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[Banjax]

I'm not so sure... Lets see what the next month or so brings before judging. At the end of the day, they can't do any worse that their predecessors... Can they? :-/

It's a sham marriage of convenience, ironically the death of the Labour government, has made them a more powerful force in British politics than they were.....a bit like Obi-Wan-Kenobi 

I'll be completely honest - I've felt nauseous, sick and nervous since "Prime Minister Cameron" was anointed, politicians can spout on about it all being in the "interests of the country", mark my words - politicians do nothing in anyones interests other than their own 

The sooner this is revealed the better - look back at the tories and their attack dogs in the press over the last few weeks - their astonishing and vindictive attacks on the LibDems were despicable....thats all gone now and of course the LibDems and Tories are old friends now? pfft!!!! spare me 
excuse me while I wait for the whole shambolic structure to collapse  8-)

mark my words - politicians do nothing in anyones interests other than their own

In the interests of balance BJ do you include the Labour Party in these remarks?

absolutely Zulu - I believe that Labour ran as far from a deal with the Liberals as they could - knowing full well, the best outcome for them was a spectacularly bad Libservative government for a few months 

[jereboam]

nope - haven't been happy with Labour or Liebore as some call it, which is even more worrying, as awful as Liebore were the tories STILL weren't wanted - even with a massively favourable press, even with more millions to throw at their campaign than every other party put together they failed to reach a majority - most people in this country really don't want the tories mucking about with delicate financial recoveries 

I just don't understand how anyone can still think that Gordon Brown was a competent Chancellor of the Exchequer.  Don't you realise that the only justification for this belief is that the Labour Party have been telling you that it's true since they came to power?

What did he do for this country that makes you think he would have been competent to handle "delicate financial recoveries"?  OK, he "saved the world" after the financial collapse he failed to foresee and failed to protect us from.  He was so successful at saving the world that President Obama can't be bothered to talk to him any more.

George Osborne's presence at Number 11 doesn't exactly fill me with confidence, but he'd be hard pressed to do a worse job than his two predecessors.

[Nickbat]

I think it may be appropriate to stop beating about the bush.

It is patently clear that the people of Scotland are, and I offer no reasons for this, inherently socialist.

This is in deep contrast to England where the majority are inherently conservative.

If one discounts the election results in Scotland, Cameron would have achieved a working majority.

I think that there is a real danger of a break-up of the Union arising from this divide which is, I feel, essentially unbridgeable. 

[Banjax]

New Avatar is Captain Britain drawn by one of my favourite comicbook artists Alan Davis - cheers Zulu 

[Nickbat]

The [size=16]Cleggerons[/size] are here...interesting times ahead. :-/

Can you believe that the Cleggerons actually have their own site? No, I'm not joking. 

http://www.cleggerons.com/

[Lazydocker]

The thing I can't wrap my head around, and this is just my opinion, is why the Scottish (and Welsh to some extent) are involved in the elections at all... After all, they wanted (and got) devolution and have their own Parliament which we in England have no say in

Just another viewpoint

[Banjax]

The thing I can't wrap my head around, and this is just my opinion, is why the Scottish (and Welsh to some extent) are involved in the elections at all... After all, they wanted (and got) devolution and have their own Parliament which we in England have no say in

Just another viewpoint

scotland voted in one tory mp....theres a tory government - in what sense do we have a say in what happens? 

remember Scotland is soon having a referendum on independence - an english tory government is just the ticket the SNP need - they'll be delighted  8-)

I agree with Nick(bat, not Clegg  ) theres now a massive danger of the Union breaking up, bolstered by all those Scottish LibDem voters 

[albitz]

England (84% of the UK population) is overwhelmingly Conservative, so as is usually the case with the UK its all a bit of a muddle really.
Imo time will tell just how good/bad/ugly this coalition turns out to be. There is a lot of talk atm about new politics, new ideas, new everything - where have we heard that before (1997)
The only thing that is certain imo is that the country has spent 13 years going flat out in the wrong direction. At least that isnt happening any more. Nothing would please me more than to see the real Labour party turn on the self serving scumbags who created and ran New Labour and banish them forever. It could once again become the party that you could respect even if you disagree with it. If they dont have the werewithal to do that then I hope that they simply tear themselves apart to the point where they become a complete irrelevance, because that is surely what they will deserve.
If the Mandelsons and Cambells of this world ever grab hold of the levers of power in this country again god help us all.

[albitz]

I believe that the changes that New Labour made to the UK have been very damaging and if left as they are may well result in the break up of the UK. There seems to be a growing feeling in England that England has been stitched up, and tbh its difficult to argue against. I think someone is going to have to gave the issue some serious thought and do something to redress the balance
Personally I dont beleive in devolved govt. I believe that the UK should be governed by the UK Parliament in Westminster. The other three parliaments have been set up purely for short term political reasons rather than the long term good of the UK.
If the other three UK countries insist on having their own parliamnets then I think its only fair that England should also have its own Parliament.
The only other option I can see is to break up the UK and let the other 3 countries have full independence, with NO financial aid from England. That would be a sad and tragic day imo, but things cant carry on as they are. New Labour interfered in this area and like everything alse they meddled in they made a mess that someone else is going to have to try to sort out.

[Nickbat]

This can't be right, surely?

"There will not be another election until May 2015 unless a vote of no confidence in the Government is passed by an “enhanced majority” of Parliament. It is not yet clear what the enhanced majority would be but it could be two-thirds or three quarters of MPs."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/david-cameron/7713276/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-deal-will-be-tough-on-the-rich.html

No, no, no. It should stay as a simple majority vote. Goodbye Parliamentary democracy?

A major Cameron/Clegg error in my book. 

[jerry]

Indeed, NewLabour have a lot to answer for. Cameron and Clegg have said all the right things re putting country before party but like most I am sceptical about this. What can be said is that the country demonstrared clearly that they have had enough of Brown and the New Labour party he so helped to shape. True they did bring in a lot of positive things over the past 13 years but their wasteful spending on "Big Government" and their handling of the economy has cost them dear. (if only they had listened more carefully to peoples worries over things like the economy/immigration/abuse of benefits/bewildering examples of "political correctness"/Afghanistan etc..).TBH, Labour can now regroup and sit in opposition and that is going to be a lot easier than being in power at the momment with all the problems that face us. I think we would all agree that things could not go on as they have and the new coalition will have much to do. This country needs to remind itself that it is no longer the major player it thinks it is and that you cannot keep spending money you aint got. In this respect there are going to be tough times ahead as various belts get tightened. As one with more socialist tendencies I hope this tightening is done fairly as the difference between rich and poor in this country has grown drastically under New Labour (ironically, it was at its lowest under Major). I cant help but think of a footballing analogy here. I am a Baggies fan and proud of it. Our chairman takes a lot of stick about our "yo-yo" reputation and him not spashing the cash on players to help keep us up in the premiership. He did an interview recently when he spoke about the club needing to know its limits, about how it simply does not have the money to spend, about the importance of remaining solvent as opposed to buying players with extortionate wages and then building massive debts, about the way forward being a slow, steady growth based on sound management , development and wage structure. It would be nice to be up there with the other MOTD favourites but it aint gonna happen. Play it right and we will get there and we will be solvent still . But it will take a bit of time. Bit like having a Focus st racing a Ferrarri if you get my drift. All a bit about being realistic and knowing your limits. This country is still , in my opinion, a great one when you look around at others out there. But we need to act now to keep it one.

[Banjax]

This can't be right, surely?

"There will not be another election until May 2015 unless a vote of no confidence in the Government is passed by an “enhanced majority” of Parliament. It is not yet clear what the enhanced majority would be but it could be two-thirds or three quarters of MPs."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/david-cameron/7713276/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-deal-will-be-tough-on-the-rich.html

No, no, no. It should stay as a simple majority vote. Goodbye Parliamentary democracy?

A major Cameron/Clegg error in my book. 
 

I think the Cleggerons agreed it would take a 55% majority vote of no confidence to oust the ConDem government - purely to give them a decent shot at stability 

every layer of this coalition seems to get more and more questionable.....and what about the upcoming LibDem/Tory marginal seat thats up for grabs? will they both be agreeing you vote for the other guy? 

[Nickbat]

This can't be right, surely?

"There will not be another election until May 2015 unless a vote of no confidence in the Government is passed by an “enhanced majority” of Parliament. It is not yet clear what the enhanced majority would be but it could be two-thirds or three quarters of MPs."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/david-cameron/7713276/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-deal-will-be-tough-on-the-rich.html

No, no, no. It should stay as a simple majority vote. Goodbye Parliamentary democracy?

A major Cameron/Clegg error in my book. 
 

I think the Cleggerons agreed it would take a 55% majority vote of no confidence to oust the ConDem government - purely to give them a decent shot at stability 

every layer of this coalition seems to get more and more questionable.....and what about the upcoming LibDem/Tory marginal seat thats up for grabs? will they both be agreeing you vote for the other guy? 

Call me old-fashioned if you like, but surely they can't change the way Parliament operates just because they don't want to face the electorate? What's to stop them saying there will be no more general elections, ever? Beyond party politics, I am primarily a supporter of Parliamentary democracy (which is why I am so fervently anti-EU).

This is a bad move, IMHO. 

[BigAl]

at least the rollback of the NuLabour crap has begun :-

[I_want_an_Omega]

I'm not so sure... Lets see what the next month or so brings before judging. At the end of the day, they can't do any worse that their predecessors... Can they? :-/

Here here - and theres me having sworn that I'd never get intp a political discussion via OOF. Give em a chance I say.