Layer 307 . . . Meet the New Boss

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Meet the new boss -
Same as the old boss . . .

The Who
Won't Get Fooled Again

So it's 'steady as she goes' Britain - the country's new leaders stand on pretty much the same political ground as the old ones.

Had we not had a hung parliament and a coalition then without a doubt we'd now have a centre-right government. As things stand, however, the new government, thanks to the LibDem presence, has had to commit to the far left of the right-wing spectrum - i.e. somewhat to the left of where the Blair/Brown governments stood. We'll now get banking regulation, abolition of the FSA and return of control over banking to the B of E, greater decentralisation, abolition of the targets culture, fixed term parliaments, a vote on AV/PR, etc. There will also be, potentially, more parliamentary scrutiny and influence over the executive. The executive will have to be more open and transparent about decision-making , thanks to the coalition. There will be much less government by a clique around an over-powerful prime minister.

It's not hard to imagine that Cameron will indeed turn out to be a one-nation Tory, the likes of which we've not seen since the days of MacMillan, or possibly Heath. He'll be helped, not hindered, by the coalition, in his efforts to modernise the Tory party, make it more 'progressive', and minimise the influence of the real 'nasties'. He may even get some of the real dinosaurs and regressives to push off and start their own party. I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he really would like a more equal society, and is less intensely relaxed about the super rich than New Labour was.

Another up-side is not having to listen to the smug and arrogant voices of Balls and Mandelson, Alexander and Cooper, ever again. Thanks to them being thrown down to the same level as the rest of us we can now give them the humbling they so richly deserve.

The Milibands are another matter. It's going to be interesting to observe the political progress of David and Ed. Cruddas and Compass will also be worth watching.
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