Forum menu
Was reading about that possibility earlier. Just looking for confirmation that I did read it and that nobody has been slipping me lsd earlier.
Quite possibly
Was you expecting labour to go into some sort of coalition with someone else?
No, I was expecting the SNP to take over the world. Mwahahahahahaha. 😉
Ideologically, they are pretty close...
Mwahahahahahaha.
😀
Mcwahahahahahaha.
FTFY.
Racist.
Or perhaps you're infringing on McDonald's trademark.
It's going to be very messy. Expect all kinds of games and tricks from all parties trying to win an election which none of them have a chance of winning cos no-one thinks they're fit to govern or has any honest idea how to get the economy out of the insane amount of debt we're in...
For the first time in my life I'm not sure I'll vote.
I suspect a lot of people share the same view, which means whatever government we end up with will be a weak, partisan mess without any real mandate from the UK electorate.
It won't do our global standing or our economy any good, mind... the effects will be everyday and real, well beyond Westminster Village.
With luck, the uncertainty will keep Gideon too busy to think of any more damn fool tricks with the housing market...
It's the rational outcome, we're well past the point where you could look at most policies and be sure which of the two parties they belong to.
It would save us the horror story of who takes over from Dave and Ed
George or Theresa - aargh
Ed, Yvette, Rache or Andy - aargh
Sorry state of affairs.
Better outcome than having a minority party calling the shots
Did you see Blair's comments a few days ago, a left wing party cannot be elected in the UK, you have to be in the centre or centre right.
Labour. It doesn't make sense for them to form a coalition with the SNP as that means less Labour MPs forever more as Scotland moves further away from the UK - that being the key demand from the SNP
Tory. Neither Lib Dems or UKIP will have sufficent MPs to make a difference
if anyone, honestly, can think of a decent outcome, please let me know
Could be interesting. They form a coalition then three months in a whole load of actual left wingers from Labour split off to form an actual left party, then the hard right from the tories join UKIP and we'll have three parties again - middle left and centre - but with different people.
Did you see Blair's comments a few days ago, a left wing party cannot be elected in the UK, you have to be in the centre or centre right.
Shows how totally screwed up the Westminster electoral system is. If you survey people - show them a list of policies an see which ones they agree with - most people turn out pretty left-wing. Something like 70% should be voting Green. But they don't, because the Greens have no chance. Why do the Greens have no chance? Because no-one votes for them.
The two main party leaders have approval ratings in the high negatives, but it's absolutely certain to be one of those two who becomes PM.
Basically, we don't live in a democacy, so a government of natioanl unity is the next logical step. It makes it totally pointless voting instead of mostly pointless.
do you think a Labouratory coalition will bring scotland closer to the uk? 😆jambalaya - Member
Labour. It doesn't make sense for them to form a coalition with the SNP as that means less Labour MPs forever more as Scotland moves further away from the UK - that being the key demand from the SNP
Basically, we don't live in a democacy,
What is it then?
It makes it totally pointless voting instead of mostly pointless.
Now that would kill the democratic process! Seems to me that we are free to vote how we want. If people want to reject that democratic freedom then they only have themselves to blame.
proxi-ism.teamhurtmore - Member
Basically, we don't live in a democacy,
What is it then?
Thm, are you actually stalking Ben? 😆
Nobeerinthefridge - Member
Thm, are you actually stalking Ben?
😉 no I just love ben's posts (almost as much as his pictures from wacky places)
What is it then
A kleptocracy.
@ben yes I am sure if you survey people they will tick all the social conscious boxes the tricky part is how you pay for it, that's where the divisions occur. It's a deliberate misconception to suggest the Tories/right don't have a social policy agenda, it's a case of degree.
Well at least we had one successful democratic experiment in the last 12 months and people have accepted that result very well. 😉
If you survey people - show them a list of policies an see which ones they agree with - most people turn out pretty left-wing
mine came out mostly as BNP-UKIP with Green. SO that's 2 left parties and one right (although one of those left, poeple generally assume as right, but policies are actually rather left).
As one of the minority that makes a living making use of UK EU memberships... why the **** does those stupi facebook polls think my vote should align with 2 of the most devout anti-EU parties there are?
SO those vote for policies things are b******s. My vote used to be tactical against BNP, and now will be tactical against UKIP.
Germany had the equivalent of Con-Lab, but with a slight difference in that the Lab (equivalent) was Chancellor with Con winning the most seats, and the Con leader eventually ousting Lab (but not quite as easy as Dave did 4.5yrs ago). I've regularly suggested Con-Lab coalition, and now might be the right time for safety's sake.
Well at least we had one successful democratic experiment in the last 12 months and people have accepted that result very well.
Yup, it was so much fun we'll probably do it again soon 😀
Touché! 😀
And on that bombshell - sleep well.
Goodnight 😉
Basically, we don't live in a democacy
Of course we bloody do. Democracy means nothing more than politicans being elected. It doesn't mean good, free, representative or honest government - some people do conflate those things though. Often Americans, because of the Cold War.
We do live in a democracy, but it's not a very effective one. FPTP is not great, but the biggest problem is that the electorate don't live up to their side of the deal. For democracy to work, the electorate have to actually put some effort into understanding the issues and the process. Most people don't.
FPTP is not great, but the biggest problem is that the electorate don't live up to their side of the deal. For democracy to work, the electorate have to actually put some effort into understanding the issues and the process. Most people don't.
Maybe the opposite is true and the electorate have realised that the democratic system(FPTP) in the UK is bankrupt.Two thirds of MPs elected in 2010 had a majority of the electorate in their respective constituencies voting against them.Put some effort into understanding that!
And what was turnout? Who knows what the result would be if people turned out and voted how they really felt without worrying about wasted votes...
voting for a least worst available set of self serving ****s is a shit system.molgrips - Member
And what was turnout? Who knows what the result would be if people turned out and voted how they really felt without worrying about wasted votes...
Logical conclusion of New Labour really - love the market, love the causes of the market. Ideological numpties. How truly sad to forget what you believe in - especially in a world so brim full of injustice that it makes me get angrier and more militant as I hurtle towards bus pass status (assuming these buggers don't pull bus passes for older folk that is).
And all the time that tosser Osborne gets away unchallenged.........
Lab-Tory coalition in Westminster, might well end up with the leader of the SNP Westminster group as leader of the opposition. 😉
molgrips:
For democracy to work, the electorate have to actually put some effort into understanding the issues and the process. Most people don't.
This.
It's not very PC, but most people are to lazy to put the time into understanding the issues and policies.
It's too easy to believe the headlines and vote for the lowest common denominator.
What's needed is a 'your country needs you' style ad campaign.. Use all the WW1 and WW2 style propaganda, re-hash that bullshit Sainsburys ad..
Get people to realise that if we're not prepared to get off our arses and do a few hours research and then put pen to paper in the polling stations, then it's likely that our country will go to the dogs.
If we, the electorate don't fight for our country in the polling stations then there is every chance that the Eton Mafia, or worse, the UKIP fascists will win..
It is a war, it is a matter of national security, we're not being asked to take up arms and lay down our lives bit the situation really is that serious..
All we're being asked to do is give up a few hours of our time to glance through the manifestos and realise that the Greens have grown up and our ready to save our nation from the bastards
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..
In the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness
Charles Dickens, A Tale Of Two Cities
How many hung parliaments will we need in the uk before they reconsider ftpt again? This is not a rhetorical question. I recall during the massive AV referendum argu-threads on here many people saying how great it was that ftpt (usually!) returns majority govenrmnents who are able to get on with the business of governing and legislating, largely free of the multi-party wranglings and massive compromises on policy common to coalition governments around the world. (See 'Borgen' for a simple to digest example, albeit one where everything looks much more slanted to the left).
voting for a least worst available set of self serving **** is a shit system.
It is, yes. Still democratic though.
The problem with fptp is that electorate know exactly how it works and don't have the long term vision and commitment to get a "better" party into a position of power. The Greens were able to make a little headway but not enough folk vote for them because.... not enough folk vote for them. Polls regularly show that they'd pick up a lot more votes if they stood a realistic chance of picking up more seats.
Ignoring their politics, the SNP have succeeded because they managed to harness some of that long term vision and a PR system in Holyrood helped (as did the demise of the Tories and the Toryisation of the Labour Party.)
It would be interesting to research opinions on ftpt relative to which constituency you live in and who you voted for or what your political leanings are (of course 2 different things under ftpt as so many people vote tactically.) i wonder if it is easier to appreciate ftpt when you live in a constituency where your vote got your favourite mp in, or at least was a close run race.
I live in a constituency so 'safe' that a gibbon would get in as long as it wore the right colour rosette. No one from the incumbent party bothers campaigning locally as they just don't need to. Many vote for the next biggest polling candidate (in our case lib dem) because they see it as a very slim chance of getting the incumbent mp/party out not because they want a lib dem government. When you live in a safe seat and your voting and interests happen not to be those of the incumbent mp, and your mp or even his PA replies to correspondence with cut and pasted party press releases and internal memos, it is very hard to feel like your vote counts, that your local mp represents the local interests of his constituents (well, only the constituents that want what the party wants) or indeed that we live in a democracy.
We do live in a democracy, but it's not a very effective one. FPTP is not great, but the biggest problem is that the electorate don't live up to their side of the deal. For democracy to work, the electorate have to actually put some effort into understanding the issues and the process. Most people don't.
I agree with this - we the electorate get the politicians we deserve. e.g. if we reject Miliband because he looks like Wallace and doesn't do public speaking too well, and looks odd in photos, then frankly we deserve shallow, PR-minded politicians. If we reject him because we don't agree with his policies then fair enough, but right now that's not the reason people give for not wanting to vote for him.
The main challenge now is where do you go to understand the issues properly - party manifestos are just advertising, not facts, mainstream press (broadsheets and tabloids) are just mouthpieces for their proprietors and utterly biased. Just looking at the language used about house prices rising and falling shows you how manipulative they are.
Tbh I find I learn more from reading the comments sections of news stories than the stories themselves, you get a real feel for how biased the reporting is.
Combining that with my own research for hard stats and data seems to be the only way to get a perspective on anything but that takes up a lot of time, which few people have...
As it happens, STW is a good place to get an idea of all the different perspectives too, even if some of them are mistaken... 🙂
Anything can happen. I didn't forsee the Lib/Lab/Tory coalition forming to run East Dunbartonshire and keep out the SNP who got something like 10 out of 24 seats.
There is some truth in the saying that Labour and Tories are two cheeks of the same arse.
SNP have succeeded because they managed to harness some of that long term vision and a PR system in Holyrood helped (as did the demise of the Tories and the Toryisation of the Labour Party.)
Indeed. One of the biggest political prediction fails must be George Robertson's
"Devolution will kill Nationalism stone dead"
For the first time in my life I'm not sure I'll vote.
I suspect a lot of people share the same view, which means whatever government we end up with will be a weak, partisan mess without any real mandate from the UK electorate.
Why do you think we end up with weak government that doesn't represent or feel any need to represent the people in the country?