And so it came to pass that the golden age has ended, thirteen years of glorious Labour government is over. All good things come to an end (except the common herpes virus which comes back for more, and more, and more) and if you weren’t moved by Gordon Brown’s farewell speech outside the door of Number 10, then your heart is stone.
I have a lot of time for El Gordo, but I know he wasn’t everyone’s cup of rosie. I do believe his handling of our banking system and the recent economic meltdown will be remembered as a true mark of his greatness. But what you got tonight was a sense of the real Gordon Brown, his speech in Downing Street combined with his walk away with his wife and children was very moving. I liked the way he delivered a back-handed eff-you with his “being Prime Minister was the world’s second greatest job – the first is being a husband and father”. I actually punched the air when he said that.
Also his speech to the Labour Party was also a thing of greatness where he thanked everyone and shouldered the blame. That was the mark of a real man. I don’t think you’ll see the likes of him for a long time and in the coming months years, people will look back and re-evaluate his short term and his time with Blair.
But what now? Our democracy is broken. Somehow we’ve got a coalition government in which the third placed runner gets to touch the prize. If this was a horse race, there would be uproar. If this was the Olympics and the bronze-placed winner got to wear the Gold with the winner, it would turn the sport in a laughing stock.
Seeing Cameron entering Downing Street, I saw someone completely out-of-his-depth. The look of fear was palpable and this is someone who’s political career hasn’t even hit the decade. And now he is in control. Complete control. With Corporal Clegg as his unlikely second-in-command. This is the first time in my life that I have been genuinely frightened of the incoming government. A Conservative Prime Minister and a Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister? Am I the only person in the world who thinks this is madness?
Why frightnened? Well because this is a coalition built on compromise and a lust for power. At least if the Conservatives got their majority, Labour would naturally assume its place as opposition. Now, the Labour Party has to fight two political opponents at once. Is that a fair fight? Two on one? Nah, that’s a bar-room brawl.
I don’t particularly want our political system to be brought down to the squabbling and corruption of the coalitions you see in other European countries. I want a left and a right. I want two parties. A government and an opposition. This just muddies the waters and will lead to a political system that will bogged down with decisions being hijacked by Clegg waving his mandate over Cameron’s head.
“Remember our agreement,” he would chide and Cameron would fall into place in fear of losing his grip. Is that what you voted for? I know I didn’t. Our politicians should be scared of us – the electorate to take power away from them, not their deputies or their uneasy bedfellows.
But I do hope this actually works out because if it turns out how I think it is going to turn out, then there will be more unemployment, higher prices and more people losing their homes. And as for pulling our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan – you can’t be serious. There are contracts to be signed to equip our boys and those Tories and fingers in pies, my friend.
So let’s cross our fingers and hope that this madness will turn out OK. I love being right, but this is one those times I really want to be proved wrong.

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