The LibDems - fair weather enemies

At least you know where you are with Labour and the Tories – but you can never say that about the LibDems.  They have twice coalesced with Labour because, they said, Labour was the leading party. But when the SNP becomes the leading party they promptly go into opposition with Labour. So what on earth is the point of voting LibDem?

How heartening that there is now hell to pay in their struggling party. This is hardly surprising when you consider that 80% of LibDem members favour doing a deal with the SNP, according to polls. At this rate Nicol Stephen’s Canute-style leadership must be in some danger from more thoughtful LibDems including Tavish Scott.

Stephen’s behaviour is all the more bizarre when you consider his is the primary party of coalition politics. So what on earth is going on?

Let’s recap. Labour and the LibDems fixed the voting system for Holyrood so that they could govern together for ever. All those years ago it was also understood, unofficially, that if New Labour ever got into difficulty in the Commons then there would be a LibLab pact to keep the Tories out.

As Jim Wallace was negotiating coalition in Edinburgh with Donald Dewar he was impeded all the way by the not-so-invisible hand of Paddy Ashdown. Wallace was driven to distraction by Ashdown’s persistent meddling – and to his eternal credit he stood up to his federal leader.

I suspect history is repeating itself but this time there is no resistance from Stephen. Sir Ming will have been on the telephone to Stephen while Gordon Brown, also an inveterate meddler, has been leaning on Labour. There is a very sound reason for this. It is now clear that Brown is simply unacceptable to middle-England at a time when the Tories are startlingly resurgent in the south. Probably his only hope of clinging to office as prime minister is to do a deal with the LibDems in London and that means keeping on good terms with Ming.

Strange, is it not, how politics can change? When the Scots resisted English political domination we won a parliament. Now the boot is on the other foot and the English want rid of the all those useless Scottish Labour MPs who stuff the Shuttle every week to keep Labour afloat in the Commons. But having lost Scotland Labour cannot run England for much longer without LibDem help – and that might not now be forthcoming.

Even the promiscuous LibDems know they could not get away with keeping Labour in power in London and the SNP in power in Edinburgh at the same time. So the British interest must prevail over the Scottish if Brown is to have any chance of success. Little wonder there is panic in Labour ranks and rising rebellion among the LibDems in Scotland.

This one will run for a while yet – and what’s the betting that the LibDems come aboard with Alex Salmond eventually when they see their poll ratings plummet?