The Wisdom of Bjorn and Benny

I remember as a teenager the Conservatives' election victory in 1979 and watching in horror the destruction they wreaked on the economy and society generally. As we view the situation today, I could quote Hagel or even Marx but, there again, neither ever won the Eurovision Song Contest. Abba did and in the words of their successful 1974 entry "The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself."

The then government's main priority was reducing inflation, which was blamed on the previous Labour government. A rise in VAT, cuts in benefits and public services and the subsequent inevitable rise in unemployment were a price worth paying. Failure to address inflation with obsessive zeal would result in economic chaos. There was no alternative. In hindsight, although inflation was a problem, they went far to far and unnecessarily destroyed huge chunks of economic capacity in the process. Now, replace 'inflation' with 'the deficit' and notice the similarities with the present.

The current administration is often referred to as the 'Coalition Government' but, in a sense, all governments are coalitions since all major political parties are themselves informal coalitions. The 1979 government was no exception. The traditionalist right of the Tory party joined forces with the free-market radicals, the disciples of Milton Friedman, which included Thatcher herself. But she could not govern without the One-nation Tories or Wets as they came to be known. Some such as Carrington and Heseltine went along with the monetarist experiment as it was then called. Others such as Gilmour, St. John-Stevas, Pym and Prior mounted a totally ineffective internal opposition and were cast into the wilderness.

There are very few One-nation Tories left. Their role is now played by the Lib Dems. The Orange-book Liberals led by Nick Clegg will, I suspect, go along with the deficit reduction dogma. Other elements in the Lib-Dems may try to oppose but without any serious effect.

And what of the Labour Party? Will it tear itself apart as it did in the eighties? I watch with interest.