Con-Dem Nation?

The Tory-Lib Dem coalition was by no means my preferred option, but it was always the most likely option. I regret it a little, but there are several reasons for considering it a potential advance for British politics. Well... we'll come back to the 'British' bit.

My main regret about the last few days is actually the manner in which a largely honourable and dignified process has been spun in the press (with the help of Malcolm Rifkind et al) as some kind of grubby deal. The angry mob has been exercised on internet forums and news comments threads, most definitely representing little Britain, not Big Society.

For coalition talks in a deeply adversarial political culture they were, to my mind, both genial and efficient. But that's the past. More than anything I am delighted that a deal could be struck between quite hostile parties without it deteriorating into some kind of slagging match (again, excepting Rifkind and his ilk). It is the best advert for proportional representation, for consensual government and for a political culture of inclusion.

On the nitty gritty, it remains to be seen how stable this deal will be in the long term. Liberal Conservative Social Democrats. That doesn't quite work for me. On the up side, the sun is shining on our civil liberties for the first time since 2001. New Labour have been the most authoritarian and invasive regime of modern times, and I do not mourn their passing in the least. Meanwhile, with nothing but a rizla between the Tories and Labour on foreign policy, it's excellent that the Lib Dems, whose voice on war and international relations has been by far the most enlightened in the Commons (perhaps with the exception of George Galloway) will be there to critique any militaristic project at its earliest stage.

Further, the concessions that the Liberal Democrats have gained from the Tories are very encouraging. The ludicrous increase of the inheritance tax threshold has been ditched, alongside the £150 marriage "gesture", and more significantly, we are beginning to take baby steps toward electoral reform. We wait with bated breath to see what else they managed to secure.

On the other hand, most of the ugly features of the old politics are still with us. There's little stomach among either party for the giant strides required to prepare for a post-carbon, post-peak oil economy, the electoral reform on the table is nothing but a gesture at this stage, and many will feel their vote was doubly wasted with this outcome. Meanwhile, we may see a dramatic withdrawal of money from the UK economy in order to cut the deficit with devastating effects for stability, alongside the inevitable and painful cuts in public services.

Perhaps the most significant change, however, will be the effect upon the Union. It is hard to see Liberal Democrats north of the border partying tonight. Perhaps Clegg can be so successful as a Deputy PM that Lib Dem losses on ideological grounds are made up by gains on pragmatic, managerial grounds. Even so, we now have a huge gulf between the political centres in London and Edinburgh respectively, and softly unionist Labour supporters are going to consider independence with new eyes as they get used to being out of power in both nations. The Lib Dems federalist plans may struggle to find a home in the new order.

It may not be the condemnation of the Scottish Lib Dems, but of the United Kingdom? It really could be.