The Strange Bond of UK's Coalition

Sunshine blessed the Liberal Democrats in Liverpool this week. It softened the hard edges of their party conference and mellowed the views of those who came looking for a fight with the Conservatives. Days of light and warmth, such a contrast to the usual gales off the Lancashire coast, soothed worried brows and helped to fix the idea of the Coalition as a necessary union of rivals, driven by a common purpose. Anyone who still doubted the possibility of an enduring compact with old enemies needed only to look up at the distinctive towers of Liverpool's Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals on the skyline. They sit just half a mile apart and are connected by Hope Street, where a monument to Derek Worlock and David Sheppard celebrates two bishops who forged an unlikely partnership that swept away the remnants of the city's sectarian divisions.