'Oh, so that's who Richard Morris is..." Lord Hattersley on The Daily Politics

'An influential activist' - The Guardian

'Iain Dale, without the self loathing' - Matthew Fox in The New Statesman

'
You are a tinker...' - Tim Farron

Thursday, 17 February 2011

Sorry shouldn't be the hardest word.

Another day, another government U turn, this time on Forests. Andrew Sparrow has a list of them to date which you can see here. And he hasn't even included the decision to get a Downing Street cat, having said they wouldn't.

And the general tenor of media comment is that they add up to reflect a government in turmoil.

I really don't agree.

Of course, it would be better if policy was fully thought through before it was announced, only a fool would say otherwise.

But looking at the U-turns, I'm generally far more in approval of the revised policy than the original one.

And having spent so long complaining that no one listened when Labour was last in power, I can hardly now complain that the government does listen.

But mostly - isn't this just grown up government in action? Isn't coalition about constant give, take and negotiation. Wouldn't it be crazy if the decisions taken in 4 days of post election, sleep deprived negotiations were set in concrete for the next 5 years.

A government that actually listens.

Hooray

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