Liberal Democrats in Government? Should we or Shouldn't we?

12.45.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Sat 23rd Jun 2007

Lord Ashdown

This week saw quite a lot of speculation on if there would be a Liberal Democrat in Brown's first Cabinet, it came out that talks were held between Gordon Brown and Ming and later the specific job of Northern Ireland Secretary was offered to Lord Ashdown. I am about to break ranks and say I think Ashdown should have not only taken the job but should have done so with Ming's blessing.

I have been saying for a long-time that we need to practice a much more grown-up politics in this country. That means that we should be prepared to talk to other parties and work for the best of the country.

I can see why Brown would be attracted to have Ashdown, and other Liberal Democrats in his Government. Some of our MP's and Peers are fantastic in their field and would be brilliant Ministers - Ashdown being the case in point. I am also not stupid enough to think Brown also gains in lots of other ways too, he looks inclusive and different so he benefits in many ways.

Does it benefit the Liberal Democrats? Probably not, but does that matter? Again probably not, believing in grown-up politics mean you should be interested in what is good for the country and not just what is good for your own political party. Ashdown would almost certainly do the job exceptionally well and that would bring some benefit to the party and just being talked about shows we have a depth of talent. However any deal could seem as though we as a party are closer to Labour than the Conservatives and could present some presentational issues.

This was, it appears a specific deal rather than a coalition. Lord Ashdown would be superb in any Cabinet, he was a great Liberal Democrat Leader and the work he did in the Balkans was, in the main, fantastic. Anything he could do to help with Northern Ireland should be welcomed.

The deal was as I say not a coalition, I would have certainly not supported a coalition at this time - mainly because the Labour Government has a big enough of a majority for me not to be convinced it would be more than a PR stunt and I wouldn't want to see us propping up a failing Government. I am not opposed to a coalitions per se or working with other parties, we lobby for proportional representation and electoral reform, if we got it we would have coalition governments much more often in the UK. We have participated in a coalition in Scotland, Wales and there is a coalition in Northern Ireland between former enemies, in local government across the country there are every shade of coalition you can think of and in the European Parliament whilst not in a coalition we work with different parties on different issues.

After the next General Election we could be in a position of a Hung Parliament, we need to think in a very grown-up way what we would do as a Party in that situation. The answer should not be decided now, we need to see the electoral math and then discussing policy and manifesto commitments that could be implemented, but we should not be afraid of power.

I have set up a new poll (on the right on the main page) asking if Ashdown should be in Brown's first Cabinet - what do you think?