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See Also: Conservative/Lib Dem policies

Clare Spencer | 12:08 UK time, Thursday, 13 May 2010

Commentators consider the Lib Dem / Conservative policies.

the coalition:

"The most exciting thing about this is that it's not just a reconfiguration of power - it has the potential to change the way we do politics here, to work its way into our political rhetoric and body language. Ìý
"How for instance, will 'collective responsibility' work in this government? One of the things that kills politics here is that all front-bench politicians of one party have to stick to one line, even when they plainly disagree with it - hence the public perception that all politicians are dishonest. Ìý
"Will the Lib Dems and Tories be able to find a new, more candid way of discussing their differences in power, without undermining their cohesion?"

the Lib Dem policies which have been sacrificed:

The 'Liberal Conservative' (that's what Cameron called it) coalition document contains the word 'abstain' three times. That's an advantage of the digital age, you can search the pdf on the Conservatives' website.
Ìý

"Those are three policies on which the Liberal Democrats say that they will abstain if they do not agree with the Conservatives. They are:
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"1. The marriage tax allowance.
2. Replacing nuclear power stations.
3. Higher tuition fees."

Conversely the the Tories gave away too much power to the Lib Dems:

"But the question still needs asking: was it really necessary for Mr Cameron to give the LibDems such enormous influence over policy - from the increase in Capital Gains Tax, which will hammer savers, to the radical plans for the voting system? Was he really obliged to give a quarter of Cabinet seats to partners who polled 3.8million fewer votes and behaved with such duplicity during the coalition talks? And why did Mr Cameron feel obliged to keep referring to a 'Liberal-Conservative coalition'? Did he really need to rub his party faithful's noses in it? The Mail acknowledges that the new Prime Minister has played his poor hand with consummate tactical skill."

that Conservatives have antipathy towards Lib Dem policies:

"Conservative MPs who have fought the Lib Dems are looking green around the gills at having to swallow stuff that a week ago they were telling us would destroy the nation. For them, the only good Liberal is a dead one, preferably suffocated by the mendacious campaign leaflets that are the yellow peril's stock-in-trade. High-profile jobs for Liam Fox and Iain Duncan Smith will not easily calm the anger of the traditional Right. Many Lib Dems, in turn, are appalled at finding themselves in bed with David Cameron, when they had spent the night before chatting up that Labour bloke they'd always fancied."

that the coalition will result in mostly Tory policies:

"But nothing that made the Lib Dems distinctive, such as cancelling Trident or offering an amnesty to asylum seekers, will be even up for discussion. Instead they'll be boasting: "The new Budget is a positive example of coalition rule, in that the Conservatives made the economic decisions, but Vince Cable decided on the font it was published in... A consensus has been created that the deficit must must MUST be cut, as if to oppose cuts in welfare and public spending is as futile as trying to stop the laws of physics. So we'll now have a period of new modern politics, in which a Prime Minister from Eton and a Chancellor from St Paul's in coalition with a chap from Westminster Public School force the bulk of the population to pay for a mess they didn't create, rather than upset the richest one per cent who've enjoyed an unprecedented rise in their wealth."

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