Taiwanese Prohibitory Sign P22: No U-Turn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is an excellent article in the Telegraph and well worth a read. Check it out!
Coalition climbdowns, u-turns and row backs – Telegraph.
With a history of thirty-three U-turns, one can perhaps conclude that the Government:
- Lacks political conviction?
- Fails to do its homework?
- Is badly advised?
- Is primarily concerned with staying on in office?
What do you think?
Dr Alf's Blog 
I think you need to add some more things to that list and your 4th point is very problematic because unless growth and jobs are focussed on the present Coalition and the Conservative Party under its present leader are going to lose the next election or until the Coalition breaks apart which might occur much sooner.
Part of the problem is that the Government are not yet fully aware of the scale of the problem and are therefor unable to appraise the population about the extent of sacrifices and changes required.
Then there is the issue of those above them who tell them what to do and the Liberal Democrats who have little concept of what this country needs to do to be competitive. They are out of touch but in control and tell David Cameron what policies to pursue. He does as he is told only to discover that it won’t work and won’t fly and then has to undertake a hasty U Turn. The nature of some of the policies (several of which were not in the Conservative Party manifesto or in the Coalition Agreement) are indicative of policies thought up by someone else and foisted on David Cameron rather than anything dreamt up by him or the Chancellor.
Mrs Thatcher refused to make U Turns until her fate was decided by Bilderbergers (Sir Geoffrey Howe, Elspeth Howe and Michael Heseltine et al) on board a ship, prior to the internal election for the Conservative Party leadership which she lost to Sir John Major, supposedly by a single vote.
David Cameron is too interested in his next big UN job to take the sorts of risks that would jeopardise it and Nick Clegg is the same because he has been promised a big job in Europe.
Some of the policies put forward represent “kite flying”, whereby unpalatable things are advanced to test whether or not the electorate is stupid enough to go along with them and some are a desperate attempt to find new ways to tax people.
Already we are seeing the first NHS Trust being put into administration and I have it on good authority that three hospitals within 30 minutes drive of me are set to financially implode.This is because the NHS which used to be financed out of NI contributions up until 2000 when the NI fund ran dry has subsequently been financed out of Petroleum Revenue Tax. The tax receipts from Petroleum Revenue Tax fell by £1.82 billion gbp last year and more this year, because people are driving less, driving more carefully, there are fewer freight movements and because the next generation of fuel efficient car engines is now here. You will see Road Pricing suggested next and even brought forward as legislation but it too will not fly and you will see another U turn.
John, many thanks for a very interesting response.
I broadly endorse most of your views but am still uncertain about the degree of political impact. I tend to agree that David Cameron is trying to keep his partners sweet to avoid a premature election. I also endorse your view that the Conservatives are unlikely to win a majority in the next election – they failed to get an outright majority last time, and since then they have tarnished themselves in this coalition.
It is interesting that you mention Lady Thatcher. I was an enormous fan of Lady Thatcher as Prime Minister – she had real convictions – I know not everybody agreed with her policies.
Your view on David Cameron & Nick Clegg’s future roles is really interesting – is there any supporting evidence?