Dispatches: A Year Inside Number 10

9 May 2011

In May 2010 David Cameron and Nick Clegg stood in the Rose Garden of No.10 Downing Street and announced they were forming the first coalition since the National Government during World War II.

Most of the press was on side, the public wished them well, and MPs of both parties were supportive - at least in public.

Since then the coalition government has made big cuts to spending, gone to war in Libya, provoked riots over broken promises, and the Tories triumphed over the Liberal Democrats on voting reform. As recriminations flow between the parties, is their strained marriage on the rocks?

One year on presenter Andrew Rawnsley interviews the key politicians - including Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - their friends and foes to chronicle the trials and tribulations of the coalition.  

 

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Liberal Democrats Vince Cable reveals that it took a while to adjust to their new status as Business Secretary in the newly formed Coalition Government. 

Vince Cable:  The Government was going to be formed, I was asked if I would be in it and I went across the see the Prime Minister who requested me in a formal way.  Um, I left Downing Street slightly um bemused, overwhelmed and walked off to my department and discovered I was being followed by a car, which I then discovered was... I was supposed to be in.

 

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Andrew Rawnsley questions both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister about a tennis match they played together.   

Andrew Rawnsley: Have you played tennis together?

Nick Clegg: Once.

Andrew Rawnsley:  Who won?

Nick Clegg: State secret.

David Cameron: I did!. It was a very even match. I can't remember the exact score but it was it was up there. It was an 8/6 or a 9/7 or something like that. And I think actually technically he is probably a better player than me. I was just a bit more wily!

 

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Conservatives MP David Davis says his party got the better end of the bargain in the Coalition Government.   

Andrew Rawnsley:  Do you think the Conservatives got the better end of the bargain?

David Davis: Yes, I do.  Yeah, absolutely.  The people who've paid the price for the coalition have been the Liberals. 

 

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Two former Liberal Democrat leaders reveal that the party has placed a big bet on Chancellor George Osborne's political and economic plans that the deficit would be eliminated by the time of the next election.

Andrew Rawnsley:  You, as a party, Nick Clegg particularly but all of you, you took all your chips and you've put them on George Osborne's judgement.  Now if he's right you may be alright.  If he's wrong and the economy double dips now you're gonna be toast.

Paddy Ashdown:  No look Andrew you've got it wrong, we are all gonna be toast and that's the point.

Menzies Campbell:  We've bet the farm on getting the economy right.

Andrew Rawnsley:  And if you've bet the wrong way - The farm's gone?

Menzies Campbell:  We might have to, we might have to leave the farm.

 

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When the Chancellor unveiled his programme of cuts to the House of Commons - the severest crunch in decades - some Conservative backbenchers forgot their party managers' orders that they weren't supposed to look too pleased about it.  Danny Alexander and George Osborne speak about the incident.  

Andrew Rawnsley:  How comfortable were you at the sight of Tory MPs cheering the Chancellor announcing these cuts?

Danny Alexander:  I think it is important to, to, for us to be confident that we're doing the right thing, to explain clearly and openly why we're doing the right thing but no I don't think it was right to be sort of gleeful about it

Andrew Rawnsley:  They couldn't themselves than going, phwoar, we're doing all these cuts.

Danny Alexander:  I think it did give a bad impression that there were some MPs there who were waving their order papers and that is not, certainly not the way I would see it and certainly not the way I would want to present it to the country.

George Osborne:  Well I fully accept that it wasn't very well received by everyone but I mean just the context is that's parliament. That is the House of Commons. And the House of Commons is a noisy rowdy place where people cheer and they boo.

 

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During their coalition negotiations with the Tories, the Liberal Democrats thought they had secured a get out of jail free card by reserving the right to abstain in parliamentary votes on tuitition fees. But it was now apparent that this placed Vince Cable in an impossible position: he would look ridiculous if he did not vote for his own legislation.

Vince Cable:  I was very clear as the Secretary of State responsible I couldn't evade responsibility for the policies in my own department.

Aaron Porter (President of the National Union of Students):  I was invited to a meeting with Vince Cable with the Prime Minister, with the Deputy Prime Minister and Vince Cable in that meeting didn't even make eye contact with me

Also present at the meeting was the new leader of the Labour Party.

Aaron Porter:  Ed Miliband also picked up on the body language of Vince Cable, cr..., curled up, crumpled, eyes directly at the floor, Vince Cable didn't say a word in the meeting about Lord Browne's report and at the end of the meeting Ed Miliband went up to, er, er, Vince Cable, put his arm around him and said so, Vince, how's life in the coalition and Vince Cable, eyes went down to the floor, the Prime Minister strode over very bravely and said, er, everything's absolutely fine

 

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These findings will be broadcast Dispatches: A Year Inside Number 10 on Monday 9th May at 8pm on Channel 4

 

Join in the @c4Dispatches Twitter conversation using #UKCoalition

 

 

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