Parties privilege the old because they are more likely to turn out. But who wants a country for old men?‘Fuck David Cameron!” some chanted while others burnt effigies of Nick Clegg. In November 2010, the government got the shock of its early life. Student protests against tuition fees turned violent when some demonstrators broke into the headquarters of the Conservative party, trashed the reception area and occupied the roof crying: “Greece! France! Now here too!” During further demonstrations to coincide with the parliamentary vote a month later, protesters broke windows at the Supreme Court, urinated on the statue of Winston Churchill, scaled the Cenotaph to rip down the union flag and ambushed Prince Charles and Camilla on their way to the Royal Variety Performance, pelting their limousine with paint bombs. The coalition pressed on with the vote to triple fees, but these eruptions sent a ripple of fear down the spine of the government. I recall one senior minister shuddering to me: “The next five years could be like this.” The Labour MP John McDonnell, a participant in the peaceful side of the protests, was excited: “This is the biggest workers’ and students’ demonstration in decades. It just shows what can be done when people get angry. We must build on this.”What we know now is that both the thrilled leftwinger and the troubled minister were completely wrong. One of the interesting things about the past five years is how little street opposition there has been to the government. There was one other spasm of disorder the following August in London and several other big cities, but that was not an organised protest against the coalition but an outbreak of smashing and looting. And it turned out to be a one-off summer lightning rather than the long tempest of rage that some had predicted. This apparent quiescence has sustained Tory confidence that, whatever the opinion polls might say, they can prevail when the country makes its decision in May. It has also emboldened the Conservatives to propose a further big squeeze on public spending should they win. Continue reading...
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