me go Lib Dem, are the things that seem to be missing from this agreement.