The coalition - an initial assessment.

The first thing to say is, that in my opinion, all those who are complaining they didn't vote Lib-Dem to get this really have no grounds to complain. They clearly said throughout the campaign that after the election they would be willing to sit down and talk with whoever would be willing to work with them. The assumption that this would be Labour didn't come from them, and in my part of the world, at least, they were campaigning as the ones who could challenge Labour not support them. At the end of the day they ended up in coaltion with the tories based on two things - the numbers didn't work with Labour and, surprisingly, the Tories were willing to make more compromises and concessions whilst Labour stuck with what was in their manifesto. The Lib-Dems were campaigning for a new kind of politics, now they have the chance to try and make it work. It is a massive gamble, and we'll have to wait and see how it plays out for them electorally.

I find it hard to mourn the Labour government too much - I think they did some great things, but they also had some real weaknesses. Their record on civil liberties and human rights was frankly dreadful. This is one area where I see real hope for change under the new coalition.

So to the coalition:

The Cabinet
Of the bif three posts, I can live with Hague as Foreign Secretary - I feel that he has matured as a politician since his time as Tory leader and could do a decent enough job. Osbourne as Chancellor and May as Home Secretary are ideas I find little room for optimism in. Similarly, I'm not overjoyed at the idea of Liam Fox at Defence. Ken Clarke (if he's recovered from his campaign burst of looniness) is independant-minded enough to be an asset at Justice and could additionally help keep May under control. David Laws clearly has the job of trying to keep Osbourne from wrecking the economy whilst Vince Cable tries to sort out the banks. I'm willing to give the likes of Michael Gove and Andrew Lansley the chance to prove themselves. It was always a no-brainer that a Lib-Dem would be Scottish secretary and Danny Alexander will have to be on top of his game in dealing with Mr Salmond. It is rather bizarre that the Welsh Secretary doesn't represent a Welsh constituency. The biggest plus for me is Chris Huhne at Energy and Climate Change, which could be good for environmental policies.

The Policies
Economically the main plus is that the Lib-Dems get their raising of the tax threshold (although not until next year). I'm also curious as to what it means that the National Insurance rise will only partially be scapped as this was such a big part of the election campaign. The cuts are going to hurt, but were coming whoever won the election. Am pleased that part of this has been re-directed by the Lib-dems to job creation and the re-structuring of banking and capping unacceptable bonuses are crowd-pleasers (don't remember the Tories standing up for the last one).

On Education I like the Lib-Dems pupil premium, but not the Conservative Free schools - disappointed thats still there. On electoral reform - the bit I most like here is the reform of the House of Lord, I have misgivings about AV, but further devolution of powers is a good thing as is a review of the West Lothian question - an issue Labour were always reluctant to face. In terms of foreign policy, the biggest disappointment is no concessions on trident and I can't imagine Lib-Dems being too happy on plans to limit the Working Time directive either.

On civil Liberties there was broad agreement anyway and it will be good to see some of Labour's worst measures (ID cards, etc...) gone. The tories win on immigration, but with none of the policies actually addressing the real issues, the proof will be in what happens in practice and can theis government do something about people trafficking and about improving the treatment of asylum seekers (another black spot on Labour's record).

On the environment, the Lib-Dems get their plane tax rather than the existing passenger tax, green investment bank and increased renewable energy, but have to concede nuclear power (although they can abstain). Plus money for a new high speed rail link, I find a lot to be positive about here. Finally the tories get to keep their marriage tax break (although again Lib-Dems can abstain) - I'm not in favour of it myself and have my doubts how much of priority it will be with budgets under so much pressure.

Conclusion
I'm adopting a cautious wait and see approach. I think, in principle at least, the Lib-Dems have won enough concessions to justify the coalition. There are things I'm much less happy about, but I'm prepared to give it time to see how well it works and what the balance is. I hope the most needy in society don't get lost in the mix and in the financial pressure for cuts. Only time will tell on that score. A successful coalition could mark a huge change in British politics. Lets give it a chance and see what happens. The challenge for Labour now is to re-group and provide constructive opposition - some of the sniping about the Lib-Dems no longer being progressive is a poor start to this.

UPDATE: Just read that the partial scrapping of National Insurance rise means employees pay, but employers don't - not so keen on that. On the positive side, there are also defininite plans to stop detention of children with regard to asylum seekers, which is very good news.