What happens if the coalition breaks down?

Vince Cable seems to be stirring the jobbies a bit of late. So what happens if they two parties decide that enough is enough and they no longer want to share power?

the sky will fall in

Vote of no confidence in the PM / government – if it passes new government to be formed that can get a vote thru, if not new elections

No chance of the coalition lasting IMO- the lib dems are gong to be hammered in the holyrood election and the english councils and will not get the AV vote thru.

Lib demns totally finished either way

no brainer new election after vote of no confidence i suppose Tories could try a minority govt as technically the crown calls an elections /asks someone to form a govt but seems highly unlikely they would ignore parliament

Wouldn’t be at all surprised if the coalition falls apart shortly after the AV vote.

theyll all be out of a job and forced to sign on at the dole office
😆

i imagine it will be a torry minority government

personally i dont think the lib dems or the torries will let it fail, both too keen to stay in power

cable may well be sidelined even further hes a liability for cleggover

the whole world goes into a cataclysmic explosion of desperate unfounded concern.

the general public will hardly notice.

The uncertainty amongst the public and business will do the recovery no good whatsoever IMO. We need to believe the future looks better than the present for the recovery to be sustained

wishful thinking does seem like an excellent foundation to base your economy on

I just wonder what Cable has got on cameron?

I mean why hasnt the senile ol’giffer been given the long walk with the shotgun already by now?

Stoner – he has the power base inthe Lib dems – if he is sacked he would be able to take the coalition down. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

gone past that now, shirley?

It’s a busted flush anyway.

call a general, let labour back in to take the shit on the chin they dodged in 2010. There’s virtually no difference in the spending plans between the two anyway when you look at what’s affordable. Might as well let blinky take crap for it since he helped make the mess.

Nooooooooo, there would be nothing worse than Labour getting back in.

They f***ed up this country right royally with their ‘borrow now – pay later’ short sightedness. Edd Milliband hasn’t got a clue has he? Where are his policies to tackle the debt? Oh I forgot he doesn’t seem to have any. His constant criticizing of the Con/Dems smacks of desperation – perhaps trying to deflect attention away from Labour’s lack of any credible alternative.

Yeah some failed votes then no confidence then dissolution and elections. Probably get a similar result too. Cable is just rattling Cams cage to remind him he’s meant to be a one nationist not a Thatcherite.

They f***ed up this country right royally with their ‘borrow now – pay later’ short sightedness[/Quote]
yes nothing happened to the econmomy or banking [started in the american sub prime market] it was just labours fault. the tories agreed to match their spending btw prior to the collapse and george praised Ireland.

Junkyard, what happened in America only effected us in the way it did because the Labour government allowed under regulation, over exposure and reckless lending by UK banks to continue. This served through bubbling house prices and credit card lending to give the nation a false sense of security and wealth – a false security all built on borrowed money.

In the meantime Labour were employing more quangos and ‘Jobs for the Boys’ in the grossly inefficient public sector. Again all at the taxpayers expense funded by more borrowed money we couldn’t pay back. Then there’s the benefits system which Labour has let get way, way out of hand but lets not even go there.

No, the Tories are not perfect but they do seem to be tackling the problem head on. You may not like taking your medicine but then again who does? At least the Tories seem to stand up for the people who want to work, to build businesses that provide employment and ultimately wealth for the country through exports. Labour on the other hand seemed committed to ever increasing house prices and a benefits culture that rewards no-one but the workshy spongers in our midst.

Vince Cable seems to be stirring the jobbies a bit of late.

I don’t see any problem at all. Vince Cable has made a point of not criticising Tory policy since being in government – and he still hasn’t.

Criticising David Cameron for “inflaming extremism”, or anything else simular for that matter, is meaningless cheap talk, as long as he doesn’t criticise David Cameron’s policies – and well he knows it.

The single most discredited individual is this squalid little pact between the Tories and the LibDems is Vince Cable – more so than even Nick Clegg imo. The backtracking and political acrobatics which Cable has had to preform since the general election is nothing short of breathtaking, he now badly needs to score some brownie points so that he doesn’t look like just another Tory in the eyes of his party.

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Ed Milliband hasn’t got a clue has he? ………. His constant criticizing of the Con/Dems smacks of desperation

Hardly desperation………why would he be “desperate” ffs ? Every opinion poll for a considerable amount of time now, shows that he would be the next Prime Minister if a general election were to be held.

Even you appear to understand the situation with your comment : “Nooooooooo, there would be nothing worse than Labour getting back in”.

Ed Milliband is far from “desperate”. The coalition might be panicking though.

Floundering as well as panicking Ernie.

Clegg knows his goose is cooked – destroyed any chance of significant lib dem represenataion for a generation, leave the coalition and force and election face oblivion, stay and face oblivion at the next election.

Have you seen the polls for the holyrood election? Lib dems down to 6 ish % – could be down to 3 or 4 or 4 msps from 16 – and its quite possible they have none despite a form of PR.

Can you really see Milliband as Prime Minister? Just watch any PM’s questions and you’ll see him getting completely owned by David Cameron. He’ll make a complete fool of the UK if he ever gets into power. We need someone with credibility to run this country – not some ‘little oik’ still wet behind the ears.

Still – the sad thing is though that a lot of people can’t see that the cuts the current government are having to make are for the long term good of us all. I’m guessing that’s why the public sector workers are protesting. Maybe they realise that if they get made redundant from the public sector then they will have to go out and get a proper job – a job in the private sector where they might occasionally have to skip a lunch break or have to work a little later than 5pm.

Northern star – and you see Cameron as anything but a lightweight still wet behind the ears?

As for the cuts – really sensible way to proceed my arse. Idealogical destruction of public services using the economic situation as an excuse.

Hahaha! David Cameron is a ****. A fascist **** at that.

Did anyone here his anti foreigner speech?

Can you really see Milliband as Prime Minister? ……….He’ll make a complete fool of the UK if he ever gets into power.

Well make your mind up mate……..do you think he is desperate and will never make PM or what ?

If you really think he doesn’t stand a chance, why are you panicking ?

at the same time cables not gonna actually do anything hes just whinging this ‘spat’ between him and cameron is possibly a bit stage managed to let the lib dems save face and then just carry on with condem policy

camerons speech today was bollox anyway, reanouncing that he was gonna crack down on sham marriages, outside eu immigration cap and bogus unis limiting foreign students as announced last year
todays effeort was pure pandering to the reactionary bnp crowd before the local elections, he didnt actually announce anything new

as for labour…for teh benefit of northernstar
millibland and balls know theyd have to make cuts, their argument is that they would make them slower and more gradual without risking a double dip recession

what im not convinced theyd do and what the condems have failed to do is limit the countries exposure to another financial crash, the recent banking review was a complete cop out these guys are just as beholden to the money men as any government for the last 30 years.

Coalition Goverment formed at last election.
Why is it, I keep thinking it’s a conservative government?
Lib dems have shown themselves as having no balls.
The conservatives are desperate to cut services to the core, and finally start killing off the ‘NHS’, an institution this country should be proud of.

Oh look, Vince Cable has apparently vindicated me by claiming that he completely supports David Cameron’s policy on immigration. I don’t know if that counts as another example of his “backtracking and political acrobatics” or whether he had never deviated from Tory policy in the first place.

Vince Cable backtracks on criticism of David Cameron’s immigration claims

Quote :

Vince Cable has indicated his support for the Government’s policy on tackling immigration, despite earlier accusing David Cameron of “inflaming extremism”.

“We are completely united behind the policy and the policy is about a cap.”

ernie_lynch – Member

The single most discredited individual is this squalid little pact between the Tories and the LibDems is Vince Cable – more so than even Nick Clegg imo. The backtracking and political acrobatics which Cable has had to preform since the general election is nothing short of breathtaking,

His squirming over the cuts was one of the most unedifying political spectacles I have seen as you could tell he didn’t believe what he was saying and knew no one else did either.

Lost all his credibility in that one moment

forget the coalition. who gives a **** about a bunch of right-on cyclists going on about stuff! What’s the point of that!

Clegg knows his goose is cooked – destroyed any chance of significant lib dem represenataion for a generation, leave the coalition and force and election face oblivion, stay and face oblivion at the next election.

mmm… whilst that seems like a likely outcome, theres plenty of scope for a turnaround of fortunes (either by them holding it together for the full 5 yrs and having positive things to shout about OR by the LibDems positioning themselves as the people who stand up to the tories and pull the rug out when they try to do something really stupid!). In reality though their are loyal LibDem voters who have voted for them year after year despite it being a “wasted vote” – whilst there are some disgruntled floating voters – the loyal LibDems aren’t going to jump ship that quickly (if they lean slightly to the right they are probably quite happy; if they lean slightly to the left they know the alternative is a tory government and its better to have some influence for a change).

Have you seen the polls for the holyrood election? Lib dems down to 6 ish % – could be down to 3 or 4 or 4 msps from 16 – and its quite possible they have none despite a form of PR.

I never normally believe polls, but in this case I think this fall from grace probably is only partly to do with their Westminster colleagues, and a lot to do with their distinct lack of anything significant to say in Scotland. You might even argue that their lack of cooperation in forming a coalition in Scotland has shot them in the foot. They had the chance with the SNP to replace council tax with local income tax but their dispute over the details prevented a key change that would have convinced people that holyrood and westminster were different parties. People have forgotten what they represent (and some of the positive things they made happen when they were in partial power up here). Afterall the most hated ConDem policies of tuition fees and NHS reform are devolved issues (so don’t actually harm Scots voters) and are NOT Scottish Liberal Democrat Policies for implimentation north of the border. But their real issue is most Scots would probably struggle to name more than 1 Lib Dem MSP.

However if you want to make Holyrood and Westminster analogies, then I’d say that Alex Salmond has shown that minority government can be made to work (albeit with a lot of compromise) and this is why, answering the OP’s question, I don’t think failure of the coalition would mean a prompt election. There’s no reason why Call-me-dave couldn’t hold together a minority government for a couple of years – afterall it would only make sense for the rest to try and force an election if they thought they would do better in that vote… …which party would gain sudden support if there was an election in the Autumn?

the loyal LibDems aren’t going to jump ship that quickly

Well the loyal ones might not – I guess that’s why they call them “loyal”. But it would appear from all recent opinion polls that over half of those who voted LibDem at the general election, wouldn’t vote for them now. And that haemorrhage of non-loyal support for the LibDems has been borne out by recent by-elections results.

..which party would gain sudden support if there was an election in the Autumn?

Labour.

if there was an election tomorrow i think you would find a collapse in the vote rather than anything more positive.

Why vote Labour, screw the economy start wars.
Why vote Conservative, screw the economy shut the NHS down,
Why vote Lib Dem, it makes no difference.

SO why Vote?

Exactly.

The current options make the choice irrelevant.

Live your life according to your own rules and bollocks to central government. They are all as two faced, corrupt and vote-hungry as each other.

I take it you’re a glass half empty (of p*ss with added razor blades) type of guy mrmo.

what the last few parliaments have done between the parties is undermine confidence in all politicians in this country. No-one trusts a politician and it’s seen as immaterial whether they’re Lib Lab or Con.

not at all, just looking at the evidence type of guy,

Labour, insufficient regulation of banks, allowing a huge house price bubble to develop, massive extension of student fees, starting of illegal wars, allowing an ever increasing benefits underclass, etc.

Tories, increasing unemployment, massively increasing student fees, pointless reforms of the NHS, pandering to the racists, etc.

Both parties are intent on gerrymandering the electoral landscape for their own ends, on centralising power despite what they say.

and the Lib dems why bother.

As for the racists at the BNP and UKIP….

No party in this country works for the long term good of this country, the only thing that matters is the next general election.

The problem is the woeful political education in this country, a voting system that means most votes are wasted, that denies a voice to the population. A system that seems to favour the rich and cronyism whilst ignoring the plight of the majority of the population.

So why bother voting when you will get shafted by everyone.

Why vote Labour, screw the economy
start wars.
Why vote Conservative, screw the
economy shut the NHS down,
Why vote Lib Dem, it makes no
difference.
SO why Vote?
actually the condems seem to have taken us into another war – still it’ll be good for arms sales in the region

I…… don’t…… care.

Isn’t that terrible.

actually the condems seem to have taken us into another war

And illegally too. British actions have been in direct violation of UN resolution 1973 which only allows the protection of civilians – not the support of one side in achieving victory over the other. Resolution 1973 also requires an immediate ceasefire by all parties. A ceasefire would be hugely detrimental to the rebels as it would leave them isolated and in control of very little areas, therefore the UK, along with other Western powers, has carried out aerial bombardment in support of aggressive non-defensive action. Furthermore the UK government has openly talked of arming the rebels in complete and flagrant violation of UN resolution 1973, which requires Member States to ensure a strict implementation of the arms embargo to Libyan territory – there is no exemption for arms to rebel held areas.

Just had a thought there (which is rare for me). Is it really the politicians that should be taking the flack for all of this? Should i not be angled more towards a fair number of civil servants?