So the negotiations are over.  The UK is to have its first coalition government since 1945, and Liberal Democrats will sit in the Cabinet.  After the disappointments of last Thursday it is all very different.

I joined the Liberal Party in 1974.  I have waited a long while for us to have the chance to shape the policies of the government.

There are great risks: “Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly.”  But the Lib Dem fly comes armed and cannot be devoured – at least until the next election is called.

From what I hear, the deal that has been thrashed out incorporates significant Liberal Democrat objectives.  We will, of course, have to compromise and accept some Conservative ones too.  That’s the price to be paid for an agreement between two parties.

It’s not just a matter of promoting Liberal Democrat views but also of curbing the extreme position taken by others.  There will be Lib Dems who detest the idea of working with the tories, but right wing Conservatives will hate this arrangement even more.  The need to work with us will be used by the tory leadership to justify the abandonment of policies cherished by the right-wingers and europhobes.

A deal with Labour was not credible.  A Lab-Lib government would have survived the first crucial votes but it would have been worn down by attrition.  Vote after vote would have been lost in the months that followed until the government collapsed in disarray.  We would not have had the strong, stable government able to make the difficult decisions now required, and we would have little or nothing to show by way of achievement.

We have not got a commitment to a proportional voting system, which is bad news, but we don’t have the votes in Parliament to secure it.  Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.  I hope the other political reforms that have been agreed, and the hugely enhanced credibility that our party now gains, will stand us in good stead for the future.

I have known Nick Clegg for 12 years.  We had next door offices for the 5 years we shared in the European Parliament.  I voted for him to become party leader.  I like him and I trust him.  I have no doubt that the deal negotiated by he and the team that included our own Andrew Stunell (Hazel Grove) is as good as we were ever likely to get.

The way ahead will be rocky, and what lies ahead is uncertain, but today I am proud to be a Liberal Democrat and I am looking forward to the journey.

Chris Davies MEP

11 May 2010

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