UK General Election 2010
As new power axis begins to emerge, this election has delivered a hung parliament necessitating an unholy alliance to bring in measures that will require a strong and resolute governorship.
There are a number of observations we can make at this point, namely that this hung parliament does not look good for a time during which some unpopular policies will have to be endured in order to rectify the financial crisis. The financial crisis that we now face is a massive national debt, and a global economy facing uncertainty following the problems in Greece and the possible effects on the Euro - some commentators are even predicting a new recession following on immediately after the one we have just left behind us. Let's state for the record - anything can happen in a free economy - another recession is not as unlikely as it might seem, and this time...who will bail us out?
Domestically, we are hamstrung without strong Government. To be quite frank, right now my advice to David Cameron would be to make it look like you were trying to make a fist of it...then step back and let a Lib-Lab alliance actually take the parliamentary reins. A totally unsustainable government would then have a disastrous six months after which you could come back with a massive majority. I am very much bearing in mind the warning issued by the governor of the Bank of England that the next party to come to power will be so unpopular as to be unelectable for a generation.
This would be a costly and risky strategy, and I am banking that no politician can resist power even when it is likely to be hamstrung and short-lived.
There is no real danger of a Lib-Lab alliance however, I am personally of the opinion that the two losers of an election have NOT earned the right to rule. Like it or not, the fate of the country currently rests with the Conservatives having won the election without managing to 'win' a majority of seats. I use the term 'won the election' very deliberately - there is no doubt in my mind that the Tories have won, at least in the sense that they got the most votes and surely no-one else thinks there is another party that has won?
We will no doubt see a Tory/Lid Dem alliance take the reins, and maybe the labour party should prepare themselves to return to power when this alliance falls on it's face? I don't know how this can possibly work, however economically all three leading parties recognise there is a hard road ahead and spending must be reined in. In fact, when you think of it further belt-tightening domestically, coupled with the threat of national bankruptcy in European countries sounds like a certain recipe for a second recession close on the heels of the one we are just recovering from.
The period that is to come was always going to be hard.. a weak government (as a hung parliament surely is) will not have the backbone to administer the unpalatable medicine, and could well end up just offering a placebo.
Related posts:
Economic Fix?
Slow Recovery
End of Recession
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