There are those who mock Britain's coalition government, possibly out of a desire to see it fail. I am not amongst them. I want the coalition to work, and to set about with serious intent the solutions to Britain's long term problems.
In some ways it resembles an arranged marriage. People who marry in a love match often do so starry-eyed with limitless expectations. People in arranged matches go in knowing they are going to have to work at it, and the lucky ones fall in love with each other afterwards. Statistically, arranged matches last longer than love matches.
The partners in this coalition are really working at it, doing their best to make it succeed. They are determined to replace our top-down state school system with one that responds to parents' wishes. They want to take low paid people out of income tax altogether. They want to end the cycle of permanent dependency fostered by the current state welfare system.
And so it goes on through many of the major problems which have been allowed to fester for so many years under a government which thought it could pass directives to micro-manage every aspect of society. Now we have a real chance to move systematically through a reform agenda and try new solutions that put people ahead of government.
It is not the government people voted for, not the one that most people hoped for or expected. But people are making what they can of an unusual situation, and our hope should be that they can make it work. One thing is already clear: it is light years ahead of its predecessor
