The Policymaking ‘Fault lines’ in the Coalition
The coalition has had a rough few weeks with incidents including pastygate, a charity tax, a ‘granny’ tax and Clegg taking a hit along with his beloved Lord’s reform. The makeup of the coalition however doesn’t make running the coalition any easier. On
Newsnight this Monday, political editor Allegra Stratton outlined what seem to be the two biggest fault lines within the coalition government. Read more
The Quad and Cabinet Government
The ‘Quad’. How amusing, could I be talking about the Beatles, Queen, JLS? Well, near enough, the Quad is a high-level government meeting that comprises of Mr Cameron, Nick Clegg, George Osborne and Danny Alexander and is one of the coalition’s key decisions making bodies. Typically the Quad meet to ‘iron out’ matters that may be contentious between the Lib Dems and Tories prior to formal cabinet meetings. Whilst Cameron has tried to set about changing the style of his premiership from Blair’s ‘sofa government’ and has been praised by officials for his ‘return to formality and commitment to process’. Can the Quad be seen as a considerable step backwards?