Tebbit: this parliament will not last 5 years

Norman Tebbit has predictably called for Cameron to avoid a pact with the Liberal Democrats, amdist the "unholy, unmitigated mess" of the election result:

In my view Mr Cameron should make it plain that while he would be willing to form a government and would welcome support from any party, he would offer no hostages, nor concessions as a condition of office.

If that sent off Mr Clegg to do a deal with his soulmates in a Lib Dem-NuLab arrangement or coalition, so be it. It could not last long, for at the most it would only delay NuLab a trifle on the path to economic disaster which it has pursued these last 13 years.

This Parliament will not last its potential five-year span. This election did not complete the purge of the sickness of New Labour. It is the next election which will decide the fate of the country – and the Conservative Party will not win that election if it is tainted with the contamination of coalition with a party which puts the interests of Our Masters in Brussels ahead of the interests of the British people.

These comments echo those of a friend of mine, who said a few weeks ago that it feels more like 1974 than 1979. He reasoned that things weren't yet bad enough for the public to see the light.

Tebbit concludes with bemusement that I share:

I am still left puzzled by those who keep on about how dreadful the Thatcher years were, without being able to explain why she kept polling more votes than Blair ever did, or Brown, or Clegg, or even, bless me, Mr Cameron has.