Rather than dreading the new era of coalition parliaments as Matthew d’Ancona writes (You think coalition government was bad? What’s coming is uglier, 20 April), this change is to be welcomed. What has characterised recent history is the drift from parliamentary to executive government, a move from open to closed government. Tony Blair’s was a “sofa government” and under the current coalition decision-making is largely confined to an inner circle. Andrew Lansley’s NHS reforms were sprung on parliament without any previous public debate; Iain Duncan Smith’s cruel reform of welfare continues without any real parliamentary debate or scrutiny. (There is a consensus within parliament that the universal credit is desirable, so there little real debate on the merits of the scheme. In fact his original shadow opponent, Liam Byrne, was said to share his views of welfare reform.) If there is a large influx of SNP MPs, the Commons will again become the arena in which major decisions are taken, as whoever is in government will have to win the support of the Commons. I for one hope there is a large influx of MPs from the nationalist parties, as it will mean the end of the lazy and cosy decision-making that has governed politics for the past 20 years.
Derrick Joad
Leeds
• Matthew d’Ancona paints a picture full of foreboding of a future coalition government for the UK, yet the facts indicate a more rosy picture. We have been governed for five years by a remarkably successful coalition of Tory and Lib-Dem politicians, moving from a position of deep financial gloom to one of real optimism with nearly full employment and the prospect of growth enabling resources to support institutions such as the NHS. He describes continental coalitions as messy; however, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland all have well-established coalition governments that are robust and conducive to peaceful change, which have arisen as a result of constitutional amendments whereby those at the edge of the political mainstream generally do not feel isolated. Perhaps we should look to reducing the bear-pit atmosphere in our politics by adopting the more conciliatory arrangements of some of our European neighbours.
Ron Austin
Hadleigh, Suffolk
• So Matthew d’Ancona has noticed that the one-party model is almost obsolete: “Five years ago it was a three-way contest.” Not in Scotland and Wales it wasn’t. It has not been so for 16 years in the Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly elections. English political commentators and English politicians took little notice of the coalitions and minority governments in the devolved nations. The SNP has capitalised on this, and the map of leaders’ campaign visits (20 April) shows Miliband falling into the same trap in Wales. He feels he can safely ignore Wales as it will always vote Labour, but that was also true of Scotland until the electorate noticed that the interests of English Labour and English Conservatism might not coincide with the needs of the people of Scotland.
Dr Martin Price
Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan
• Jonathan Freedland writes (A battle is looming over Ed Miliband’s legitimacy, 18 April) that the Conservative party and press will make a big fuss if Labour forms a government without being the largest party. He is right – but they will not have the power to do anything about it. Were Miliband to concede the point, he would show himself quite incapable of standing up to vested interests – but standing up in this way has been one of his great selling points. Similarly, if the Lib Dems insist they will favour the largest party they will destroy their negotiating position, making a vote for them entirely pointless. In other words, the danger Freedland describes is that Labour and Lib Dem politicians commit suicide. Of course, that has happened in the past.
Charles Seaford
London
• If, despite all the warnings from the Tories, UK voters elect MPs in the right numbers to make a Labour-SNP arrangement viable, then surely the voters have given it legitimacy?
Rod Logan
Walton-on-Thames
• Jonathan Freedland sketches an election scenario in which the Tories have 10 seats more than Labour but not enough to form a majority government. He says that having these few extra seats would seem to give legitimacy to the Tories, whom the rightwing press would cheer on to form a government. Yes, initially. But if, after trying to govern as a minority, the Tories soon lost a vote of confidence, constitutionally the Queen would have to ask Ed Miliband if he could try to form a government. With “confidence and supply” support from the SNP, Plaid Cymru and possibly the DUP, he might well be able to do this. I think this is a more likely outcome if the final result is inconclusive in the way Jonathan Freedland describes.
John Boaler
Calne, Wiltshire
• Greens, Lib Dems and others are being short-sighted if they don’t vote tactically this time (Letters, 18 April). If they help to secure a Labour government, they will be in a stronger position to secure legislation for proportional representation by 2018. That way will the quickest for some of their strongly held views to succeed.
Alan Dickinson
Dunbar, East Lothian
