The Guardian view on British politics in 2016: the year the luck may run out | Editorial
by Editorial from Environment | The Guardian on (#Z951)
The Conservatives dominated the old year, and they are a formidable machine, but the country does not love the Tories. Economic shocks or European disarray could cost them dear in 2016
It is human nature, when things go well, to believe that skill more than luck was the cause. So David Cameron and George Osborne will naturally look back on 2015 as a year of vindication, both for their handling of the economy and their political strategy. But they have also been peculiarly blessed with ineffective opposition.
The Downing Street duumvirate have undeniably played their hand with aplomb, entrenching advantages and exploiting their enemies' weakness. The elevation of budget discipline to the status of paramount economic virtue has been a powerful exercise in controlling the terms of political debate. In five years of opposition, Labour has not produced a penetrating counterattack.
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