The 2010 General Election Thread: Week 1

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

Like it all you want nothing of any value will get done just as nothing was accomplished during the last hung parliament here.

I understand the Netherlands has had a nightmare due to similar conditions.

If you don't like a party doing what it wants the best solution would be two houses of parliament or similar, as it is with a hung parliament a lot of legislation wouldn't leave first base or would be severely mangled.

I wouldn't say the Netherlands has had a nightmare due to similar conditions. Politics over the last 10 years have been somewhat turbulent, but generally speaking Dutch politics is quite stable. Due to PR there is never a single party in power, and generally politics tends to be more consensus based, which I think is a good thing (and not an obstacle to getting legislation on the books). Another good thing is that people don't keep harping back to whatever a party did in the 70s or 80s to prove their point that a certain party is inherently evil. It ****es me off endlessly in the 'debate' here.

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by Damien

Might be nice to see the Lib Dems have some power though. Personally I would love the civil liberty reforms proposed by them with the economic policy of the Tories (without the marriage rubbish).

That would be great, I fear though that they will align themselves with Labour, then we'd see neither happen. Labour are too horny on authoritarianism and disregard for the economic wellbeing of the country.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Mick

Also agreed - What you see is what you get with Brown and besides this is a leader who allowed the expenses system to be abused - do we really want to have another term with the same muppets who allowed a system to be abused so easily and then only made real changes to it once their greed got found out?

Iirc, when this expenses scandal was revealed, cameron immediately forced his mps to pay back any money. Brown waited, ummed and arred, then half heartedly did the same as cameron.

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by danielf

I wouldn't say the Netherlands has had a nightmare due to similar conditions. Politics over the last 10 years have been somewhat turbulent, but generally speaking Dutch politics is quite stable. Due to PR there is never a single party in power, and generally politics tends to be more consensus based, which I think is a good thing (and not an obstacle to getting legislation on the books). Another good thing is that people don't keep harping back to whatever a party did in the 70s or 80s to prove their point that a certain party is inherently evil. It ****es me off endlessly in the 'debate' here.

Popular media seems to disagree with you that it hasn't been a nightmare. decisions taking an extremely long time to get anywhere due to infighting within coalition, and eventually PM resigning after coalition collapsing over support or otherwise for Dutch presence in Afghanistan.

I would call a coalition being too busy fighting amongst themselves to accomplish things and eventually causing government to collapse and force an election that may result in a strong far-right presence a nightmare.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

Popular media seems to disagree with you that it hasn't been a nightmare. decisions taking an extremely long time to get anywhere due to infighting within coalition, and eventually PM resigning after coalition collapsing over support or otherwise for Dutch presence in Afghanistan.

I would call a coalition being too busy fighting amongst themselves to accomplish things and eventually causing government to collapse and force an election that may result in a strong far-right presence a nightmare.

I don't necessarily view the collapse of a coalition as a nightmare. Yes, it will hinder efficiency, but the positive thing is that the voters get to have their say, and a new coalition with a new mandate comes in. Coalition collapses are also not that common (current PM Harry Potter (4 collapses in 4 terms) aside).

The fact that the upcoming elections may result in a strong far-right presence is neither here nor there. Elections were due at the end of the year anyway, and while the rise of the far right clearly has to do with what goes in politics, I don't think it's a result of the present coalition collapsing.

The reality is that in my living memory the system has worked well, and while it has polarised in recent years (as has the whole of Dutch society) I do think the consensus element of it works well. IMO slightly slower progress to a solution that many people find acceptable is to be preferred over the seesaw of British politics.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by danielf

Personally, I like the idea of a hung parliament, as I don't like the idea of having one party in power that can pretty much decide to do what it want to do for the next 5 years.

Ditto. I think I'd prefer to see a hung parliament, than a massive landslide like we had in '97 (whoever the winner).

Originally Posted by broadbandking

As I said I will most likely vote UKIP, BNP's take on keeping british english is a good idea however goes too extreme for me, as people of a ethic are english as they are born here.

I can understand wanting to keep Britain British, & I'm glad you see the BNP are too extreme. The BNP don't simply want Britain to be British, they want it to be White, and they don't count non-white Britons as actually being British.

Originally Posted by Damien

Might be nice to see the Lib Dems have some power though. Personally I would love the civil liberty reforms proposed by them with the economic policy of the Tories (without the marriage rubbish).

Strangely (for me) I think I'd prefer that to the Lib Dems teaming up with Labour.

I saw this re-Tweet by Dr Evan Harris (LD Science spokesman) earlier:

http://twitter.com/DrEvanHarris/status/12090007519

RT @kenanmalik: Labour Manifesto speaks just once of 'civil liberties' - in para that begins 'We will continue to make full use of CCTV and DNA technology'

I really do despise New Labour's track record on Civil Liberties.

As for the marriage rubbish...what rubbish are you talking about Damien? Get yourself a non-working wife, & you'll get three whole pounds each week! You could use it to buy a pint, or save it up each week, over a period of 133 years, to pay for the average £20k wedding cost

Originally Posted by zing

How is this thread running? isnt it week 2 now? Thread started on a Tuesday so today is the start of the second week??

The Week 1 thread is running until this Thursday, when Week 2 begins. The threads then change each following Thursday until the election.

[Admin Insert:- This week one thread is now closed. Week 2 thread is now open with the last 24 hours worth of posting. A new poll has been created as well to see if voting intentions have changed.

You can find the new thread by following the link below:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/20...-week-2-a.html

Thanks.]