In 22 Days in May, his account of the coalition negotiations, David Laws, the Lib Dem MP and former chief secretary to the Treasury, claims that the Lib Dems were well-prepared. Yet the truth is that whatever the contents of the coalition agreement, things were likely to go wrong. For a left-of-centre party to join a right-wing government is just asking for trouble.
Neither of the other two alternatives facing the Lib Dems in 2010 was particularly attractive. A coalition with Labour and a clutch of minority parties was mathematically fragile and unstable. Offering conditional support for, but not actually joining, a minority Conservative government would not have been an enticing prospect. Yet both would have been more palatable for their own supporters.
My strong conviction is that there is only one rational course now open to the Lib Dems. It is to disengage from the coalition well before the general election. The earlier they do this, the greater the chance that they might detoxify themselves in the eyes of at least a segment of their former voters. The actual issue on which they choose to resign, though significant, is of secondary importance. What is crucial is that they should stick to their new found intention to vote down the proposed redistribution, and reduction in the number, of seats. This is essential to the (relative) survival of the party, which would lose quite disproportionately from its imposition.
Once they have resigned, the Lib Dems should use the time remaining in the present parliament to build up a record of constructive opposition to the government, not disdaining to co-ordinate, where appropriate, with Labour and other opposition parties.
For its part, Labour would be well advised to welcome the Lib Dems as prodigal sons who have returned to the fold, rather than cold-shouldering them for their previous apostasy. Despite their present large lead in the polls, it is all too likely that they will need the support of even a sadly diminished Lib Dem party in order to govern. For the Lib Dems, this would provide an opportunity to recreate themselves as a progressive party, able to form a partnership more in accord with its traditional principles.
It is evident that Labour would potentially gain considerably from what I propose, and readers may reasonably suspect that this is, at least in part, my motivation for putting it forward. Yet it is my contention that it would be in the mutual interest of both parties.
