KIlling Off the Coalition?

The usual predictable drivel masquerading as comment on politicalbetting this afternoon but little surprise as the forces opposed to the Coalition must now realise their optimum moment to derail the Cameron/Clegg project is at hand.

The anti-Coalition forces on both Left (Polly Toynbee) and Right (the odious Tim Montgomerie) have penned vacuous articles claiming the defeat of the AV referendum offers David Cameron a golden opportunity to cut and run from the Coalition and call a General Election which would see the Liberal Democrats trounced and the Conservatives returned with an overall majority thus enabling them, as the Montgomeries of this world would see it, to govern as "true Conservatives" i.e: Thatcherites.

The anti-Coalition forces also know if the Coalition survives the AV referendum and the likely "No" vote, it will likely survive almost anything and probably endure until 2015. The anti-Coalition forces on the Conservative side have showed their own brand of duplicity and treachery by seizing on the slightest Liberal Democrat sign of discontent while ignoring the appalling literature of the Tory-supported "No" campaign. At least, the Labour side are being merely opportunistic as they think an election can be won if the Coalition collapses in acrimony.

For both these dubious fellow travellers, all that matters is the restoration of the power political duopoly which the Coalition has threatened and upset.

Posturing aside, have the anti-Coalition forces called this right? IF David Cameron voluntarily abandoned the Coalition, what then? Would he seek to continue leading a minority administration or would he go to the country to seek a full mandate? The anti-Coalition right-whingers want another election because they think they can win a majority but what if they don't?

Any chance of a renewed Conservative-Liberal Democrat partnership would be shattered by the rank duplicity of David Cameron which would leave the Liberal Democrats (possibly under a different leader) more amenable to Labour overtures. In any case, who would ever trust the Conservatives and their leader again?

The stakes are high and the next fortnight will be very difficult for the Coalition but I am always reminded that if the likes of Tim Montgomerie and Polly Toynbee think something should happen and is a good idea it's a better bet it isn't and it shouldn't.