pandarilla Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Having just watched the Ch 4 docu-drama I thought I'd start a thread on the notion of coalition governments. Has the Tory-Liberal coalition been a success, or a total failure? Is this something we should want more of in British / Scottish politics? Regardless of whether you think it should, will it catch on? And if it does, is it by design or because there's no real appetite to allow one of the major parties to govern alone? The most disappointing element for me is the fucking-up of the proportional representation proposal. The Lib Dems agreed to a referendum on the shitiest version of PR and it was rejected accordingly. Consequently the whole issue of PR has been wiped from the political landscape in Britain for a generation. There was a real opportunity there to radically re-shape Westminster and Nick and his pals fucked it up. In terms of the programme, I quite liked it. I thought Cameron's character was spot-on, as was Gideon's. If its sources are correct its Paddy bloody Ashdown to blame for the whole thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fotbawmad Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 For the Lib Dems the coalition has clearly been a disaster. When Nick Clegg pledged he wouldn't hike university fees and then did so a few months later. You can't expect people who voted Lib Dems to be in a forgiving mood. Even though they have protected us from the worst of those dragnet surveillance bills. However, there mistake was to pledge to go into a coalition with whoever won the most seats. Limiting your options in politics nearly always backfires in the long run. The advantage of having coalition governments is that it'a more worthwhile to vote for a minor party. Coalition governments are common throughout Europe. The alternative vote was never about making things fairer. It was purely about having a system that would be beneficial to the Lib Dems. Due to it being many peoples second preferential party. The PR system I believe is coming. Perhaps after the 2020 election if the winning party can't muster up 30% of the popular vote. That situation will lead to calls for the electoral system to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandarilla Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 Did the Lib Dems pledge to go into coalition with the biggest party? They certainly had talks with labour, and basically sealed brown's fate. I also think av system was the only pr type that the tories would allow. I'd be amazed if that's what Clegg and Co wanted. There was almost no chance of getting that through a referendum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'm Brian Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 I can't see how a system of PR could possibly benefit Scotland. Don't get me wrong PR in the sense of the UK would be good as no party would likely be able to be too drastic, but PR or FPTP Scotland will still inevitably get shafted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandarilla Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 I can't see how a system of PR could possibly benefit Scotland. Don't get me wrong PR in the sense of the UK would be good as no party would likely be able to be too drastic, but PR or FPTP Scotland will still inevitably get shafted. Do you mean not good for Scotland in terms of Westminster? Or that the current Scottish parliamentary system isn't good for Scotland? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'm Brian Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Do you mean not good for Scotland in terms of Westminster? Or that the current Scottish parliamentary system isn't good for Scotland? In terms of Westminster. I like the Holyrood system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.