[Archived] Election

[thenodrog]

Many Labour MPs still doubt whether a Lib-Lab alliance plus the smaller parties would work, one describing it as a "pantomime horse" that would soon fall apart and "be sent to the knackers' yard."

Moving on, further signs senior Labour figures not happy with a prospective Lib - Lab alliance. Former home secretary John Reid says a pact would be "pretty disastrous" and not welcomed by the country.

Not sure about that Glenn. The pound dipped sharply in late trading.

I detect that you are not comfortable with this now you've had a little time to think are you jim? The probability of 'short term gain, long term loss' must be emerging through your earlier euphoric state.

btw ... Try to keep up Tyrone.

[American]

I dunno Gord, if you were a supporter of the Lib Dems who got 6m votes this time you might not agree.

I think this last election has also proved that there is abolutely no gateway for any third party to ever enter into British politics in any meaningful way. This FPTP system ensures that any party with a majority can do whatever they want. That can't be right can it?

By the way, I would struggle with a Con/Lib alliance simply because it would reek of two party leaders getting on with each other simply for the opportunity to govern. They have very little in common. I can't see how that could provide any kind of stable government, or be good for the country.

I would prefer the Tories to step into office with a minority, while the others stuck to their natural principles and oppose the government.

Not to sound like a broken record, Den, but most of those problems would also be resolved by getting rid of the whip system and actually making it what is best about the MPs constituency, not their party.

[thenodrog]

Not to sound like a broken record, Den, but most of those problems would also be resolved by getting rid of the whip system and actually making it what is best about the MPs constituency, not their party.

Indeed. The whip system is a nest of vipers and a long term gripe of mine.

[Amo]

Who needs the House of Commons when you've got this place?

[Glenn]

Not to sound like a broken record, Den, but most of those problems would also be resolved by getting rid of the whip system and actually making it what is best about the MPs constituency, not their party.

Indeed. The whip system is a nest of vipers and a long term gripe of mine.

I agree entirely, but like Team Orders in F1, if you outlaw it, it'll still happen, just unofficially.

[Mattyblue]

Freely available information on three reasons why Gordon Brown has been a political giant:

1. As chancellor, he gave independence to the Bank of England and kept Britain out of the single European currency when many, including Tony Blair, wanted Britain to enter. As events in the eurozone this week show with the Greek bail-out, many will judge history is on Gordon's side.

2. In 2002 he resurrected the NHS from the chronic Tory underfunding of the late 1990s when patients were being treated in hospital corridors, raising billions in taxation to take health spending to the European average as a proportion of GDP to the modern world-class service it is today.

3. His role in the global financial crisis. In October 2008, he was hailed for his recapitalisation plan for British banks, a move followed by Germany, France, Italy and a further 12 European countries. Both this, and his pioneering role in launching the G20 to deal with the crisis, are recognised by world leaders.

Moving on, further signs senior Labour figures not happy with a prospective Lib - Lab alliance. Former home secretary John Reid says a pact would be "pretty disastrous" and not welcomed by the country.

Not sure about that Glenn. The pound dipped sharply in late trading.

Hes got the country in never before seen levels of debt, to be paid back in cut services and higher taxes for decades, this government has been the most irresponsible in history.

Oh and seeing the 'Lords' Adonis and Mandelson plus Campbell talking about 'democracy' is beyond ironic.

[tashor]

The Gord's Prayer...........

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

My Kingdom come,

My will be done,

in England as it is in number ten.

Give us this day David Cameron's head.

And forgive us our overdrafts,

as we forgive those who voted against us.

And lead us not into redemption,

but deliver us from Tories.

For mine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

I'll love you forever.

Nick Clegg........................

[JAL]

Which party pacts are prepared to bring house/commercial property prices down, along with rents on all kinds of property ?

Giving more immediate disposable income to the public in general rather than viewing it as an asset and having them pay far, far, more than they should, over a far, far, longer period.

[Majiball]

Exactly that, from memory, Lab+Lib+SNP+Plaid+Green-Sinn Fein (who don't take their seats) would give a majority. But the SNP & PC are believed to be asking a LOT for their support.

Thanks Glenn.

Sorry to all those who take a serious interest in it all, but.

Politics = FARCE. Its like City and United joining together and going we've got more points than Chelsea, now so we win the league.

[RovertheHill]

Freely available information on three reasons why Gordon Brown has been a political giant:

1. As chancellor, he gave independence to the Bank of England and kept Britain out of the single European currency when many, including Tony Blair, wanted Britain to enter. As events in the eurozone this week show with the Greek bail-out, many will judge history is on Gordon's side.

2. In 2002 he resurrected the NHS from the chronic Tory underfunding of the late 1990s when patients were being treated in hospital corridors, raising billions in taxation to take health spending to the European average as a proportion of GDP to the modern world-class service it is today.

3. His role in the global financial crisis. In October 2008, he was hailed for his recapitalisation plan for British banks, a move followed by Germany, France, Italy and a further 12 European countries. Both this, and his pioneering role in launching the G20 to deal with the crisis, are recognised by world leaders.

Moving on, further signs senior Labour figures not happy with a prospective Lib - Lab alliance. Former home secretary John Reid says a pact would be "pretty disastrous" and not welcomed by the country.

Not sure about that Glenn. The pound dipped sharply in late trading.

I think Vince Cable got it just about right with his Mr Bean quote.

1. He introduced the 10% tax band to much fanfare as chancellor and then removed it, hitting much of the electorate he was supposed to support

2. He changed corporation tax rules which led to pension funds instantly being worth far less than was thought, starting a domino effect that lead to the removal of most final salary pension schemes. If yours went, thank Gordon Brown. A legacy that will become ever clearer in the next 20 years

3. Saddled us with at least a generation of debt. Another legacy that will last 20 years.

Oh yes, a giant alright

[Guest Kamy100]

Been watching Sky News over the last few months and coming to the conclusion that it is rapidly sliding down hill. Some of the presenters (Adam Boulton in particular) have in my opinion shown a lot of political bais (mainly against the Labour party), there coverage over the last week or so has been all over the place. Boulton who claims to be a serious political journalist has "lost it" on air three times over the last week. Kay Burley has also been less the professional over the last few weeks, the channel is very much becoming like Murdoch's Fox News in America.

[thenodrog]

Been watching Sky News over the last few months and coming to the conclusion that it is rapidly sliding down hill. Some of the presenters (Adam Boulton in particular) have in my opinion shown a lot of political bais (mainly against the Labour party), there coverage over the last week or so has been all over the place. Boulton who claims to be a serious political journalist has "lost it" on air three times over the last week. Kay Burley has also been less the professional over the last few weeks, the channel is very much becoming like Murdoch's Fox News in America.

Reds Blues under the bed now are there Kamy?

The fact that the main topic is now electoral reform rather than the many much more pressing issues speaks volumes over the motivation of our elected representatives. Just like the Emperor Nero they are fiddling whilst the country burns. This issue has scratched beneath the surface and shown many in their true colours.

Within just days of the election many new Lib Dem voters who saw the smooth Tv performer Clegg as the preferred option must now be horrified to see what a Pandora's box of nasty's that they have opened and that the Lib Dems are not some sort of second coming after all. Rather timely Clegg is playing a classic re-enactment of the Greek Icarus.

Meanwhile the New Labour Glee club of Balls, Milliband, Mandelson, Harman etc are seriously going to split their party and their support with their greed and ambition.

The Tories meanwhile would be well advised now to stand back and distance themselves from this unholy affair. Any softening toward the self interest of the LibDems should be resisted. They currently have the right to claim the moral high ground and for their own future good they need to stay there.

The electorate can now see the true colours of so many of their representatives. Maybe now more people will now be able to see the politico's for what they really are and not the false image they display on the silver screen.

[koi]

Freely available information on three reasons why Gordon Brown has been a political giant:

1. As chancellor, he gave independence to the Bank of England and kept Britain out of the single European currency when many, including Tony Blair, wanted Britain to enter. As events in the eurozone this week show with the Greek bail-out, many will judge history is on Gordon's side.

2. In 2002 he resurrected the NHS from the chronic Tory underfunding of the late 1990s when patients were being treated in hospital corridors, raising billions in taxation to take health spending to the European average as a proportion of GDP to the modern world-class service it is today.

3. His role in the global financial crisis. In October 2008, he was hailed for his recapitalisation plan for British banks, a move followed by Germany, France, Italy and a further 12 European countries. Both this, and his pioneering role in launching the G20 to deal with the crisis, are recognised by world leaders.

Moving on, further signs senior Labour figures not happy with a prospective Lib - Lab alliance. Former home secretary John Reid says a pact would be "pretty disastrous" and not welcomed by the country.

Not sure about that Glenn. The pound dipped sharply in late trading.

1. As Chancellor he removed vast swathes of financial regulation from the BoE and handed it the Labour created FSA. The FSA have overwhelmingly failed to control the finance industry and have played a huge part in creating this recession.

2. In 1997 - 2001 Labour kept to Tory spending and we had a balanced economy - even managing to reduce the deficit. The Tories had started to drastically overhaul the NHS and it was improving fast. Since 2001 GB and Labour have poured billions of borrowed money into the NHS and is it any better? I'm really not sure.

3. His role in the global crisis was one of helping to create it! Britain entered the recession earlier than our peers and left it later than our peers. In the process, GB had landed us with the biggest deficit since WWII.

4. GB sold our gold reserve at the lowest possible price - what was it, $240 per ounce what is it now, something like $940 per ounce. Good move Gord.

5. GB has taken hundreds of millions out of the public pension coffers, will I get a state pension, nope.

6. GB has introduced over 170 tax rises.

7. GB and Labour have privatised more government work and jobs than 18 years of Tory government.

I could go on and on but I've a business to run.

[koi]

It's on the radio about how Prem teams should form coalitions and add their points together. So why don't we (as Rovers) add our points with Fulham and share the spoils?

[Glenn]

It's on the radio about how Prem teams should form coalitions and add their points together. So why don't we (as Rovers) add our points with Fulham and share the spoils?

Basturk4England (formerly T4E) did that joke on facebook a week ago

I've been talking to various people about voting systems and the best suggestion I've seen so far is to turn the commons into a purely PR elected bunch of non-constituency MPs and reform the Lords into a FPTP elected set of constituency MPs. I can't see it happening, but it looks good on paper.

... oh and outlaw the whip, but as I pointed out above, that is impossible to enforce.

[koi]

Basturk4England (formerly T4E) did that joke on facebook a week ago

I've been talking to various people about voting systems and the best suggestion I've seen so far is to turn the commons into a purely PR elected bunch of non-constituency MPs and reform the Lords into a FPTP elected set of constituency MPs. I can't see it happening, but it looks good on paper.

... oh and outlaw the whip, but as I pointed out above, that is impossible to enforce.

Facewhat?

[Glenn]

The most popular (in terms of hits) website on the internet, you may have heard of it, or at least you will once it gets renamed SkyNet

[modes98]

"This would be the second time we faced an unelected Labour prime minister,"

As for an unelected leader this really annoys me. You vote for the party and the policies they present, not the face at the top.

[den]

den:

An alliance of Con/Lib received 17m votes.

So it should be obvious which you would prefer?

I'm only putting an alternative view to yours, which is that the Tories deserve to be in power based on them having the most seats Bucky. Yes, they have, but they wouldn't have as much support as a Lib/Lab coalition.

I make no judgement on which is right.

[broadsword]

As for an unelected leader this really annoys me. You vote for the party and the policies they present, not the face at the top.

Ostensibly you vote for a representative of your local constituency. But most people will have an eye on who would lead the country if a particular party got in. Strictly speaking you don't elect a PM, but the Prime Minister could be said to have the electorate's endorsement by virtue of having the keys to number 10.

[den]

Ostensibly you vote for a representative of your local constituency. But most people will have an eye on who would lead the country if a particular party got in. Strictly speaking you don't elect a PM, but the Prime Minister could be said to have the electorate's endorsement by virtue of having the keys to number 10.

Indeed Bryan, but does it really matter? There have been a few unelected PM's over the years, John Major for one, Macmillan, Callaghan, Douglas Home to name a few more. It's not something new.

[Rovermatt]

As for an unelected leader this really annoys me. You vote for the party and the policies they present, not the face at the top.

This line about the Prime Minister being unelected is being peddled as a serious argument by many in the media but it's completely erroneous.

[SouthAussieRover]

I can fully understand Clegg taking his time with the Tories.

It must be like risking selling your soul to the Devil,negotiating with the likes of that Yorkshire git Pickles.

5 days on and the politicians are still striving to avoid the Bullingdon club attemting to screw the public.

[JAL]

Which party pacts are prepared to bring house/commercial property prices down, along with rents on all kinds of property ?

Giving more immediate disposable income to the public in general rather than viewing it as an asset and having them pay far, far, more than they should, over a far, far, longer period.

Take it nobody shares my view,SFS. All I see is everyone overvalueing themselves, thus costing far more than they should hence, escalating the overall price making Britian a less competitive nation.

Dramatically reducing house and commercial property prices NOW, by a minimum of 40 %, with caps put in place for it to only rise marginally would seriously re evaluate the economy and hopefully reset the financial clock to a more acceptable level.

Suppose we can continue along the same road, paying more and more, then we can reach the totally bust scenario, sooner, rather then later.

[broadsword]

House prices are absolutely stratospheric. Completely out of kilter and very difficult for first time buyers to get a leg up on the market.