Nick Clegg told us fixed term parliaments would prevent the Prime Minister from scheduling elections according to political expediency. Is it purely coincidental that the next election will now take place in 2015, around the time the coalition's programme of cuts are due to be winding down?
The Liberal Democrats were in favour of a slower withdrawal of state support from the economy during the election campaign. Nick Clegg changed his mind around the time the coalition deal with the Tories was hammered out.
Current thinking is either that he was persuaded by the Conservatives' case once he saw the parlous state of the UK's finances (good), or that he is supporting the timetable as part of a negotiated deal with Cameron's team (bad).
But this was no mere compromise with the Tories. Clegg knows that any election before 2015 would be likely to decimate Liberal Democrat support. The economy will be in the doldrums due to a withdrawal of government support, and a hefty proportion of government debt will still be with us.
We are witnessing the spectacle of the Liberal Democrats supporting the most severe assault on the state in modern political history, not because they agree with the economics, but because it suits their electoral needs.
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