Comment: Why Britain needs a hung parliament
Commentators claim a hung parliament could ruin this country. Far from it: it’s exactly what we need.
By Ian Dunt
If you read the papers, the prospect of a hung parliament will have now taken on the magnitude of the Rapture. According to many commentators, it is basically the End of Days. Chaos will ensue. Weak party coalitions will tear themselves to pieces as the country crumbles to its knees. Back-door negotiations will replace voting. There will be a run on the pound and speculative attacks on our currency. Worst of all. we will become more European.
Calm down, dear. The sensible preparatory work being conducted by Sir Gus O Donnell, head of the civil service, puts the lie to this over-excitement. As ever, the civil service strolls along, making measured, reasonable preparations for a situation which is not particularly concerning. The incumbent stays on with first dibs on forming a coalition. He either succeeds or fails. If he fails and the Commons has no confidence in his attempt at a government, the leader of the opposition has a go. In all probability, Nick Clegg will work with the leader who has the most popular support or seats. It limits the political damage to him later if the government turns out to be unpopular, and it has the ring of democratic legitimacy to it.
People say the parties will tear each other apart in coalition. It is true that we are, rather refreshingly, being offered fairly substantive differences by the three parties this election, but they have not suddenly become so disparate they would be incapable of working together. Ultimately, they are still similar, just as the British have been moaning about since Blair dragged Labour to the centre (where, quite plainly, the British wanted it). The chancellors’ debate on Monday night – which covered the most important topic of the election, deficit reduction – proved that. It was clear the parties are still more united than they are divided. This is not like Michael Foot working with Margaret Thatcher. Clegg could work well with either Gordon Brown or David Cameron.
The markets are jittery. They will calm once it becomes clear events are occurring at their own pace, and according to a set plan. The dire predictions of economic chaos are grossly overstated. More importantly: we cannot be held to ransom by the market. It is responsible for our devastation today, and we will still be paying for its lunacy decades from now. The market wants firm plans to cut the deficit. Fine, as far as it goes, but the market does not overrule the democratic will of the British people.
This will is the most important factor. A hung parliament is only a possibility because it reflects what the public want. If the British public believed in the policy agenda or the competence of any of the three main parties this would not be happening. Plainly, the current polling reflects the fact that the Lib Dems are considered too naive for power, Labour is detested, and the Tories are still – after all this time – not liked and not trusted.
In actual fact, a hung parliament could be a good thing. After all, the Lib Dems could secure some needed and important concessions from either of the two big boys – such as proportional representation or the return of some of our civil liberties. The Lib Dems are not ready to take charge of government, but the country might do well from having them involved in government, especially if they keeps a rein on the Tories or Labour.
Given the lack of faith in any of these parties, it is not such a bad thing to have a weak government. The concept is anathema to Britain, which is why we persist with the first-past-the-post electoral system. But when the British public show no obvious preference, it is ethical for the government to be weak.
Given all three main parties are essentially on the same page when it comes to the deficit (the only disagreement concerning timing) we don’t need to worry about weakness in the face of this particular issue. And on other issues, weakness is actually a plus. With Labour obsessively tearing up British freedoms and the Tories offering a host of questionable policies, we should welcome a limit on their powers.
Don’t listen to the raving bewilderment of the right-wing press. A hung parliament could do this country some good.
The views expressed in politics.co.uk’s comment pages are not necessarily those of the website or its owners.
