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

darraghmac - it's pretty hard to vote for your constituents' interests when less than half of them voted for you, as is the case for most MPs.

― ilmigliorfabbro, Friday, May 14, 2010 3:18 PM (1 minute ago) Bookma

so what you're saying is, LD MPs should not be in power because they didn't get the required 55% of votes needed in their constituency

I'm totally ambivalent on AV, I just can't make up my mind either way, in fact i'd go as far as to say I'm 55/45 on it

And therefore it is not 'a Conservative government' but 'a Conservative-Liberal Democrat government'.

Simple question: would you rather have a Tory majority or a Tory-Lib Dem coalition?

so what you're saying is, LD MPs should not be in power because they didn't get the required 55% of votes needed in their constituency

Maybe we could have a system where MPs are elected in a way that roughly reflects what people vote for. Sounds novel, I know.

Simple question: would you rather have a Tory majority or a Tory-Lib Dem coalition?

There was no Tory majority

well yeah the 5 years thing is bullshit, agreed.

is that really all?

Maybe we could have a system where MPs are elected in a way that roughly reflects what people vote for. Sounds novel, I know.

― ilmigliorfabbro, Friday, May 14, 2010 3:24 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

it's pretty simple: the guy who gets the most votes wins

Tom D - you know perfectly well any other arrangement would have led to another election within the year and a probable Tory majority.

history mayne - thanks

"Probable" Tory majority vs. locked-on five years of Tory government

PR is kinda irrelevant to this discussion, I don't know why we keep going back to it.

what do you want, local PR? the MP has to be 23% liberal, 38% tory? how does this work?

xposts

Nick Clegg to win every election then?

What we've got is not a Tory government. We'll see what happens when Parliament actually sits, but for now we can only go on the coalition agreement and on that basis what we've got is NOT a pure Tory government.

history mayne - STV in multi-MP constituencies, obviously.

I am looking forward to Parliament, it will be a hoot

Parliament resuming, that is

Not George Clinton, then?

One Nation Tory Under a Groove

Groove

:)

btw can one of you spell out to me the layman what exactly on a point-by-point, dumbed-down level this government will do to make Britain a worse place to live in, or indeed a more malicious player on the world stage? I already have quite some idea and you'll be telling me a lot of what I already know, but I'd like to see it all in one place

1. Cutting public spending rapidly on virtually everything leading to rising unemployment and declining public services.

2. Pretending they are doing so because of the deficit when actually they are using the deficit as an excuse to cut heavily for ideological reasons.

that's ok though, my ma's got a friend on Harley Street, treat him to a round of golf and he'll do the bunions for free

xpost

3. cutting benefits to all the people out of a job because of the cuts

4. "A country where people ask not 'what am I owed?' but 'what can I give'?" which is Tory speak for "we're not going to give you any more money, get up and do it for yourself".

maybe you should have asked what they'd do that a re-elected labour wouldn't have done, and bugger 'ideological reasons' as being an important difference

that's ok though, I'll just get Pa to double my pocket-money xps

that's ok though, my ma's got a friend on Harley Street, treat him to a round of golf and he'll do the bunions for free

xpost

― coalition to me (acoleuthic), Friday, May 14, 2010 4:25 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

i have no idea if this is a joke or not

and bugger 'ideological reasons' as being an important difference

Uh, but it is an important difference

no, no it's not if the actions are exactly the same

maybe you should have asked what they'd do that a re-elected labour wouldn't have done, and bugger 'ideological reasons' as being an important difference

Umm, it is an important difference. Labour would have decimated the public sector as well but they wouldn't have done what the Tories will do with enough time, ie use this as an opportunity to dismantle or sell off big chunks of the welfare state.

5. Pandering to the far right by pretending they can close Britain's borders after x number of immigrants have gone through per year.

can we have number 5 please, the Alsatians need walkies

aha

oh, we've got an immigrant! she's awfully quiet but she does her thing around the house. forget her name.

actions not exactly the same tho. labour want to balance the books, which i think mutatis mutandis is fair play, though i'd like to hear more arguments about means. but the tories/LDs want to go a lot further than that.

6. They'll not let the Alsatians back in.

by all means continue, gentlemen

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Aktr-yq6Huo/R0Lgovx0YNI/AAAAAAAAACU/e0Otbwxe8bA/s400/Double-dip.gif

7: Death boards

8: They'll steal ur bike

9: No menaingful regulation of The City

10. Don't actually give a fuck about workers

11. Will invade Iraq

11. Will invade Iraq China

Considering we've got, what, 0.1% growth at the moment it won't take much to tip the country back into recession, which grim as it might be will be a major lol politically.

Osbourne actually has some sensible things to say about the need to rebalance the UK economy, particularly becoming less reliant on the City and boosting manufacturing. But a) he isn't so great on how intends to achieve that and b) it's his party that presided over their destruction in the first place.

what is there to manufacture? there is too much stuff in the world as it is. i think i shall live on a farm.

manufacturing?

oh dear lols

silicon valley farm

The bits about a banking levy in the coalition agreement aren't bad either, although I'm not sure what that will actually entail and whether it'll be a token gesture.

Or if it happens at all

when our workforce can manufacture a perfect wrought-iron stove and serve me up a good old venison casserole, then i'll start paying attention to their wants

q: haven't heard about ur banking levy- is it a levy on the banks, or a levy on taxpayers for the banks?

you can guess which type we got.