The effectiveness of power

Reading Peter's latest jeremiad against the 'permissive society' (and is there anyone else under 50 who uses that phrase seriously?) I'm struck by a theory that, while not stating it explicity, he seems to accept implicity: that Labour governments are more effective than Tory ones. After all, since 1970 we've had 22 years of Conservative government (even if only 50% of them were under the Blessed Margaret) compared to just 12 years of Labour government (5 of which were with a wafer-thin majority) and yet, while the staunch defenders of traditional values could do nothing to halt the spread of the evils of permissiveness, we're regularly told by Peter and others just how much damage only seven years of Labour government have done to the moral fabric of Britain.

One can only imagine how effective a Liberal Democrat government would be, given the predictions of the levels of doom that would be unleashed upon the country within hours of Charles Kennedy becoming Prime Minister.