We'll never know whether it would have limped along or not, I guess, but I don't see that as having been inevitable at all. Nor do I think five years is that short a term.

I'm sure many Lib Dems do feel betrayed - and I'm not exactly happy about the situation myself. But as I asked yesterday, what alternative was open to them given that Labour would not go into coalition? Given the choice between a completely Tory government and one that has been reined in a bit, I know which I'd go for.