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Brilliant negotiating moves yesterday by Clegg. By forcing Brown's resignation, he
1) makes the Lib-Lab coalition a more viable option, and a smidge less like a coalition of the losers - because the biggest loser of this election cycle, Brown, is out
2) ups the ante with the Tories for a better deal
3) which then ups the ante even more for Labour to promise everything and anything to the Lib Dems
Question for the natives, when calculating how many votes are needed for a majority, besides subtracting out Sinn Fein, are the Speaker and the deputy Speaker(s) subtracted from this number? And who are the deputy Speaker(s) if this is so?
I'm still trying to figure out if a majority means 323 (less Sinn Fein) or 322, if some calculation involving the Speakership comes into play.
So, what do you think of a Lib-Lab-SDLP coalition with a little help from Alliance, Green, and a promise to not bring down the government by Plaid Cymru and Scottish Nats?
If we had PR how would those who advocate it feel about having BNP, UKIP and other single issue party Members of Parliament?
I would personally hate it - but only the fact that people would vote for such idiots. If you support democracy then you should also support the results of fair representation, even though you may personally disagree with the result. We should also get around to being a true democracy and calling a referendum on the monarchy at the same time as discussing our electoral system.
It's cases like this where I wonder if Scottish independence WOULd be a good thing.
Some 85% of Scottish voters voted other than Conservative, and now we're stuck with a Government which the majority don't want, as well as a monarchy which is pretty much irrelevant to most of us.
Therefore, the government does not represent 85% of the electorate. How can that be right ?
At least PR gives a representation based on actual voting patterns, and a fairer idea of how things land.
As loony as BNP etc are, if they have a lot of support, then we know those issues are important to folks.
As well as opening the door for the extremists, it also lets in the Greens etc, who don't really stand a chance with the current system.
Every party standing for election had at least one good idea, PR would give them the chance to present it properly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ian6479
I would personally hate it - but only the fact that people would vote for such idiots. If you support democracy then you should also support the results of fair representation, even though you may personally disagree with the result. We should also get around to being a true democracy and calling a referendum on the monarchy at the same time as discussing our electoral system.
I guess we will just have to wait and see. Coalition governments are fairly normal in Europe and have been very successful in many cases. We may find that this one works and is successful. At least they have a clear agreement so we can all see what they are trying to do. If it fails, they can always go back to the ballot box.
I had to laugh when Cameron said the country's best days were yet to come.
Really? He could well be right. What do you know about UK politics and what day to day life in a nanny state is like? How long have you been living in the UK?
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