I am getting somewhat tired of the media constantly harping away on the Liberal Democrats' "abandonment" of their election manifesto pledges now that they are in government. Brits are so unused to coalition government that they (I'm talking you, John Humphrys!) forget one thing: When you govern in a coalition, compromise is necessary and the manifesto pledges that a party makes are contingent upon that party's being elected to a majority government. Neither the Conservatives nor the Liberal Democrats are in a position to make good on all (or even any, truthfully) of their manifesto pledges. So Humphrys: Let up on Clegg, will you? And Clegg: Stress the point I just made and you can shut Humphrys up. There is no reasonable answer to it.
Note to the non-Brits: John Humphreys is the pugnacious attack-dog of BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He interviewed the Deputy Prime Minister and kept harping on about the LibDems' abandonment of their pledge not to raise VAT in government. The budget yesterday will raise it from 17.5% to 20% at the end of the year. Had Clegg stressed the point above, Humphreys would have had a difficult time pressing his case.
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