The cost of a psalm and a Clegg

The week’s political web-based discussions revolved around the result of the Liberal Democrat leadership contest. With Nick Clegg beating Chris Huhne by just 511 votes, in an election that had fewer votes than the one which saw Ming Campbell come to power, many questioned the strength of Clegg’s mandate.

Adam Boulton has a novel resolution to the conundrum: “As the vote was so close, it is only right that Messrs Clegg and Huhne should power-share, perhaps representing the Liberal-Dems on alternate weeks, or better still to co-write their speeches, create a double act and talk in unison. The Tweedle and Tweedle Show.”

With Clegg seen to be more of the Cameron ilk than Brown, Paul Linford warns Lib Dems to be aware of courting from the Right, referring to an Iain Dale post: “Nothing would please me more than top see a majority Conservative government and the Liberal Democrats reduced to a rump. But electoral arithmetic shows that a hung parliament is a real possibility - and the Conservatives and LibDems now have two years to work out how they would deal with it. I certainly don’t expect them to do it in public, but do it they must.”

Cicero is also opposed to a love-in with the Tories: “We should go toe-to-toe with the Cameroons and demonstrate why our commitment to Liberalism is deeper and better than the skin-deep ‘Liberal-Conservatism’ of David Cameron’s party. That will be what makes us a party that is genuinely national, genuinely radical and able to appeal to the whole of the United Kingdom.”

Within hours of assuming the role as party leader, Clegg was quizzed on his religious views. His admission to being an atheist led to concern from Linford.

This prompted Bob Piper to write: “Why on earth do Christians like Paul Linford have to be concerned about someone’s private religious beliefs, or lack of them? Should I be concerned if Clegg is a meat eater? I just don’t get it. If Clegg had just been elected Pope and declared he didn't believe in God then Christians might have cause for concern, but is Clegg’s crime of being a non-believer going to influence his opinions on the single European currency, devolution, or the war in Afghanistan? I don’t think so.”

Clegg’s first few days also saw a frontbench reshuffle, of which James Graham provides a useful guide.

Finally, there’s an interesting yarn over at Political Betting, where Mike Smithson feels he is £500 out of pocket by a senior Lib Dem.

This also appears at www.newstatesman.com/blogs/best-of-the-politics-blogs.

Does it get any easier?

A relatively quite week for the government, in the context of the past couple of months: only threatened police strikes, a contentious EU treaty and a tricky international climate change deal to negotiate.

Jacqui Smith’s decision not to backdate a 2.5% pay rise for police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, prompted Lenin’s Tomb to write: “While public sector workers are ‘valued’ in a sentimental fashion, the general implication is that union leaders should shut their mouths and accept a period of belt-tightening in order to keep Brown's ‘Miracle Gro’ economy afloat.”

Less sympathy can be found at A Tangle Web: “I say the police should damn the law and strike. It’s not as if we’ll miss them if they withold their labour. We learn today that they are on the beat for one hour in seven - as much as that, eh? Ministers often make the claim that there are more police officers than ever before and they speak the truth. There are more officers than at any other time, yet the police has never been less visible to Britons.”

This hyperbole is perhaps explained when the post later reveals: “Yesterday a turd in a police uniform stepped from behind a bush and recorded me driving at 38mph whilst leaving a 30mph zone on my way out of a small rural town.”

Daniel Finkelstein queries Brown’s defence that the decision was made to keep inflation low: “The deal isn’t big enough to cause inflation by forcing the government to borrow. So he can only mean that a large amount being paid to police would encourage other large pay increases. Fair enough. Except that the headline amount, the permanent part of the increase, is the one that will drive other wage claims and any increases based on comparability. If inflation was the issue it would have been better, surely, to have offered a smaller headline figure and then backdated it. So it seems more likely that public.”

With Eurosceptics among the most conspicuous in the blogosphere, the signing of the Lisbon Treaty did not go unnoticed. For The Huntsman, it was “surely one of the most dishonourable and dishonest acts by a British Prime Minister since the early hours of 30th September 1938 when Chamberlain effectively signed away Czechoslovak independence to Germany.”

While, Cranmer writes: “Nations tend to get the leaders of which they are worthy, and there is little doubt that the people of the United Kingdom deserve this - for their apathy, ignorance, and indifference. The reality is that so few care because so few understand, and so few understand because they are more absorbed by Big Brother, X Factor, Come Dancing and the National Lottery, than they are by matters spiritual and political.”

As environmental concerns took centre stage in Bali, despite the US and Canada holding out on agreeing to emission cuts, John Redwood manages to lay the blame at the EU's feet: “The EU should grow up, and learn that if the world is to reduce its carbon output it requires goodwill and understanding on all sides, not a combination of bullying and vain posturing. We will not cure the world’s CO2 problem unless India and China, Japan and Russia are involved as well as the USA.”

This also appears at www.newstatesman.com/blogs/best-of-the-politics-blogs.

Don't cry for me Venezuela

With Vince Cable’s Mr Bean jibe still ringing in many MPs’ ears, PMQs provided the PM with an opportunity to bite back. Adam Boulton describes the scene: “Vince Cable got lost with lacklustre questions on Northern Rock. Brown got his own back for Mr Bean suggesting Cable was ‘better at jokes than economics’. No pretty footwork but the prime minister was still on his feet at the end of the half hour.”

As the Labour Party funding fiasco continues to niggle the government, Luke Akehurst took offence to a Yasmin Alibhai-Brown article in the Independent which suggested the Labour Friends of Israel were somehow involved. Akehurst describes the article as “winner of most idiotic and unhelpful contribution to the debate on Party funding”, and concludes: “I cannot understand what, other than anti-Semitism, would motivate someone to write a whole column whose only hook was the shared ethnicity of David Abrahams and Jonny Mendelsohn.”

Over in Venezuela, President Chavez narrowly lost a controversial vote that would have changed the constitution to allow him to be re-elected. The condemnation of his attempt, and rejoice at the outcome of the vote, was widespread across the UK political blogosphere.

David T at Harry’s Place writes: “I think Chavez is more of a fool than a monster. Perhaps he is not as bad as some of his strongest critics hold. Nevertheless, I find the adulation heaped upon this rather comic man - more of a Peron than an Allende - in some parts of the Left difficult to understand. … This result illustrates that Venezuelans have an affection for a robust democracy, and prefer to keep their leaders on an electoral leash to government by coup.”

While Lenin’s Tomb is more sympathetic, seeing the result not so much as anti-Chavez as more pro-democracy: “The reality is probably that Chavez’s supporters were simply unwilling to turn out to vote for a constitution among whose main priorities was to enhance executive power. This was always the most problematic aspect of Chavez’s reforms. Unfortunately, this result will probably strengthen the rightist opposition, despite the continuing popularity of Chavez and his other reforms.”

Finally, on Monday Iain Dale announced he would be leaving 18 Doughty Street to concentrate on launching a new political magazine and write a book. Let’s hope it does not interfere with his blogging duties.

This also appears at www.newstatesman.com/blogs/best-of-the-politics-blogs.