Considered Less Important

So we've ended up with a coalition. Well, I don't think that's such an awful result. I've made a few snide remarks about the 'Nick n Dave' show on Twitter, but the truth is that I don't see why joint governments are necessarily ineffectual. I may not agree with many fundamental Tory philosophies (such as the view that we're not European) but if we must have Cameron at No. 10, then maybe we should be grateful that we've also got the LibDems to dilute the most regressive excesses of Conservatism. Compromise isn't as dirty a word as politicians would have us believe and I, for one, am a firm believer in the idea that creative tension between passionate individuals can achieve amazing outcomes (and no, I didn't just steal that line from a fortune cookie). Mind you, I hope the new cabinet has got a superb PR team on its side: they're going to need as much sugar-coating as they can find to get the public to swallow the inevitable 'austerity measures'.

Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but I think one amazing outcome has been achieved already: for the last few weeks, people up and down the country have engaged with the political process. They've discussed the track record of their local MPs. They've made coherent judgements about the merits of one party against another. They've analysed voting intentions with colleagues, friends and loved ones. Until now, these were activities best left to those grumpy garlic-eaters across the Channel. Sure, hundreds of people complained that an episode of Eastenders was considered less important than Gordon Brown's farewell speech, but many thousands more tuned in to see the culmination of a series of events which, they knew, would have genuine implications for the future of this country.

I remember when I was at Uni, one of my lecturers frequently complained that young people had lost sight of the political dimension of the life around them.

"Do you mean political with a small 'p' or a big 'P'?" I once asked him.

"I don't make a distinction between politics with a small 'p' and politics with a big 'P'," he said, "and that's precisely the point I'm making."

Back then, I could only dimly see what he meant. Fast forward several years, and maybe, just maybe, British society is on the brink of comprehending that, whether we like or not, we are all political animals.

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In other news, I should just mention that I'm still working on my memoir of our ash cloud rail journey from Istanbul. Several people have written to ask for more details about the odyssey. Please bear with me a little longer; I hope to post something about the trip soon.

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