Coalition anniversary gift ideas

I can’t help wondering what Nick Clegg and David Cameron gave each other as anniversary gifts today. Last night I heard a clever suggestion from one wily operator for Dave’s present to Nick that could be just the thing for both sides  – the Department of Health. Here is the reasoning : Nick Clegg says the coalition is going to change after the election drubbing last week, and at the weekend he said the NHS was his absolute priority now. He even said that he would veto the bill if it didn’t meet his standards. He needs a big win, having lost AV and tuition fees.

David Cameron could benefit from such a transaction too – he needs to detoxify the NHS Bill and reassure people that it will be genuinely different to what Andrew Lansley intended, which probably means a new Health Secretary before too long. So what better solution than to give the department to the Liberal Democrats? You might think that would be a sure way of killing the NHS Bill, but in fact Nick Clegg is very bound in to most of the substance. Not only did he sign the Bill and vote for it but he has also been a vocal advocate of it in public meetings and interviews. When I asked him last year why he was backing something that wasn’t in the coalition agreement he tried to argue that it essentially was.

The only question then is who should do the job? Now David Laws has been found guilty of breaking the rules over paying rent to his lover he would be a tricky appointment so soon. So how about Nick Clegg himself? As Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott ran an enormous department – so it wouldn’t be unprecedented or in any way a demotion. The added benefit for David Cameron? Well, if things don’t go so well with NHS reorganisation and the efficiency savings lead to winter bed crises and long waiting lists who’s fingerprints would be all over it? Just a thought. I look forward to your suggestions for anniversary gifts between the pair.