THE SMACK OF FIRM GOVERNMENT

Wednesday 4 March

GOODBY TO THE SMACK OF FIRM GOVERNMENT

We Brits with our love of smacked bottoms have always loved strong, Churchillian style government by a dominatrix like Mrs T, or a man of destiny like Tony B who could lead us into war with any small country available. The role of parliament, I used to joke was to heckle the steamroller

Well as Roy Orbison said it's over. It's over. It's over. Why? Not so much because parliament is now toothless, though it is,but because the base of the parties is disintegrating.In their heyday over 90% of the electorate voted for one of the two main parties Now less than two thirds do so, and because of the increase in the numbers of the pissed off people,  no party is going to get the clear majority it needs to screw the country in its own unique way.

Poor old Cam has pioneered the new world with a coalition which constantly reversed itself, changed its mind and missed its targets. Next time it will be worse because having learned from bitter experience no party now wants a coalition. So the next government can propose what it wants and then see it scrapped because the minor parties won't take it.

Labour should be bold and make offers the country and the mini parties can't refuse, but we didn't have the nerve so we'll legislate for a series of mini measures and hope some of them float. We'll have government by deals and fixes which no one will like but which will certainly be better than government by will and wrongheadedness a la Thatcher.

I won't be there to moan about it but I'm sure it will be better than Thatcher's triumph of the will  and Cameron's excuses for the wander. It might even pave the way for proportional representation which is the only way to manage the politics of a pluralist society with multi parties not just two dinosaurs. I love Labour but the Palaeolithic is past.

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Just been to lecture at Wroxton, Lord North's house.How wonderful to see the house of the man who lost America now occupied by an American university and filled with keen students who, I fear,were more interested in BRITISH race relations than my sermon on the British political system.