'The people and the political class are at one: neither wants to face the future'

By John Gray

Election: the future - the big picture

The election has resolved nothing. Britain continues to drift, its meandering course guided by the conventional wisdom of a generation ago. Crucial questions of national policy were fudged or deferred, so that when the government does find itself forced to take decisions on them, it will do so without the benefit of forethought or serious public debate. One reason for the palpable public boredom that accompanied most of the campaign was that it was largely fought around pseudo-issues. All the parties studiously avoided talking about the realities that will shape our lives over the coming years.