Nearly a year after this coalition was formed are we beginning to see people become aware of what this government is all about?
Over the course of the last year much has been said, written and broadcast about this coalition. Many have remarked upon the Liberal Democrats and their policies, the economic situation and the severity of the ‘cuts’ in public spending. However, few if anyone seems to have noticed the real concerning aspects of this government. Firstly, the swift and immediate changes to parliament that took place. I speak in part of the fixing of time a government may sit for, five years, which baring a no confidence vote, highly unlikely given the majority the coalition holds, will mean a general election every five years. In addition to this the parliamentary majority needed to cause a no confidence vote has been raised, further curtailing parliamentary sovereignty and by consequence representative democracy.
Next is the referendum on the alternative voting system, a system, it must be noted, that will permanently produce coalition government, with the Liberal Democrat party holding the balance of power. The outcome of this referendum is as of the writing of this piece unknown as is the campaign itself, either for or against, to the general public!
Thirdly is the question of government policies against manifesto commitments, most notably in recent times the Liberal Democrat pledge on higher education. It would seem that through coalition government both parties, Liberal and Conservative, though particularly the latter, are able and indeed willing to propose and pass legislation which is in direct opposition to their pre-election manifesto promises. Whilst perhaps nothing new about promises being broken would seem the obvious first impression, beneath this appears something much more troubling. With the fig leaf of the Liberal Democrats and the economic situation which the country finds itself in, the coalition is able to make far more radical changes to the economic, cultural and social sectors of the country, not to mention the political.
Add to all of the above the alarming makeup of the cabinet and indeed parliament as a whole, which sees evermore millionaires within both houses of parliament, and all that that brings in terms of public policy and whom it will benefit, must give the concerned something to think about.
Whatever the outcome of this coalition, government and representative democracy will be unquestionably altered without any mandate from the electorate. A worrying trend that has accelerated within the last thirty years now.
