Public sector pensions, unions, and the remarkable unity of the Coalition

Danny Alexander (left) and David Cameron: brought closer by a common enemy

There's nothing like a common enemy to bind people together. Even better is declaring victory over that enemy. That is what Coalition ministers are doing today in their struggle with public-sector trade unions over pension reform.

Since the EU summit in Brussels earlier this month, chatter at Westminster has been about the stability of the Coalition between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Danny Alexander's Commons statement on public sector pensions just now offered a useful corrective to those who believe that two parties are at odds and cannot work together.

It may have been pre-Christmas cheer, but as the Lib Dem Chief Secretary Treasury outlined the final offer to unions – apparently accepted by most of them – there was a striking amount of harmony and warmth on the Government benches. Tory backbenches leapt to their feet to tell Mr Alexander how marvellous his deal was. Lib Dems nodded approvingly. All concerned enjoyed needling Labour over its, somewhat ambiguous, position on unions and strikes.

On the front bench, George Osborne looked on with evident delight as his Treasury colleague launched a effective attack on Labour's  usually impressive Rachel Reeves.

"They are fighting with each other as they lose confidence in their leader," Mr Alexander said. "She can assure the Leader of the Opposition that if he falls on his sword, he will have a decent pension to fall back on."

Above the level of party politicking, Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select, argued that the most important point about the pension deal is that the financial markets have detected no hint of retreat or division from the Coalition. If they had, he suggested, Very Bad Things would have happened.

Mr Tyrie's point is not an idle one: other European nations are struggling with issues like pension reform, and their struggles worry the bond markets. It's worth pointing out that in France, some apparently serious national politicians are still arguing that the state pension age should be cut from 62 back to 60. (And they wonder why their AAA rating is at risk…)

Now, the usual caveats apply here: the pension deal isn't done yet; we haven't seen the fine print on the changes ministers made at the last minute; not all the unions are fully signed up (PCS is out, the NUT and NASUWT are hesitating).

But one thing that can be said with some confidence: throughout a potentially trying confrontation with the unions over pensions, the Coalition parties have stuck together. That's worth remembering the next time you read predictions of the Coalition's imminent demise.

UPDATE:
Oh dear. Just as military people like to say that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, so no blog prediction of Coalition harmony survives the intervention of Eric Pickles. The Communities Secretary, far from popular with his Lib Dem chums, appears to have started a new row with local government unions, who are threatening to walk out of the entire process.

Embarrassing and confusing (not least for me), but I stand by the wider point that the two parties have mostly managed to stick together, despite the temptations for Lib Dems to soft-soap the unions and for Tories to declare war on them.