Finally an opportunity has afforded itself to Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats to shift the political tides in a more favourable direction. The Leveson Report has overwhelming public support.
The public demands that Tabloid Newspapers are finally cleaned up and prevented from widescale malpractice for profit. David Cameron has shifted from welcoming the Report before publication to opposing regulation of the press. Nick Clegg has broken ranks and along with Ed Milliband is backing the Leveson Report.
Here is the cause celebre required to break with the Tories and make common cause with Labour. Cross Party talks on Leveson should form the basis of Labour-Liberal Democrat cooperation for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction, Combating UK Child Poverty, Promoting UK EU Membership, Taxation and Youth Unemployment, and a strong Federal United Kingdom.
Already Ed Balls has suggested cooperation with Vince Cable, such conversations could also include constructive dialogue by Lib Dem Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet colleagues with the objective of strengthening the progressive agenda in parliament and within government.
If David Cameron attempts to block or water down Leveson, Clegg and Milliband must sponsor a Lib-Lab Bill in parliament to gain maximum cross party support in favour of a Leveson Bill to provide Legal safeguarding to any independent press abuse watchdog.
This might precipitate the break-up of the coalition but it would be on an issue of principle and an issue where Clegg is in tune with public opinion and Cameron is seen as the puppet of Murdoch and the Daily Mail.
Should this become a vote of confidence in the Cameron government - Clegg should show no fear in making a new "Leveson Coalition" with Labour or fighting an election in 2013 on the slogan - "Pro-Leveson, Pro-Growth".
The new face of British politics is emerging from the Age of Austerity and the face is that of beaming UKIP leader Nigel Farage.
Conservative Vice Chairman Michael Fabricant is urging an electoral pact with UKIP to enable the Conservative Party to win the next election. At the same time the Conservatives are trying to extend the Austerity psychology to turn the clock back to the 1950's. Put the political jigsaw together - the return of O levels, attempts to restrict access to degrees to a small elite, the rise of the rented sector, the pricing of ordinary working class motorists off the road, the rolling back of human rights, employment legislation and health and safety law before 1974. Watch out for the return of corporal punishment, hanging, steam trains, grammar schools, the golden age of atomic power and national service. We've already an old etonian in downing street so rev up the Bentley it's back to the 50's.
What of the future of the Lib Dem-Conservative Coalition? - already we've had back pedalling and blatant renaging on the coalition agreement from the Tories. With the prospect with a post 2015 Anti-European and crypto-rascist right wing coalition between the Tories and UKIP looming, now is the time for the Lib Dems to accuse their present partners of political infidelity and forge a pro-growth, pro-europe and pro-human rights coalition with Labour and the Greens to deliver the correct mix of policies need to return to sustainable prosperity. Chancellor Osborne warns the Age of Austerity lasting 8 years (why because he wants this to happen)
It is clear that the conservatives are intent on using recession, debt and deficit to pursue a covert agenda aimed at social, political and economic rengineering of Britain which will end in the break up the Union, and the exit of britain from europe. Can the Lib Dems block such actions? Is it time to change the incumbent in downing street from Cameron to Milliband.
It is clear that with the nicely timed "Fostergate" issue breaking on the Rotherham By-election that UKIP will do very well in the protest vote.
What UKIP fail to realise that millions of UK jobs in the food, farming and manufacturing industry have relied upon east european migrant labour doing the low paid unpleasant jobs - such as abatoir work and agricultural labouring to enable industries being based in the UK. Had this work not been done, then food companies and certain manufacturers would have been forced to relocate to low cost centres like Portugal and Poland in the 1990's. Just like the London buses and NHS migrant labour has been essential to keep key infrastructure working. If more effective effort had been put into apprenticeships and vocational training then we might see more UK workers in these roles.
Tory policies (NHS reform, education reforms, police chiefs) and politicians (Mitchell, Nadine et al) continue to implode nicely and Lib Dem arguments in favour of taking a harder line against press barons, tax dodgers and Bankers are winning through. Our dogs may bark but beware the sneaky tory caravan rolls on towards 2015. The Conservatives are increasingly shedding their Cameron skins and breaking cover as Thatcher's Children. What is clear is that they will from a policy point of view fighting it out with UKIP for the Right Wing vote leaving the Lib Dems and Labour contesting the Centre Ground and Left of Centre Vote. Had the Lib Dems not entered into the coalition with the Tories this ought to be very good news for the party but we are sadly toxically damaged by being willing accomplices .
As the political game stands at the moment - the only certain thing about 2015 is that the Lib Dems have a high risk of electoral meltdown. So the cards are stacked against us. We keep playing the game, in the hope of events coming to our rescue, but it is increasingly clear that the Conservatives strategy of winning 2015 is based upon the annihilation of the Lib Dems (just like 1924) according to George Osborne's cunning plan, amongst many.
What to do ? - one option (described as the nuclear option) is to simply formally leave the coalition on a matter of moral issue (and there are plenty of them) and leave the Labour Party to take over government on a supply and confidence basis. We have a fixed term parliament so there is a legal requirement for the government to function until 2015 and we can threaten to conclude an electoral "pro-growth" pact with Labour (and possibly other parties) to deter a conservative vote of confidence in parliament. This would allow the Lib Dems to distance our party from the Conservatives, allow the Conservatives to morph into UKIP (Mk2) unfettered and give some better prospect of survival. If we allow the party to be smashed in the 2015 polls, it will split into 2 tiny groups - a Liberal Orange Book Party to be absorbed by the Conservatives, and a Social Liberal Party to be swallowed by Labour.
We can clearly go on for another year or two making mischief of Tory policies from within the coalition but as Tory policies fail they will surely blame us, or tear themselves apart. Either way it will be messy and Labour can take the moral high ground.
We could play the straight bat, trudge on it the national interest, take the blows from all sides and do our best - but without a credible economic plan and a triple dip possible/likely this seem like the actions of stoic lemmings (look at the Liberal Party during the First World War) .
Wait and See until Spring? - the procrastinators option of muddling on is tempting, hopefully a good retail Christmas, a drop in fuel and gas prices, further growth in the enterprise economy to offset public sector cuts - some of this will happen but european and international forces will drag growth down in 2013 unless we see some dramatic action from Obama and Europe to kick start things (unlikely).
So after all - we will keep plodding on then in the national interest, keeping the government in power like a loyal wife being cheated on and knowing that a successor is being groomed (UKIP) to take our place as post 2015 coalition partner, and we will fall on our swords in 2015. Still the idea of tipping up the game board does excite.
