Great resource on Con-Lib coalition so far

A series in the Observer this week provides a rich source of material for teachers to plunder, or for students to use as part of a research exercise.

Traditionally questions in the political parties section of the course have focused on questions to do with (i) changes in the Labour party (ii) similarities between the Tories and Labour (iii) changes in the Tories.

The first of these may be affected by the face of the new leader, but it is unlikely that there will be dramatic policy changes before teachers and students turn their attention to January exams.

But (ii) and (iii) present a challenge because the Tory party in government has obviously compromised on many policy areas due to Lib Dem influence. But I think it will be acceptable to argue that whatever the source of policy, coalition policy is Tory policy.

With that in mind, we can take stock of the radical steps the Conservatives have taken in the past few months across a whole host of polciy areas. Some of the policy changes have gone further than expected (e.g. tackling the deficit), some have shown a surprising deviation from recent Tory trends (e.g. Ken Clarke’s pronouncement that prison doesn’t always work), and some have come as a surprise (plans for internal reform of the NHS, for instance), and some have got very far at all (Europe, constitutional reform).

The Observer link to their series is here.

The related editorial is here