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　　Britain The coalition in 2013

　　英国 联合政府的2013

　　Friendly fire

　　内讧

　　David Cameron and Nick Clegg have less to fear fromthe other side than from their own furious ranks

　　卡梅隆和克莱格之间内忧大于外惧

　　“No Permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests”, goes a well-worn axiom ofrealist statesmanship. The formation in 2010 of Britain’s first coalition government since thesecond world war showed that the prospect of power could trump large ideological differencesbetween two parties. But diplomatic relations between David Cameron’s Conservative Partyand Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats have reached the table-thumping stage.

　　“没有永远的敌我，只有永远的利益。”这条公理已在现实主义的政治家口中说烂。2010年，英国继二战以来首次建立联合政府，这表明权力之争甚至能压倒政党间巨大的意识形态分歧。而今，英国首相大卫·卡梅隆(David Cameron)所在的英国保守党(Conservative Party，与下文中的Tory同义)与副首相尼克·克莱格的英国自由民主党(Liberal Democrats，与下文的Lib Dem同义)已步入貌合神离的阶段。

　　Last year saw bitter arguments over House of Lords reform and constituency boundaries. Itended with the spectacle of Mr Clegg theatrically rolling his eyes during the autumn statement,in which George Osborne, the Tory chancellor, announced new tax and spending measures.This year is likely to bring rows over press regulation, Europe, welfare cuts, green energy anddepartmental spending. Such is the antipathy that plans for a revised government programmewere first delayed, then shelved, for fear of uncontainable hostility between the two sides.Instead, a more modest package of new measures will be announced in the spring.

　　去年，两党就英国上议院(House of Lords)改革和选举区划分问题发生过激烈争论。其后，保守党的英国财政大臣乔治·奥斯本(George Osborne)在秋季财政报告上宣布新设税制和财政支出政策，对此，克莱格夸张地转了转眼珠。这一趣闻给双方的争论暂时画上句号。而今年争论的焦点将会在媒体监管、欧洲问题、福利削减、能源环保和政府开支之上。此两党由于担心势成水火，在政府计划的修订案上一再拖延、搁置，令人民反感不已。最终，新一揽子计划将于今年春季发布，其内容将更为适中。

　　Astonishingly, the 2015 election already looms over the coalition. Conservative thinkers arefocused less on improving this government than on winning a workable majority next time.And the governing parties are preparing for combat. The Conservatives are targeting LiberalDemocrat seats, convinced that their partners’ terrible poll figures will not recover. The LibDems will concentrate on fighting off Conservative challengers: at least they do not have todefend the coalition in such races, as they do when fighting Labour.

　　但惊人的是，2015年的大选已渐渐迫近联合政府。保守党的智囊团把目光集中于赢得大选的多数票这一可行方案上，而非努力改善政府。同时，保守党与自由民主党之间也已剑拔弩张。保守党坚信，自由民主党惨淡的支持率将难以重振，因此准备拿下其所占的国会席位。而自由民主党则意欲击退保守党的夺席者，因为在本次大选中，该党无需如前一次对垒工党(Labour)那般力保联合政府。