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Latvia's veteran Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis scraped home by eleven votes, surviving a vote of no confidence that would have forced the resignation of his government.

He'd told MPs that getting rid of him and his coalition wouldn't solve Latvia's economic problems.

Those problems are grave: the crisis that affects us all has hit Latvia hard. I've put some statistics, courtesy of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Research, at the end of this post.

After , the policemen outside parliament were taking no chances. A line of them spread across the street and stopped people walking past the parliament building where the no-confidence debate was raging.

On the steps of the parliament, military policemen in camouflage fatigues and tan quilted jackets stood ready for any trouble. But the crowd which gathered seemed more curious than committed.

One man had a large Latvian flag; another held a very makeshift cardboard sign with the word "Resign!" scrawled on it in marker pen. The bare trees outside the building had little Latvian flags on them and people ironically laid at their base gifts for the MPs, including an axe and a spade. "Chop yourself down and bury yourself," was, I imagined, the intended message, although no-one could explain it to me.

But the group of 50 or so people faded away as the debate inside the building carried on. As someone who worked in Westminster for years, it was a joy to be able to wander around the chamber, on the same level as MPs, taking photos and recording sound effects.

I listened to one MP - Atis Kampars from the main opposition party New Era - say that yesterday the farmers had blocked the city and forced the resignation of the agricultural minister, who he portrayed as rather hapless and almost unaware of his own fate.

He said that yesterday it was tractors, but if the government didn't resign soon, it would be lorries or buses in a month or two and the whole lot of them would be forced out.

Later, I caught up with him and asked him what difference it would make if the government did resign.

"I respect how hard the prime minister works, but our main problem in Latvia is the people's catastrophic lack of trust in government. If the government resigns, at least there's a hope we could establish a wide, strong coalition which can make the tough decisions we need."

But, I said, everyone I had met, from farmers to business leaders, had just as low opinion of the opposition as of the government.

"Of course we know that. We need to change our constitution so we can hold new elections before the full term is over. So we need this wide coalition led by someone outside politics who's loyal and faithful and could win the people's trust back. That's why we are not putting up our own candidate for prime minister: we know we are not popular and we need someone professional, technical to take the job."

A difficult moment has been reached when politicians admit that the whole bunch of them is despised and they start talking of neutral experts to lead a Government of National Unity.

The problem is that the trust has evaporated and it is hard to see how any government can avoid the deeply painful measures that are being demanded by the International Monetary Fund in return for its loan. These are hard times for many Lativans, but they will probably get much harder.

After the vote I checked outside parliament to see whether crowds were gathering afresh. Only a couple of policemen stood ready, and the passersby just glanced at the building.

Earlier, one of the small band of demonstrators - who told me that he'd been at last month's protest-turned-riot - predicted that nothing would happen that night. "It's too cold. Minus six. They will wait until it gets warmer."

Latvia's political class needs to somehow regain people's confidence before then - but I can't for the life of me think what they can do.

§

Here are those statistics mentioned above.

 • Unemployment rose to 8.3% in October 2008; 9.2% in November and 10.4% in December (this is the highest rate in the EU27 after Spain, source Eurostat). 10.4% is also the estimate given by the EC for 2009, while 2010 could see the figure rising up to 11.4%.

 • The Latvian State Employment Agency said that in one month, the number of unemployed people has increased by 9,370 (from 67,065 registered unemployed at the beginning of December to 76,435 at the end. This is in a total population 2.27m.

 • The agency explains that workers of different levels of qualification are losing their jobs: auxiliary workers and cleaners as well as specialists with higher education are being fired. Dismissals are taking place in all sectors of production. The number of employers' registered vacancies also continues to decrease.

 • Average gross monthly wages and salaries (third semester 2008): 486 Lats (approx. 691 euros).

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