National government

Today in the Guardian we have a story about how a Tory-Labour coalition may be the way ahead after the general election in May.  Yes, you did read that right - a Tory-Labour coalition.

The author is one Ian Birrell, whose Guardian profile describes him as:

... a former deputy editor of the Independent and [who] worked as a speechwriter for David Cameron during the 2010 election campaign

It's interesting to note that in the piece yet again parties such as UKIP and the SNP are described as 'insurgent' or 'insurgents', given that the word has a very specific meaning these days, as I covered elsewhere.

At one time I would have said that a Tory-Labour coalition was a fantasy, something that could never happen.  And yet, we saw them join forces during the referendum to 'defend' the union (ie scare the voters witless), so I can't say I would be entirely surprised if this did happen after the election, assuming that neither of the major parties wins a majority.  After all, many configurations may be possible in the event of a hung parliament, so why not this one?  Might as well make the lack of difference between the two parties explicit.