Stephen Williams' views on the Liberal Democrat-Conservative Coalition Government

I fully understand and sympathise with the concerned reaction that this arrangement prompted amongst many people, however I am confident that this partnership will yield a very positive outcome for the country.

First of all I would like to draw attention to the full coalition agreement, which was launched by Nick Clegg and David Cameron on Thursday 20th May 2010. I hope that people will take this opportunity to view the document and see for themselves the significant influence that the Liberal Democrats have had in shaping this coalition government's policies. The coalition agreement is a testament to the great extent to which Liberal Democrat policies, as set out in our manifesto, have been adopted and incorporated into the coalition government's policy agreement.

The coalition agreement can be viewed online via the following link: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/409088/pfg_coalition.pdf

The situation immediately following the General Election on 6th May 2010 placed British politics in a very delicate position. No Party achieved the majority of seats required to form a government, which meant that either a coalition would have to be formed or the Conservative Party, as the party with the most seats, would have to attempt to form a minority government. A huge responsibility rested with the Liberal Democrats to either stand by and do nothing or else try to form a coalition with either the Labour or the Conservative Party.

My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I believed that standing idle and enabling the Conservatives to form a minority government would have led to uncontrollable instability in British politics, creating an inefficient and very weak system of government that would struggle to achieve anything or make any progress in tackling the big issues that our country is facing at the moment. What we need right now is a strong and stable government that can implement decisions to start tackling the deficit, reduce the equality gap and reform the political system.

It is for these reasons that my Liberal Democrat colleagues and I felt it right to engage in discussions with both the Labour and Conservative parties. The Liberal Democrat negotiating team sought to ensure that our Party's key election promises were incorporated, as fully as possible, into the coalition government agreement. These core election pledges were:

• fair taxes
• a fair start in life for every child
• a new approach to the banking system and a greener, more sustainable economy
• a new open and fair politics with a more proportional voting system

In the two weeks following my re-election as MP for Bristol West I received literally thousands of emails and letters from people who feared that entering into negotiations to form a coalition government would mean the Liberal Democrats abandoning the policies outlined in our manifesto. This has certainly not been the case. Instead, our negotiating team stood their ground firmly and insisted that our core pledges be honoured by any Party wishing to form a coalition with us.

My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I were pleased to find that the Conservatives were willing to enter into a co-operative pact in which Liberal Democrat policies, as set out in our manifesto, would be included into a significant proportion of the final agreement. The Conservative Party offered a coalition in which the major Liberal Democrat policies on education, tax, the environment, banking reform, pensions and political reform would all be accommodated.

In order to make a fully informed, responsible decision, my Party also met with Labour. We had hoped that discussions with the Labour negotiating team would also be constructive; however, it became clear that the Labour Party never took the prospect of forming a progressive government with the Liberal Democrats seriously. Key members of Labour's negotiating team gave every impression of wanting the process to fail and made no attempt at all to agree a common approach with the Liberal Democrats on issues such as fairer schools funding for the most deprived pupils and taking those on low incomes out of tax. Certain key Labour cabinet ministers were determined to undermine any agreement by holding out on policy issues and suggesting that Labour would not deliver on proportional representation and might not marshal the votes to secure even the most modest form of electoral reform. I was bitterly disappointed by the attitude of the Labour Party. They ran away from the responsibility of government and the opportunity for a centre-left alliance for reform.

The decision then was clear. The Conservative Party were the only one to be offering a truly co-operative coalition government, whereby Liberal Democrat policies would form a major portion of the Queen's Speech to the new Parliament (which sets out the government's legislative aims) and in which Liberal Democrat MPs would be included in the central processes of decision making through the life of this coalition. We now have a unique opportunity to dilute Conservative policies and inject a large part of the Liberal Democrat manifesto into the new government agenda. The alternative: side with an unco-operative Labour Party who offered nothing in terms of progressive, coalition politics or withdraw and allow a weak minority Conservative government to struggle to make any advances in tackling the key issues currently facing Britain.

Under this agreement the vast majority of our manifesto promises will be incorporated into the new coalition government pact. Indeed, I have been pleasantly surprised at how accommodating David Cameron and the Conservatives have been.

Of particular concern to many people has been the issue of electoral reform - an issue which the Liberal Democrats placed at the top of our agenda in our election campaign, and which I assure you remains a key priority for us. For this reason, electoral reform was an immutable clause during our negotiations with the Labour and Conservative parties. As mentioned, the Labour Party were unwilling to make any compromises on this, and many other issues. However, I am glad to say that under the coalition agreement with the Conservatives significant gains have been made in this vital policy area. The parties will bring forward a Referendum Bill on electoral reform, which includes provision for the introduction of the Alternative Vote in the event of a positive result in the referendum, as well as for the creation of fewer and more equal sized constituencies. Both parties will whip their Parliamentary Parties in both Houses to support a simple majority referendum on the Alternative Vote, without prejudice to the positions parties will take during such a referendum. In addition, the parties will bring forward the proposals of the Wright Committee for reform to the House of Commons in full - starting with the proposed committee for management of programmed business and including government business within its scope by the third year of the Parliament. The parties will also tackle lobbying through introducing a statutory register of lobbyists and we have agreed to pursue a detailed agreement on limiting donations and reforming party funding in order to remove big money from politics. Finally, a fully elected House of Lords, with members elected by a proportional voting system, is also a highly significant part of the agreement.

Yet it is not just political reform in which Liberal Democrat policies are being adopted in this coalition. We have achieved a significant influence across all department areas, including some major changes in Conservative policies to make way for Liberal Democrat ones, including:

• No third runway at Heathrow or additional runways at Stanstead or Gatwick;
• Taxes per plane rather than per passenger in commercial aviation;
• Establishing a high-speed rail network;
• Pupil Premium to cut class sizes, invest in schools and provide extra support for children from disadvantaged backgrounds;
• Immediately restoring the earnings link for the basic state pension;
• Plans to increase the income tax threshold to £10,000 and to curb tax evasion, with tax relief for those on poor and modest incomes taking priority over cuts to inheritance tax;
• Introduction of a banking levy on financial transactions;
• Introduction of a Freedom Bill;
• Scrapping ID Cards, the National Identity register and the next generation of biometric passports;
• Increasing the target for renewable energy, helped by establishing a smart grid and the roll-out of smart metres, as well as better administration of feed-in tariffs and energy efficient home improvements.

Liberal Democrat policies will be represented at every level of government in order to give us a voice and keep us involved in all aspects of this coalition government.

As mentioned above, a full coalition agreement was published on Thursday 20th May 2010, and this clearly speaks for itself in testifying how significant a role Liberal Democrat policies will play in this new coalition government. This document can be viewed online via the following link: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/409088/pfg_coalition.pdf

I hope you will take the time to review the agreement and see for yourself how similar much of it is to the original Liberal Democrat election manifesto (which, if you have not previously seen, can be viewed online at http://www.libdems.org.uk/our_manifesto.aspx).

I now enter into this new session of Parliament with confidence that this - previously unlikely - union will ensure the strong government that this country needs in order to start tackling the big issues that Britain is facing; but moreover, and this is a big 'moreover', it will be a government in which Liberal Democrat values and promises are upheld as strongly as if we were still speaking from the opposition benches. Please accept my utmost assurances that this development has not clouded my or my colleagues' judgment or principles. We are still the Liberal Democrats and we will still campaign for a fair, progressive politics.