There is a lot going on for the Coalition. The waters have become quite rough. The voyage ahead will not be easy.
First Libya. There is deep unease about this across the country. A poll shows only 38% in favour, lower than even the Iraq war at the outset. With cuts at the fore, the cost is also an issue which bothers people. Gaddafi hangs on. No significant British interests are at stake in Libya, or will be made more secure by his departure. In fact we really have no idea what sort 0f government will emerge if he goes. The are now persistent rumours of negotiations behind the scenes and it is profoundly to be hoped that these will get somewhere and are not just wishful thinking, or Gaddafi buying time. A more grown up view will have to be taken about an amnesty for Gaddafi and his henchmen, if they are to leave quietly. They are not going to give up to international arrest and trial. The issue is not justice for the abuses of the past, but to save innocent lives from now on. Getting the country out of this mess before it gets really messy will be a triumph for Hague. If not, it will be a disaster for Cameron.
Education continues to confuse and annoy. What was needed was rigour in the curriculum and the examination system, more power to teachers and reductions in barmy risk averse procedures, inspectorates and co-ordinators. At this moment of financial peril we did not need to change existing school structures, set up free schools, or muck about with the EMA or Fresh Start. The latter two are among the best bits of Labour’s pretty dodgy education legacy and represent sound investment in the country’s future. As for tuition fees; enough to say the coalition managed to take a very bad policy from Labour, who introduced the concept of tuition fees and make it a good deal worse. Whilst there are some very good bits of Gove’s effort, he has turned out to be a pretty shambolic minister. Vince, who was against the whole business of an increase in tuition fees, like all pledged members of his party, should have stood his ground and fought for his tax.
Then there are the health reforms. These are needed. Or better said, what is needed is the abolition of the entire NHS bureaucracy which is not concerned with running the logistics or patient care, so as to re-invest the huge savings in providing a proper health service, instead of an expensive self perpetuating procedure, which regards patients as a fuel. G.P’s must be responsible for each patient and their care throughout their lives and their treatment. People want a doctor in charge of their case and them, who understands the issues in the round and who calls in specialists and treatments according to their individual need. They do not want a different face every time they go to a surgery who can give them ten minutes only and that up to an hour late, whose power is limited to printing a prescription or referring them on to a hospital where waiting for everything is an apparent cultural necessity. Put in this context the reforms should be widely acclaimed, especially as the vast majority of better GP’s support them. Nevertheless by a process of mismanagement of the message and flagrant dishonesty during the general election from the Tories, these reforms are now in trouble. What a mess.
We must not forget the local elections and the referendum. It is as yet to early to predict the outcome, other than to say that Labour may do quite well. As for the referendum, if it goes No, the Lib Dems are in trouble. End Game stuff.