Hung Parliament: So what do you all think?

[Northerner]

Personally, I like the idea. I think no matter who won this election, taxes will rise and some pretty serious cuts to the budget need to be made..

But I like how The Conservatives will have a mandate but with a Lib Dem seal of approval. So no crazy stuff!! (Assuming they don't cut a deal with Labour)

[aromulus]

Can't trust the lib dems...:NoNo:

Whoever gets them to help prop the gov up, will eventually get stabbed in the back sooner or later...:doh

[KeithD]

I think it'll be better for the country.... they'll spend so much time fighting amongst themselves, they won't have time to bring out any new laws to screw up the country even more :D

[somebody]

done wonders for sterling:rolleyes:

[joebloggs]

:icon_lol:
no Tory majority, i can see them having trouble passing :action-smiley-081: some new laws :icon_lol:

[Arthur Little]

:icon_lol:
no Tory majority, i can see them having trouble passing :action-smiley-081: some new laws :icon_lol:

Hmm ... :rolleyes: may be no bad thing!

[johncar54]

Minority Government / Coalition Government, done wonders for Italy .......

61 since 1948 !!!!!!!!

And what a world leader that Italy has become !!!!!!!

I really want UK to follow that example !!!!!!!

[aromulus]

Minority Government / Coalition Government, done wonders for Italy .......

61 since 1948 !!!!!!!!

And what a world leader that Italy has become !!!!!!!

I really want UK to follow that example !!!!!!!

Yup....:xxgrinning--00xx3:

We expel illegal immigrants back to where they came from.:omg:
We fine people wearing burkas within public buildings...:omg:
We don't bail people out of jail so they can reoffend while waiting for trials.
Our police ain't afraid of shooting first and asking questions later.
Our criminals on life terms, usually die in jail...

And to be fair, our judiciary isn't afraid to indict 20 odd CIA agents and a couple of italian counterparts and issue arrest warrants, for kidnapping a couple of suspected alleged terrorists.

Our weather is better...
Our food is better.
Our PM is a known crook, and most of the population is happy with it, as the devil you know.... blah, blah, blah....:rolleyes:

[johncar54]

Aromulus, Sorry mate I was not having a go at Italy but trying to make the point that a strong government inspires confidence in a country.

On a general point though, as you say Italy seem able to do what their population want, Spain (where I live) also do, but why is it that if UK tried to do the things which you quite rightly say Italy does, they would end up in the European Court of Human Rights and have to back track ?

[fred]

Yup....:xxgrinning--00xx3:

We expel illegal immigrants back to where they came from.:omg:
We fine people wearing burkas within public buildings...:omg:
We don't bail people out of jail so they can reoffend while waiting for trials.
Our police ain't afraid of shooting first and asking questions later.
Our criminals on life terms, usually die in jail...

And to be fair, our judiciary isn't afraid to indict 20 odd CIA agents and a couple of italian counterparts and issue arrest warrants, for kidnapping a couple of suspected alleged terrorists.

Our weather is better...
Our food is better.
Our PM is a known crook, and most of the population is happy with it, as the devil you know.... blah, blah, blah....:rolleyes:



and the pizza`s there are almost as good as pizza hut.:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[IainBusby]

and the pizza`s there are almost as good as pizza hut.:xxgrinning--00xx3:
:laugher::laugher::laugher:

[triple5]

Sort it out, not good for the pound :rolleyes:

[IainBusby]

As long as the tories don't have the unfettered power to govern for the benefit of the few and throw the baby out with the bath water, as they would like to with regard to public services, I'm surprisingly chilled about it really.

I don't think it will happen though, I think that Clegg is just going through the motions and that the majority of lib dem MP's, activists and supporters will be totally against the whole idea. I think it's far more likely that, after toying with the tories for a while, (just to placate the tory press a little) he'll give Gordon Brown a call and get things moving.

I do worry about old Dedworth though...... If I'm right and Clegg does call Gordon, this could really push him over the edge. :yikes::yikes::yikes:

[David House]

I have a strong feeling that neither the Tories or Labour really want to be in power right now, as the actions needed in the next 2 years will make who-ever is in power very unpopular. It would be better to be in opposition telling us that they are not responsible and would do it better. So we might see them proposing to dance with the LibDems but with no real intention of doing so. I believe that is especially true of the Tories who I think will play such hardball over PR that the LibDems will turn to Labour, who might find it harder to refuse. The next parliament will only last a year or two and after that who-ever loses now can expect a full 5 year term. I want to see PR introduced but not at the cost of another 2 years of labour nonsense and a failure to get to grips with the overspend in the public sector. This was a really bad result. It might have been what the public voted for, but was not what they wanted.

[IainBusby]

I have a strong feeling that neither the Tories or Labour really want to be in power right now, as the actions needed in the next 2 years will make who-ever is in power very unpopular. It would be better to be in opposition telling us that they are not responsible and would do it better. So we might see them proposing to dance with the LibDems but with no real intention of doing so. I believe that is especially true of the Tories who I think will play such hardball over PR that the LibDems will turn to Labour, who might find it harder to refuse. The next parliament will only last a year or two and after that who-ever loses now can expect a full 5 year term. I want to see PR introduced but not at the cost of another 2 years of labour nonsense and a failure to get to grips with the overspend in the public sector. This was a really bad result. It might have been what the public voted for, but was not what they wanted.

The majority of votes cast, labour and lib dem combined 52% as opposed to the tories 36%, show that most people don't want a Cameron government. This shows that the majority of voters are more in tune with a combination of labour and lib dem policies, so why shouldn't it be what they want?

As I said in an earlier post, even after Ashcroft spent £5m to get tory voters from all over the country registered for postal votes in all of the key marginal seats, a very unpopular prime minister, a recession, an economic crisis, an overwhelmingly tory supporting press (plus Sky News of course), Cameron still couldn't get an overall majority or a majority of the votes cast.

[David House]

"The majority of votes cast, labour and lib dem combined 52% as opposed to the tories 36%, show that most people don't want a Cameron government. This shows that the majority of voters are more in tune with a combination of labour and lib dem policies, so why shouldn't it be what they want?

As I said in an earlier post, even after Ashcroft spent £5m to get tory voters from all over the country registered for postal votes in all of the key marginal seats, a very unpopular prime minister, a recession, an economic crisis, an overwhelmingly tory supporting press (plus Sky News of course), Cameron still couldn't get an overall majority or a majority of the votes cast."

This argument only holds up if we have PR, and we don't yet. You could say the same thing about every government in my lifetime as it will pretty much always be true under our current system. The politicians will use such arguments when it suits them to try to score points but they really have no bearing on the current situation.
To suggest that every person voting LibDem would automatically prefer to transfer their vote to Labour if their candidate was not the first choice, which is what this argument implies, is clearly incorrect. I voted LibDem, but my second choice would have been Tory and I would rather have spoiled my vote than have it transferred to labour who I think have no answer to the crisis engulfing us and are dependent upon the public sector unions for their financing and therefore unable to take the steps desperately needed to reduce the size of the public sector. If labour retain power then our problems will get much worse.

[johncar54]

Well said David

[walesrob]

A LibDem and Labour coalition will not work, end of, Labour knows that, so does Clegg. The numbers just don't add up.

Here in the real world, whats most likely is a LibDem and Cons coalition.

Nice to see (NOT) everyone is giving absolute priority to our electoral system, rather than the elephant in the room that is the economy. Proves my point that the British are more concerned about being right above everything else. We need to sort out the economy, and what do we have? Some nihilistic desire to change the voting system.:crazy:

[johncar54]

I think that the best choice might be for the Conservatives to form a minority Gov. This will mean that any vote they wish to get through will have to meet the agreement of others,. This should provide a balanced system.

Of course most of government does not involve votes in the House so its not such a big problem.

[IainBusby]

A LibDem and Labour coalition will not work, end of, Labour knows that, so does Clegg. The numbers just don't add up.

Here in the real world, whats most likely is a LibDem and Cons coalition.

Nice to see (NOT) everyone is giving absolute priority to our electoral system, rather than the elephant in the room that is the economy. Proves my point that the British are more concerned about being right above everything else. We need to sort out the economy, and what do we have? Some nihilistic desire to change the voting system.:crazy:

It would with all of the minor parties onboard and PR would be as much in they're interest as it would be for the lib dems.

[Northerner]

It would with all of the minor parties onboard and PR would be as much in they're interest as it would be for the lib dems.

I think PR is pretty much the big issue as far as the Lib Dems are concerned, and if they get it written into law it would boost their seats in the House of Commons (in later elections). As far as I can tell, the only people against PR are the people who hold the power with our current system.

And it is pretty funny that the Murdoch papers and the Daily Mail seem to think that 36.1% of the votes cast gives the Tories the absolute right to run this country... Sorry to disagree, but that just means a little more than a third who voted want David Cameron and all his policies. I think PR is far more sensible and fair!

And now that there has to be compromises done to form a functional Government, I think in the long term this is a good thing.

[maria_and_matt]

my friends son who is only about 10 asked me what a hung parliament is.... i then replied it is where you line up all th politicians in westminster bridge and hang them all :laugher::laugher:

[somebody]

Yup....:xxgrinning--00xx3:

We expel illegal immigrants back to where they came from.:omg:
We fine people wearing burkas within public buildings...:omg:
We don't bail people out of jail so they can reoffend while waiting for trials.
Our police ain't afraid of shooting first and asking questions later.
Our criminals on life terms, usually die in jail...

And to be fair, our judiciary isn't afraid to indict 20 odd CIA agents and a couple of italian counterparts and issue arrest warrants, for kidnapping a couple of suspected alleged terrorists.

Our weather is better...
Our food is better.
Our PM is a known crook, and most of the population is happy with it, as the devil you know.... blah, blah, blah....:rolleyes:







But wales is still better:icon_lol:

PS ilegal immigrants they dont expel them all tousands of TNT's in Italy. When we have been in the Wife and I bumped into a fair few who were not Phill but because they saw a Phill and a Brit thought we were safe to approach to ask directions and whatnot :rolleyes:

[Arthur Little]

my friends son who is only about 10 asked me what a hung parliament is.... i then replied it is where you line up all th politicians in westminster bridge and hang them all :laugher::laugher:

Not such a bad :idea: ... the thought HAD crossed MY mind, too ... especially the expenses fraudsters!!

[Pete/London]

I read tonight that Cameron has offered the Lib Dems 4 key cabinet posts in return for their support, and one of the posts is Home Secretary.
Well my view is that I would rather see an immediate re run of the election than have a Liberal home secretary, :censored:k knows what that will lead to.

[Arthur Little]

a Liberal home secretary, :censored:k knows what that will lead to.

:rolleyes: ... a more ... :Erm: ... "liberal" approach to Brits having the RIGHT to bring their LAWFULLY-WEDDED spouses to the UK, perhaps? :)

[beppe]

Give them a chance, after all they get paid by taxpayers.

[Pete/London]

:rolleyes: ... a more ... :Erm: ... "liberal" approach to Brits having the RIGHT to bring their LAWFULLY-WEDDED spouses to the UK, perhaps? :)

No they have`nt mentioned that, just proposals to set up more quango`s, and they want to cut the prison population by sending less people to prison so removing the deterrent. Also the amnesty on Illegals already here.

I do`nt know why its difficult for Brits to bring their wives here, I never had the problem, only in trying to bring relatives here on a visit. It could be all the abuse of the system by the African and Asian continents thats led to those problems. If the borders were properly controlled it could become easier to bring wives here, instead of everyone being viewed as suspicious.:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[Scouse]

It could be all the abuse of the system by the African and Asian continents thats led to those problems. If the borders were properly controlled it could become easier to bring wives here, instead of everyone being viewed as suspicious.:xxgrinning--00xx3:

Maybe if we made it more attractive for people to stay where they are, ie ensure all multinational companies who drive down wages are forced to give a fair price for all goods/labour in developing countries then we wouldn't even need border controls.

[David House]

Someone is going to have to give up their self interest for any deal to be possible, and I just don't see that happening, inspite of all the fine words about putting the national interest first. Each side has too much to lose and we may well witness Rome (London) burning whilst the fiddling continues. We may yet see a minority Tory goverment who force through an emergency budget with tacit acceptance from the LibDems who will state their disagreement but abstain in the vote, claiming they only do so in the "national interest". If the Tories agree to king place. Maybe we will get a short lived Tory minority put PR to a referendum, which I feel will be the LibDem sticking point, it would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.
On the issue of immigration I believe that an amnesty is the only practical solution. With much better passport and border controls due to be introduced this problem ought to be much reduced in the future. As a country we need a managed immigration policy and my judgement of what concerns most people is the way the expansion of the EU has resulted in an unrestricted surge of eastern Europeans. We have thousands of Poles, Latvians and Estonians in my own town. Most are good people, hard working and reliable who are here to earn and build their lives. Whether they will stay here once they have accumulated some money is an open question. This whole thing has been managed very badly and I think it is this which the electorate is most converned about because they feel powerless to do anything about it and no party has any realistic answer.

[Pete/London]

Someone is going to have to give up their self interest for any deal to be possible, and I just don't see that happening, inspite of all the fine words about putting the national interest first. Each side has too much to lose and we may well witness Rome (London) burning whilst the fiddling continues. We may yet see a minority Tory goverment who force through an emergency budget with tacit acceptance from the LibDems who will state their disagreement but abstain in the vote, claiming they only do so in the "national interest". If the Tories agree to king place. Maybe we will get a short lived Tory minority put PR to a referendum, which I feel will be the LibDem sticking point, it would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.
On the issue of immigration I believe that an amnesty is the only practical solution. With much better passport and border controls due to be introduced this problem ought to be much reduced in the future. As a country we need a managed immigration policy and my judgement of what concerns most people is the way the expansion of the EU has resulted in an unrestricted surge of eastern Europeans. We have thousands of Poles, Latvians and Estonians in my own town. Most are good people, hard working and reliable who are here to earn and build their lives. Whether they will stay here once they have accumulated some money is an open question. This whole thing has been managed very badly and I think it is this which the electorate is most converned about because they feel powerless to do anything about it and no party has any realistic answer.

The world is full of good hard working people but we dont need them here. GB is full and you may think you are being fair and just but this country is unable to cope with our inflated population. I live in London that is bursting at the seams with illegals, Afghan, Kosovans,Romanians etc who have taken over the seedier side of life.You may be lucky and have the nicer side of immigration where you live, we dont see it that way in the East End of London, no to amnesty and get rid:NoNo:

[David House]

The world is full of good hard working people but we dont need them here. GB is full and you may think you are being fair and just but this country is unable to cope with our inflated population. I live in London that is bursting at the seams with illegals, Afghan, Kosovans,Romanians etc who have taken over the seedier side of life.You may be lucky and have the nicer side of immigration where you live, we dont see it that way in the East End of London, no to amnesty and get rid

If it were that easy to just "get rid" it would have been done long ago. I did not say that an amnesty was fair, only that it is the only practical solution and that it then has to be followed by the much more effective controls which are being introduced.
The UK needs net immigration but in a controlled way, with incentives to ensure that those areas which need people get them. It is a myth that GB is full. There is plenty of room and lots of places which need people. London has always been a crowded place, that is why I left it, and also had it's fair share of immigrants from all over the world. Capital cities are where people gravitate too, it is where they find pockets of folk from their home countries. It is just the way it is. With our ageing population we need to introduce a steady flow of younger people just to ensure that our vital services survive.

[johncar54]

I don't know about UK being full but I prefer to live in Spain, with my British friends. Seems to be a higher percentage here that there are in UK !!!!

Although Mrs Nick Clegg, a Spanish national ,seems to prefer UK !!!!!

[triple5]

I don't know about UK being full but I prefer to live in Spain, with my British friends. Seems to be a higher percentage here that there are in UK !!!!

Although Mrs Nick Clegg, a Spanish national ,seems to prefer UK !!!!!

For those who can still afford it :rolleyes: Apparently there's loads returning to UK because their funds are drying up.

[johncar54]

For those who can still afford it :rolleyes: Apparently there's loads returning to UK because their funds are drying up.

Spain is still cheap, but the pound is in the bin. If it was still 1.60 euro to the pound (as on Euro Day 2002) a beer would still be 65 pence. That is now about 90 pence is not Spain's fault.

[Pete/London]

The world is full of good hard working people but we dont need them here. GB is full and you may think you are being fair and just but this country is unable to cope with our inflated population. I live in London that is bursting at the seams with illegals, Afghan, Kosovans,Romanians etc who have taken over the seedier side of life.You may be lucky and have the nicer side of immigration where you live, we dont see it that way in the East End of London, no to amnesty and get rid

If it were that easy to just "get rid" it would have been done long ago. I did not say that an amnesty was fair, only that it is the only practical solution and that it then has to be followed by the much more effective controls which are being introduced.
The UK needs net immigration but in a controlled way, with incentives to ensure that those areas which need people get them. It is a myth that GB is full. There is plenty of room and lots of places which need people. London has always been a crowded place, that is why I left it, and also had it's fair share of immigrants from all over the world. Capital cities are where people gravitate too, it is where they find pockets of folk from their home countries. It is just the way it is. With our ageing population we need to introduce a steady flow of younger people just to ensure that our vital services survive.

That`s the same old propaganda that`s been used for years, together with the gerrymandaring of the population for votes. We are not all as lucky as you that can move away from overcrowded cities, we have to stay and watch the downward spiral. The explosion in property prices as a result of increased demand as a result of population increase, same as schools,education,healthcare etc. The building trades have been decimated by imported labour and the younger people you refer to as needed mostly come with their own families that have to be supported.Most of the Brits that have gone to live abroad have put money into those countries economies, not put further strain on them.
My simplistic view is,lower the population, resulting in lower pressure on housing and prices coming down, less wives needing to work to help pay the bills, more time to fill by having children and growing our population in a more manageable way.

[David House]

That`s the same old propaganda that`s been used for years, together with the gerrymandaring of the population for votes. We are not all as lucky as you that can move away from overcrowded cities, we have to stay and watch the downward spiral. The explosion in property prices as a result of increased demand as a result of population increase, same as schools,education,healthcare etc. The building trades have been decimated by imported labour and the younger people you refer to as needed mostly come with their own families that have to be supported.Most of the Brits that have gone to live abroad have put money into those countries economies, not put further strain on them.
My simplistic view is,lower the population, resulting in lower pressure on housing and prices coming down, less wives needing to work to help pay the bills, more time to fill by having children and growing our population in a more manageable way.

I remember my parents being strongly against the immigration from the West Indies, and my uncles from Ealing hating the arrival of the Indians in Southall. Nothing really changes and given time everything settles down. No-one in their right mind would now argue that the waves of immigration that my parents and uncles objected to did not turn out to be hugely beneficial to us. How many of us have black friends, of West Indian origin? How many know Indian families who have worked hard and become propsperous through study and ambition? How many of us have an Indian doctor in our practice?
Our society is getting older and needs the carers and others to do some of the basic jobs. Simply lowering the population cannot work and those aged people would not receive the services they need if we could do it. We need a vibrant economy generating revenues to sustain all our public services and without a managed inflow of people this is not going to be achieved. All politicians know this, but they also know that to openly admit it makes them unpopular and probably unelectable. Hence the double speak which we get at this time. I did not move away from London because of the immigration, indeed I quite enjoyed the buzz of a multi-cultural enviroment. I moved because I needed more space for my family and now I cannot afford to move back, even if I wanted to.

[adam&chryss]

Yup....:xxgrinning--00xx3:

We expel illegal immigrants back to where they came from.:omg:
We fine people wearing burkas within public buildings...:omg:
We don't bail people out of jail so they can reoffend while waiting for trials.
Our police ain't afraid of shooting first and asking questions later.
Our criminals on life terms, usually die in jail...

And to be fair, our judiciary isn't afraid to indict 20 odd CIA agents and a couple of italian counterparts and issue arrest warrants, for kidnapping a couple of suspected alleged terrorists.

Our weather is better...
Our food is better.
Our PM is a known crook, and most of the population is happy with it, as the devil you know.... blah, blah, blah....:rolleyes:







But not good enough to live there?

[aromulus]

But not good enough to live there?

I would have gone years ago if it hadn't been for a clingy, possessive and manipulative, now, ex wife....:D

[fred]

That`s the same old propaganda that`s been used for years, together with the gerrymandaring of the population for votes. We are not all as lucky as you that can move away from overcrowded cities, we have to stay and watch the downward spiral. The explosion in property prices as a result of increased demand as a result of population increase, same as schools,education,healthcare etc. The building trades have been decimated by imported labour and the younger people you refer to as needed mostly come with their own families that have to be supported.Most of the Brits that have gone to live abroad have put money into those countries economies, not put further strain on them.
My simplistic view is,lower the population, resulting in lower pressure on housing and prices coming down, less wives needing to work to help pay the bills, more time to fill by having children and growing our population in a more manageable way.

I remember my parents being strongly against the immigration from the West Indies, and my uncles from Ealing hating the arrival of the Indians in Southall. Nothing really changes and given time everything settles down. No-one in their right mind would now argue that the waves of immigration that my parents and uncles objected to did not turn out to be hugely beneficial to us. How many of us have black friends, of West Indian origin? How many know Indian families who have worked hard and become propsperous through study and ambition? How many of us have an Indian doctor in our practice?
Our society is getting older and needs the carers and others to do some of the basic jobs. Simply lowering the population cannot work and those aged people would not receive the services they need if we could do it. We need a vibrant economy generating revenues to sustain all our public services and without a managed inflow of people this is not going to be achieved. All politicians know this, but they also know that to openly admit it makes them unpopular and probably unelectable. Hence the double speak which we get at this time. I did not move away from London because of the immigration, indeed I quite enjoyed the buzz of a multi-cultural enviroment. I moved because I needed more space for my family and now I cannot afford to move back, even if I wanted to.

A lot of Brits in the countryside used to work on either farms or in their local hotel industry to help support their families and mortgage.. How are they supposed to compete with people that are prepared to live 4/5/6 to a room and eat Polish sausages and sauerkraut sent from their family in Poland every day?
When I was in my 20`s we used to drive in to London as thats where the money was made in the building industry back then..Can you imagine that British tradesmen trying to do that today?? The problem is that the construction firms are starting to employ these EU trades outside of London and quite often for 30.00 Quid a day cash in hand.. Much of this money is sent out of the UK economy and back to their home countries..Mean while British tradesmen that have contributed for years are having to take huge pay cuts in order to compete and are struggling to survive financially..Is that fair?
I have 3 Polish friends that have been working in the UK for over 15 years sending their cash home to their Polish wives..They were not at all happy when they heard that the EU flood gates were to open as they knew what that meant..2 of them went back to Poland and the 3rd is living in Malaysia..
They reckon that Britain has gone to the dogs!!
Thank God I was able to get out whilst the going was still pretty good..

[keithAngel]

Whats fair got to do with it? its called capitalism Fred and a free market economy and the ones with capital pay the least they are able so they will get rich and be able to retire and live where they like:icon_lol: