By Tim Montgomerie
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The Times' Sam Coates has performed a great public service this morning by listing FIFTY unresolved tensions between the Coalition partners. It's behind the paywall here (£). The list is a big reminder of the huge cost of not winning the last election and having to be in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. For those of you who aren't Times subscribers here are ten from Sam Coates' list:
Two other quick observations: Reading through the list is a reminder that the Liberal Democrats do more blocking than are blocked. Number 10 privately complains that coalition would be easier if Team Clegg came to the negotiating table with more ideas of its own and some horse-trading could then begin. Unfortunately, they don't. They come with lists of things they don't want to happen. Secondly, there are lots of things in the Coalition Agreement that the Lib Dems will never deliver. They include human rights reform, English votes for English laws and a recognition of marriage in the tax system. The wording on these promises was not dissimilar in bankability terms to the wording on Lords reform. But Lib Dems won't ultimately vote for them or allow them to be brought to vote. This needs to be remembered next time Nick Clegg says that he won't support boundary reform because backbench Tory MPs didn't endorse fifteen year elected terms for the House of Lords.