Potential reforms to education are on the political horizon and the Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties will vote on Thursday on the hitherto most divisive issue since the formation of the coalition. As the ideological cracks appear, one question is how the country ended up with a government made of two parties that differed so significantly in the first place.
The negotiations in May between the three major parties happened behind closed doors, in a soundproof room, with a succession of deadbolts keeping it secured and some of those palm- and pupil-reading device thingys to restrict entrance... like they have in the movies. This meant that no one except for the party leaders, a select group of negotiators and Tom Cruise could know what happened. Unfortunately, Tom was busy, so we got David Laws - a key member of the Lib Dem team at the time - to write a book instead.
The result, 22 Days in May, is his absorbing account of those fascinating events. Not only do we think that it provides an important insight into the complex dynamic of our coalition government, but Jonathan Powell - aide to ex-PM Tony Blair - seems to agree with us calling the book both “interesting and valuable for future generations” in his review of the book in the Observer this weekend.
You can buy David Laws’s revelatory 22 Days in May in paperback and e-book format for £9.99 and £4.60, respectively.