May 11: Politicians stitch up deals behind closed doors? Surely not!
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IT’S virtually impossible to write anything about the
unfolding political drama without risking any predictions or
thoughts being overtaken or made redundant by events.
Like most observers, I have no
idea how things will turn out and which way Clegg
will jump.
I wouldn’t bet against the Lib
Dems walking away from a formal pact with both the Conservatives
and Labour and agreeing instead to support a minority Conservative
administration.
Dr Steve
Ladyman, defeated MP for Thanet South, has sounded a note
of caution about a rainbow alliance warning – rightly in my view –
that it would result in a government that could end up, as
John Major’s did, lurching from crisis to crisis
and being held to ransom by small groups of rebels pursuing vested
interests.
Former
MP sounds warning over rainbow alliance>>>
He stopped short of saying that
Labour would be better off in opposition but I suspect he and many
others privately feel the party might be better off leaving the
others to take all the awkward decisions.
Clegg has not been deft in his
handling of recent events and now faces charges of betrayal,
double-standards, duplicity and behaving like a harlot.
But any outrage over deals being
stitched up in smoke-filled rooms and claims of skulduggery are
frankly ridiculous. Politicians doing deals behind closed doors?
Surely not!
Indeed, what has characterised
the initial discussions between the Conservatives and Lib Dems is
that they have been taking place…behind closed doors with no-one
knowing what is being said. Hardly the most transparent of
processes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Is there any politician that
does not believe in a strong, stable government and a strong.
stable government in the national interest? It'd be rather odd
if they declared that uncertainty, instability and volatility
was precisely what the country needed in these trying
times.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SO, which Kent MPs would be
under any kind of threat if a system of voting known as "AV" were
to be adopted?
Under this system, a successful
candidate would need to get a 50 per cent share of the vote to win.
If none do, second preferences are counted until someone
does.
Of the MPs elected in Kent last
Thursday, seven would have cleared that hurdle at the first
attempt: Ashford, Thanet North, Sevenoaks, Sittingbourne and
Sheppey, Tonbridge and Malling, Tunbridge Wells and Faversham and
Mid Kent.
The rest would not, even though
several came close to getting to the all important threshold:
Thanet South (48 per cent); Maidstone and The Weald (48); Rochester
and Strood (49.2); Dover (44); Folkestone and Hythe (49.4);
Gravesham (48.5); Chatham and Aylesford (46.2); Gillingham and
Rainham (46.2); Dartford (48.8) and Canterbury (44.8).
Tuesday, May 11 2010
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