LibLab pact/coalition

[I1L2T3]

Well if somebody said on the radio that the conservatives will never ever form a coalition with the Liberals then it must be true

 

Things change in politics even if the Liberals and Conservatives were utterly incompatible right now, which isn't the case, it's insane to declare that they never will be. Just compare Labours policies now as compared to the early 80s, the Lib Dems could never have partnered with such a party yet now you are claiming they will never work with anyone else ever.

 

You are right to say that the Tories seemed to think they'd win the election pretty much by default which hardly seems to case anymore. But it's utterly absurd to leap from that to declaring they will never be in power ever again.

 

Your key points seem to be:

 

1) That the Lib Dems and Tories are currently compatible enough to form a coalition. My advice to you on this one is get some money on at the bookies if you're serious. You'll get fantastic odds

 

2) That it's impossible that a Lib-Lab pact could lead to electoral reform that could make it impossible for the Tories ever to form a majority government again. I can't agree with you on that - I think it is now a likely outcome. That said Labour will be in the same position too, the difference of course being there are many, many touch points between Lib and Lab policy making that form of coalition more likely moving forward into the future.

 

If Cameron and the Tories can turn this around then fair play to them. They'll have to work very hard and play very dirty.

[plekhanov]

Your key points seem to be:

 

1) That the Lib Dems and Tories are currently compatible enough to form a coalition. My advice to you on this one is get some money on at the bookies if you're serious. You'll get fantastic odds

 

2) That it's impossible that a Lib-Lab pact could lead to electoral reform that could make it impossible for the Tories ever to form a majority government again. I can't agree with you on that - I think it is now a likely outcome. That said Labour will be in the same position too, the difference of course being there are many, many touch points between Lib and Lab policy making that form of coalition more likely moving forward into the future.

 

If Cameron and the Tories can turn this around then fair play to them. They'll have to work very hard and play very dirty.

You are attempting to move the goalposts I objected to your hysterical declarations that:

 

"We would always have coalition government. And that would never mean a lab-tory pack or a lib-tory pact. The only hope for the tories is that the others (UKIP etc...) become sufficiently strong and willing to work with the conservatives. Otherwise no tory governments again.

...

They [the Conservatives] know that any electoral reform under a lib-lab government will exclude them from government with no chance of ever getting back in."

 

Clearly I haven't denied that the Liberals would like electoral reform or that under pr single party majorities are extremely rare. My issue is with your claims that the Liberals and Conservatives will never work together.

 

You seem to have now quietly dropped that ridiculous claim whilst pretending I was disagreeing with you on other issues, do you really think anyone will be fooled by this?

[sccsux]

Which is where i feel sorry for the LD's - they would have a much larger vote if people who liked them more than the other parties actually voted for them, but they don't.

 

It is people who say they won't vote for them because it would be helping some other party who are actually preventing them ever forming a government!

 

Indeed. If the Bories & LieBore quit with the scaremongering and people voted for who they wanted to run the country, the LibDems would end up with a vast majority:

 

YouGov also found that if people thought Mr Clegg's party had a significant chance of winning the election, it would win 49 per cent of the votes, with the Tories winning 25 per cent and Labour just 19 per cent. One in four people Labour and one in six Tory supporters say they would switch to the Liberal Democrats in these circumstances. The party would be ahead among both men and women, in every age and social group, and in every region. On a uniform swing across Britain, that would give the Liberal Democrats 548 MPs, Labour 41 and the Tories 25.

 

Seems like the LDs have got quite a lot of popular support. If everyone who wants to vote for them actually did, the majority would be phenomenal.

 

My vote will be wasted anyway I think, a manaquin wearing a Labour rosette would get voted in round here

 

I'm in the same constituency as yourself. So far, I'm voting LD as they seem to be the more balanced party at the moment.

[I1L2T3]

You are attempting to move the goalposts I objected to your hysterical declarations that:

 

"We would always have coalition government. And that would never mean a lab-tory pack or a lib-tory pact. The only hope for the tories is that the others (UKIP etc...) become sufficiently strong and willing to work with the conservatives. Otherwise no tory governments again.

...

They [the Conservatives] know that any electoral reform under a lib-lab government will exclude them from government with no chance of ever getting back in."

 

Clearly I haven't denied that the Liberals would like electoral reform or that under pr single party majorities are extremely rare. My issue is with your claims that the Liberals and Conservatives will never work together.

 

You seem to have now quietly dropped that ridiculous claim whilst pretending I was disagreeing with you on other issues, do you really think anyone will be fooled by this?

 

I don't think the Liberals and Conservatives will ever form a coalition pact. I don't think many other people do either. You seem to be pretty unique in that respect.

 

In terms of the liberals and conservatives never working together well that is completely ridiculous. They will have to at some points, such as issues of national security where cross-party consensus is vital. What I said was they will never form a pact. There's a difference.

[plekhanov]

I don't think the Liberals and Conservatives will ever form a coalition pact. I don't think many other people do either. You seem to be pretty unique in that respect.

 

In terms of the liberals and conservatives never working together well that is completely ridiculous. They will have to at some points, such as issues of national security where cross-party consensus is vital. What I said was they will never form a pact. There's a difference.

By 'working together' I meant in a governing coalition and it's beyond ridiculous to say they "never" will.

 

Again I refer you to the huge changes the Labour party has undergone since the early 80s, you could also look at the changes the Conservatives underwent from Heath to Thatcher. Those changes are in many ways larger than the distance between the Liberals and Conservatives. Parties don't stay in stasis and would be even less likely to under a new voting system as such your confidence that the Lib Dems & Tories could never work together is utterly misplaced.

[I1L2T3]

By 'working together' I meant in a governing coalition and it's beyond ridiculous to say they "never" will.

 

Again I refer you to the huge changes the Labour party has undergone since the early 80s, you could also look at the changes the Conservatives underwent from Heath to Thatcher. Those changes are in many ways larger than the distance between the Liberals and Conservatives. Parties don't stay in stasis and would be even less likely to under a new voting system as such your confidence that the Lib Dems & Tories could never work together is utterly misplaced.

 

I don't think they ever will. I'm comfortable if you don't agree.

[llamatron]

Im changing my mind far too often, now Im thinking libdem because the most important thing might be being able to vote for the party I wish to next time. I can't in this election!