Douglas Carswell's Blog

What is the Coalition for?

To fix the nation’s finances? The Coalition will borrow more during this five year Parliament than Gordon Brown managed over thirteen years. To fix the economy? We’re in a double dip recession.

Is it all about a “new kind of politics”? Not if the AV referendum or House of Lords reform are anything to go by.

Of course, some of the things that some ministers are doing are tremendous. Michael Gove in education. Nick Herbert on policing.  Iain Duncan Smith, Maria Miller and Chris Grayling on welfare. I even rather approve of some of the things Andrew Mitchell is doing to recalibrate our overseas aid effort. 

But where is the over arching theme? The vision? The sense of getting our country off its knees?

Too much is piece meal – particularly when it comes to the economy. Too much is managerialist tinkering – with the Whitehall mandarins in charge. Again and again, tactics get mistaken for a strategy. 

We are now almost mid way through this Parliament. Perhaps over the summer the Coalition partners need to draft a fresh agreement? One that, you know, those of us elected to Parliament could have some say over?

The civil servants working in the Downing Street policy unit might be out of radical ideas. The Parliamentary party isn’t.

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