It's as if the recent sunny, muggy weather has spread into politics; there is a smiling, dazed feel about the coalition, a willingness for them to do well, a pleasure in the sight of politicians being polite about one another. It won't last, says the sceptic. And it means absolutely nothing, adds the cynic. And the sceptic is right; the cynic, wrong.
It does mean something. For far too long, Westminster culture has been much nastier and meaner spirited than the country generally. This nastiness began with the vicious fratricidal wars inside old Labour, then through the savage edge of the Thatcher years. It boiled and suppurated as the Tories tore themselves apart over Europe. It was back in a new form – New Labour, New Nasty – because of the personal vendettas behind the smiley face of Blairism.
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