THE LIVING ROOMS

Eco Echo column June 2010

Working Together

So the dust has settled, we have a new Government, and the sight of David Cameron and Nick Clegg sitting next to each other on the front bench of the Commons seems to suggest that something new really is happening to our politics.

And yet there is so much negativity in the press about the coalition.  Apart from the fact that many commentators seem genuinely scared of the concept, despite the fact that over 70 per cent of all Governments in Europe are coalitions, including many of the most stable, the media seem desperate for this new-found working together to fail.  I have seldom seen such negative thinking.

Yes, there will be disagreements, and yes, the two parties’ policies do not entirely coincide, even if they do overlap.  If they did, then they would all be members of the same party.  Are we meant to think that people with differing views can’t work together, can’t find compromise?

The power of positive thinking is something which is widely expounded n the business world.  It is seen as an essential standpoint to achieve success.  So why shouldn’t the same optimism work in the political field?

In business, the macho culture of the 1980s is now widely discredited.  No longer is the supplier/customer relationship seen as a battle which you have to win.  The Gordon Gecko figure is now seen as a bit of a dinosaur, and businesses which clung on to this way of working have been amongst the worst sufferers in the current downturn.

Instead, a more collaborative approach, where each side tries to find a solution which is mutually beneficial, has taken over.,  That has led to closer, more fruitful relationships and a more sustainable model.  It is this thinking which is at the heart of fair trade.

It’s time for the political commentators and doomsayers in the media to grow up.  With voting reform now firmly on the agenda, this sort of coalition government – already well-tried in the assemblies in Wales and Scotland - is going to become more common.  It might even temper some of the extremes inherent in majority government and provide the kind of checks and balances which have been all too lacking in our democratic process for the past few decades.

Can it be so hard to work together?
 

Article published in Eco Echo June2010