And so the tide begins to turn
 

As a new poll now suggests that "Dave" is losing ground in the polls, are we headed for a hung parliament. If so, do we really want Clegg to hold the balance of power?

Brown’s Party Narrows Conservative Lead in Poll, Observer Says

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

So you would be happy with another five years of labour :shocked::confused:.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Anyone who wants even another 5 minutes of Brown and his grubby, lying, inept crew must be stark raving bonkers.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

So, does anyone think "Gordon" and "Labour" will have a "majority" at the next "election"?

btw, the OP link states
In the 2005 General Election, Labour had 35.2%, Conservatives 32.4%, and LibDems 22% of votes cast, yet Labour had 158 more seats than the Conservatives.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

I would rather have another fivty years of labour than 1 week of the conservatives.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

It's a matter of choosing between two evils.

The same choice we always get.

Sweet F.A. and none.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

If they get in, trust me, 5 years will feel like it.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

i predict- nay confirm Gordon will have diarrhoea when the election comes around

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Interesting - I wonder what the national debt will be after 50 years of these idiots...... It's really not that difficult to spend money - whether borrowed, printed or taken from taxpayers and that's just about the sum total of what Bliar and Brown have been good at. The difficult bit comes when all the debt has to be repaid and cuts have to be made but of course for some people that day will never come will it ... :rolleyes:

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Probably considerably worse than if it was a Tory one.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

now come on gordo's fixing the planet its gona cost a few bob:rolleyes:

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Yes :rolleyes: and who's going to pay? The UK taxpayer I wonder???....

---------- Post added at 22:12 ---------- Previous post was at 22:10 ----------

If Clegg was handed the balance of power he'd drop it!

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Well we could all be really radical and vote for the Liberal Democrats..But it would mean giving up some really deep seated prejudices.

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Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

i'm comfortable with my deep seated prejudices ,there my blue blanky ,i snuggle up with them every time i see that scottish ££$$%%^^&&:mad:


time for my pils er pills I've drunk the pils:shocked:

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

What a refreshing idea! I say yes!

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Well it won't be clegg and if i have to choose between Gb or DC i am a tory because with what we have already lost under this labour government the idea of them in power and the stunts they would pull if they did get elected send shivers down my spine. Also have none of the rabid tory haters spotted the fact they always have to do lousy things because a certain other party was in power before them.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Bah! Samo,samo..Nobody has any balls to try something completely different..as long as it's not so different as to let the BNP sneak in...

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

we tried ed balls ---nuff said

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Strange.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Think we'd be at 90% taxation with 90% of those working, which wouldn't be many thanks to a comprehensive and overgenerous welfare scheme, employed by the government by then. Doesn't appeal.

I would hope the Tories can't mess it up so severely. They should simply make getting the (unelected) Dark Lord out of politics a selling point. That should get the a few votes. Duplicious <bleep> that he is, going behind his alleged bosses back while picking his own promotions and side moves - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ign-envoy.html

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

I cannot see any circumstance where a hung parliament would be any good at all for this country given what is going to be needed to be done to get us out of the mess we are in. Whether it be one party or another i think we need to have a clear majority for one of the partys in order to get anything done.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

I think im gonna stand as a member of the Monster Raving Loony Party and get people to vote for us lol

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

A hung parliament? Absolutely unless everyone starts thinking outside the box..

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

I see an image of mass executions in Westminster when I hear that phrase.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Surely they would have to call another election pretty soon if they got a Hung parliament. The Liberal Democrats would probably team with Labour and manage to get a few of their wishes listened too.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Now you're just dreaming again... :D

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

There is absolutely no chance of the Lib Dems teaming up with Labour in the event of a hung parliament. The Lib Dems have enough sense to realise that it would be political suicide in the long term to be seen to be propping up a worn-out and unpopular government that has just lost an election.

This is why the SNP is running Scotland at the moment - Labour and the Lib Dems have enough seats between them to have continued in office but the Lib Dems walked away from it.

Sorry to burst your perpetual Labour fantasy Damien, but you're going to have to come to terms with the fact that very soon, they are going to be out of office. ;)

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

I don't want Labour to win the next election :confused:

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Unfortunately I can't see this happening, people in this country are too set in their ways & haven't got the bottle to take a risk on the unknown. TBH I'm sick to the back teeth with 2 party politics, they're both as bad as each other. I reckon we need a military coup.:)

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Sorry, I must have missed it where he said, "I would back Tories in hung poll." Can you point out to me where he actually said that?

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

I can say, hand on heart, that I am genuinely surprised at that.

---------- Post added at 13:24 ---------- Previous post was at 13:22 ----------

Heero_Yuy is quoting the headline, which being in the Sun may or may not be a fair reflection of the entire interview they had with Clegg. It's hard to tell, to be honest. It would be interesting to try to find something on it in one of the better quality news sources.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Go back though my posts. I supported Labour at the last election, shall not be this time. I have mentioned this before. Not sure what is too surprising about it. :shrug:

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

That actually adds a lot of interesting and useful detail, thanks :tu:

It's especially useful because it shows how the Lib Dems would decide which party to support if Parliament is hung. The Observer seems to believe that there would be a hung Parliamant with the Tories on a six-point lead, and any less than that might actually result in a Labour victory. If the the Lib Dems are going to offer support based on share of the vote rather than share of the seats, that is almost inevitably going to mean a Tory/LibDem coalition.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Not really. That just repeats what was in The Sun and still does not say that he has declared his support any party whatsoever.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Given the maths put forward by the Observer, which Clegg is doubtless well aware of, it's hard to see his position as being anything else. He may not have said "I declare my support for the Tories" - why would he, there's nothing to gain from it - but the most likely outcome of Clegg's "ethical principle" is clear.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Brown obviously doesn't want to be in power again... too much mess to clear up, and it goes against the natural order of things: Labour puts us in debt; Conservatives get us out of debt; ad infinitum.....

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

And quite promptly put us right back there. So, the cycle continues.

---------- Post added at 21:19 ---------- Previous post was at 21:18 ----------

Neither ethics nor principles are mutually exclusive, as nor are they from politicians, who see these concepts as movable feasts.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Our worst debt as a percentage of GDP has been under Tory governments although WW2 contributed a lot to that. Up until we had to bail the banks out, Brown can't be blamed for banking deregulation in America, debt had been 40-50% of GDP through Tory and Labour governments.

As for a hung parliament, it's looking likely. I can't imagine the Tory's managing the kind of record swings necessary to take overall control. I'm curious to see what would happen under a hung parliament. It could be good for democracy but there hasn't been a worse time for it.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

I agree with you there, you've only got to look HERE to see the Tories are looking after the rich of Rushcliffe while ignoring the working class of Ashfield. You could say nothing has changed regarding the Tories.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

I don't want Labour OR the the Conservatives.

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Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Amen to that.

Today's bit of good news for the Tories, their chief spin doctor's landed his former employers with a £800k bill after being found to have bullied a reporter out of his job. Clearly just the man to trust to restore civilised politics to the UK after the Blair/Campbell years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009...ullying-payout

£800k is a lot for a case like this, suggesting that the bullying was pretty extreme - after all, an experienced tabloid sports reporter's hardly going to be the thinnest-skinned most sensitive person in the world. Mind you, he'd have been on a lot of money.

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Has the enquiry into his involvement in the phone tapping scandal been concluded yet?

Re: And so the tide begins to turn
 

Sounds like a nice dream but we are going to be stuck with one of them, UKIP all the way.

General Election 2010
 

Not sure if we have a topic yet for this Election so thought I would start one. Mods please rename/delete if you think it's too early to be chucking election talking into one topic.

A new poll has been released suggesting a Hung Parliament, which seems to be a common view amongst the pollsters.

Not sure if the polling company has a bias for their selection but it does seem a common theme.

Does anyone else think it's actually surprising that the election looks like it will be close with the anger directed at Labour? Do you think this is a likely result or will they scrape a minority? Why haven't the Tories consolidated their position?

Re: General Election 2010
 

There might be a big spurt of BNP voters on the day.

Re: General Election 2010
 

I think you chose the correct verb there, Gary old bean.

Re: General Election 2010
 

TBH I can't see what all the fuss is about a hung parliment in the UK. Moany, if not most european countries have hung parliments after every election. It doesn't cause Germany, Norway etc grinding to a political halt....:rolleyes:

Re: General Election 2010
 

Um,yes it does.... Germany is not exactly willing to reform it's laws and/or practices.Just like Japan it's a society of consent,and as such change happens slowly.

Re: General Election 2010
 

It cuts both ways really. Under proportional representation small parties have a bigger chance of getting seats, and in a hung parliament (which is pretty much the norm under pr), they may be needed to make up the majority. They may be able to punch above their weight in the negotiations leading up to the coalition. Also, smaller parties can get popular more quickly, as there is less of a disincentive to vote for a smaller party. Unlike in the UK, they actually have a chance of getting a seat.

Either way, I think this issue of consent is actually quite important, as it means that more people feel represented in parliament. The biggest threat to any democratic system (imo) is people not feeling represented. Under pr, more than 50% of the people will have voted for one of the parties in power, something which is not (usually) the case in the UK.

Re: General Election 2010
 

I much rather those who were going to waste their vote, at least waste it on something like the pirate party :D

Re: General Election 2010
 

If there is a hung parliament, it may give the government an opportunity to at l;eats start discussing the viability of PR.

However, PR would unfortunately allow the more extreme wings of party politics to gain representation in the national government, so I would treat the concept with some caution.

Re: General Election 2010
 

It would. I am well aware of that. It does also mean that more people will feel represented, which I think is what democracy should be about. Not a two horse race, with a third one thrown in to make up the numbers, but a broad spectrum of parties that cater to different political preferences. The fact that you get coalition governments can smooth these differences out again.

Another thing to bear in mind is that under pure PR you do away with your local MP, which may or may not be a good thing.

Re: General Election 2010
 

This is the second Grauniad/Observer poll in as many weeks to make this prediction, and we have a thread on the first one. Probably best to keep discussion about them together.

As for a general, all-purpose General Election thread, I think we should keep that until the election is formally called. As in 2005 I will be running a weekly opinion poll thread to see how the floating voters of Cable Forum evaluate the parties' campaigns, so when the time comes, I will be starting those threads and exterminating all competitors. ;)

So, for the time being, two threads discussing Guardian/Observer predictions of a hung parliament have been merged.