DEM not gonna CON dis NATION: Rolling UK politics in the short-lived Cleggeron era

Ahaha apparently Alan Rusbridger phoned Clegg telling him he had a duty to not form a government with the Tories because it'd make the Graun look like twats for endorsing the LDs at the last minute.

The comments on the Graun's "maybe this isn't so bad after all, right guys?" editorial weren't pretty.

Coldest May night since 1966 last night - -6C in Scottish Highlands, -4C in rural Wales, 0C in London. Day after the 1987 election (mid-summer), the sky was leaden all morning, like a meteor had hit and the debris had blotted out the sun. Mother Nature is not a Tory.

There was a pretty rainbow above Westminster while Dave was on the way to the Queen, but I assume the BBC superimposed it on the footage at Dimbleby's request.

"Every one of the Lib Dem negotiators gave an individual report back of their meeting with Harriet Harman, Lord Mandelson, Ed Miliband, Ed Balls and Lord Adonis, and they each reached the same conclusion: that the Labour team were uninterested, with no movement on ID cards, the third runway at Heathrow, or increasing the proportion of renewable energy from 15% to 40%."

this would maybe have been acceptable if they forced the libdems into confidence & supply but now it's created this fucking abortion it looks kinda unforgiveable that they didn't even ~try~

― nakhchivan, Wednesday, May 12, 2010 1:02 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

there's going to be a lot of claim and counter-claim on those negotiations. some lab people claim clegg only got into it to make the tories (whom he instinctually wanted to go with) jealous. i don't believe that the tories could in good faith agree to that green pledge.

There was a pretty rainbow above Westminster while Dave was on the way to the Queen, but I assume the BBC superimposed it on the footage at Dimbleby's request.

Rather like the way they deftly remixed the location sound on the collage clips later in the day, to obscure the booing and shouts of "Tory scum" on Whitehall.

Yes, Clegg is on the right of the LDs, but I don't think his instinctive affinity had much to do with who he ended up forming a coalition with as much as the maths and the (lack of) labour concessions meaning that coalition was pretty much unworkable.

But yeah, I'm sure there'll be some interesting stuff in the papers about what really happened over the next couple of weeks.

That was just all kinds of WRONG. xpost

But not surprising: a couple of weeks ago there was a piece on Churchill going to look at bombed tenements post-Blitz and the meme of 'East End cheers on plucky Churchill/Royals' was shown to be a bit of a concoction. Basically, my best friend's dad was a surgeon in the war and his account of jeering not cheering was one I'd known since I was a student.

http://labservative.com/

^^^ kinda would have thought LD's new media time would have taken this down by now.

― Meowsy McDermott, Wednesday, 12 May 2010 12:53 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

oh look unmoderated comments box :D

http://www.labservative.com/comment-page-1/#comment-708

:( never noticed

"Your comment is awaiting moderation."

laws is chief secretary to the treasury. cable is bidness secretary. osborne is reichschancellor.

Tom Oates
Posted May 6, 2010 at 8:50 am | Permalink

This party is sexy as. To be fair I want the lib dems in charge and before anyone asks I am a student. If mat bellamy ran a party I would vote for it hands down. But as it stands cleggy will do ;)
any signs for conservative or labour I see I rip down or take them for my room :) it’s now looking colourful :) love you all xxx

can't see this getting through
http://i43.tinypic.com/nv4fnk.jpg

55% rule on no conf votes means Tories can keep power on their own (with their 47%). Can't believe LDs gave that away.

yah, that's appalling. is it more than a rumour at this stage?

Mr Hague told BBC Radio 4's Today programme a five-year fixed-term parliament had been introduced to help guarantee stability: "We have done everything possible to lock ourselves together to avoid the dangers of instability and haggling that are of course present in any hung parliament."

The BBC has learned that the only way to remove a government before the five years is up would be in a vote of confidence backed by 55% of MPs. Current rules are that the votes of 50% of MPs, plus one, can remove a government.

Yes, Clegg is on the right of the LDs, but I don't think his instinctive affinity had much to do with who he ended up forming a coalition with as much as the maths and the (lack of) labour concessions meaning that coalition was pretty much unworkable.

Read the Orange Book people, it's all in there, it was foreseen!

...goes away muttering...

oh great, xp.

I don't think there is any moral ground for them to insist on a fixed term and those margins when their authority is this shaky - it would feel more legitimate after a normal result.

yeah, fixed terms and enhanced majorities is the kind of thing you should have a much, much more explicit mandate for.

xp to myself
And then read this published in March. Sums up the reasons for it happening and the reasons it might not work quite well. (PDF file alert)
http://www.centreforum.org/assets/pubs/a-lib-con-trick.pdf

Iain Duncan Smith! It's like they're playing the worst game of Fantasy Football ever.

was in parliament working for the LDs when the orange book came out, so i've read it. will read that pdf on the train home.

but my point was that, whatever clegg's natural affinities are (and i don't disagree that they are more con than labour), with labour showing zero flexibility and LD + lab + sdlp still being short of a majority, i don't think his personal preferences came into it.

Where can find more on this 55% for No Confid motion / four-year fixed term stuff? Because if that's passed (and even if it's a free vote and half the LDs vote against it, it'll pass), we need to wheel Rifkind out again to see if he'd like to reframe his Mugabe comments of Monday. Truly outrageous.

Mr Hague told BBC Radio 4's Today programme a five-year fixed-term parliament had been introduced to help guarantee stability: "We have done everything possible to lock ourselves together to avoid the dangers of instability and haggling that are of course present in any hung parliament."

The BBC has learned that the only way to remove a government before the five years is up would be in a vote of confidence backed by 55% of MPs. Current rules are that the votes of 50% of MPs, plus one, can remove a government.

is all i've seen.

mugabe endorsed the tories, game recognize game.

Fixed term parliament is the worst thing about it.

― Matt DC, Wednesday, May 12, 2010 1:56 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark

otm

55% would require every single LibDem to rebel plus a handful of Tories as well, right? If that goes ahead we are actually stuck with them for five years.

what if the lib dems refused to pass a tory budget? it wouldn't meet the new no confidence rules, but if you can't pass a budget you can't govern. they'd be forced to have an election anyway, right?

WHAT THE FUCK

Still sounding too ridiculous that they would get such a major reform through without anyone having mentioned it before the election or anything. Tell me there is some way that this might not happen. Or at the very least that people will be outrageously pissed off and make it known in some exciting way.

i can see the logic of fixed-term parliaments in theory, but introducing FIVE-year terms with such a weak mandate is some bullshit

they're about to make a statement together which this will presumably be in

also, this purports to be the lib-con agreement http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/05/12/exclusive-was-this-the-con-lib-agreement/

And there it is. Christ, needs to be a front-page splash in Mirror, Graun, Indie, whoever else will fucking listen... They have changed the bloody rules because they fell short of the winning post. You can remain in government with 293 seats, effectively.

theresa may also women's minister wonder why

"freedom, fairness and responsibility"

sounds like one and a half a piece

NEEDS ODD COUPLE THEME INTRO MUSIC

gl'uk

You can remain in government with 293 seats, effectively.

doesn't this benefit the opposition too tho, potentially?

ironically, nagl uk

NEEDS ODD COUPLE THEME INTRO MUSIC

― tweedledee and tweedledem (suzy), Wednesday, 12 May 2010 13:24 (28 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Nah, use the "Terry and June" one.

use THE HORST WESSEL SONG more like

"What'll I do...when you...are gone away...and I...am blue, what'll I do..."

Next poll?

"It's cold outside, there's no kind of atmosphere..."

Are they still campaigning? What is this risible shit?

god bless hooky street

"Everybody needs good neighbours, with a little understanding, you can find the perfect blend..."

"We have agreed to establish a commission to consider the ‘West Lothian question’."
oh godddddd

These press questions are total softballs!!!