New Government

I'm probably going to vote for the Lib Dems in the next election. Seems to me that Labour have cocked everything up, but the Tories are even more self-interested than the present incumbents. So, as I have done for the last few elections, the middle party gets my vote.

The odd thing is that, despite the fact that Vince Cable is regarded as probably the best (or, at least, most trusted) person to run the economy, people are still loath to vote for them. The reason usually given is that "the Lib Dems have no experience running a government".

Trouble is, this is a hopelessly naive and incorrect reason. Let's look at how many of the current Conservative front-bench have government experience:

David Cameron and George Osbourne have been MPs since 2001 and have no government experience. Only William Hague and Kenneth Clark have substantial experience of being in government. In fact, of the 32 members of the Shadow Cabinet, only 10 have any experience in government - and some of that is just in lowly positions.

And when Tony Blair became PM, his government experience was, erm, nil too. He, along with the majority of Labour MPs had spent their entire careers in opposition. Blair only became an MP in 1983; four years into the Thatcher administration.

You can argue that at least now the Tories do have some experience. As did Labour in 1997. But that's irrelevant, I think. The machinery of government is actually run by the civil service. The job of politicians is to come up with the ideas and policies and let the civil service actually make the machinery work.

I think that the Lib Dems of today deserve as much of a chance as the Labour party did in 1997. People are always complaining that the two big parties never get it right.

So, let's give someone else a chance to get it wrong this time...