Withholding judgement

[andrewducker]

I'm waiting to see what the Lib Dems and Conservatives have agreed.

If they have managed to get the bottom end of Income Tax raised to £10,000 through, prevented the rise in Inheritance Tax exemptions, and stopped the ridiculous marriage giveaway then that's a good start. If they can get a referendum on voting reform in, then I'll actually be happy.

The Lib Dems were never going to get a majority. And that means working with one of the other parties in order to get some of what they wanted. Labour were refusing to negotiate (last rumour I heard was that ID cards were a major sticking point), so if they can get what they want out of the Tories then I'm right behind them.

The Tories cannot pass _anything_ without Lib-Dem backing. I'm hoping that this takes the worst edges off of them. If it doesn't - if they just back the Tories irrespectively and don't get electoral reform, then they deserve to go down in flames.

Now to wait for the details...

(Some stuff here, and Robert Peston's take here)

Comments

[nojay.livejournal.com]

The Queen's Speech on May 25 will reveal exactly what legislative program the two parties can agree on. What will be chopped is another matter; a lot of the more odious stuff NuLab has pushed through over the past decade after the older Labour Party bods got sick of the Blairites and departed doesn't require statutory legislation to get rid of (ID Cards, the sus laws etc.) There's also the future Trident program expenditures, the Afghanistan adventure and the expected round of cuts to spending programs to revisit now that Lord Mandelson is no longer running things.