Monday 10 May 2010

A resignation: but not as we know it!


At last Gordon Brown has said he is stepping down as Labour Party leader. He said he wanted his successor to be in place by the time of the party's conference in September. Mr Brown announced his intention to quit in a statement in Downing St in which he also said his party was to start formal talks with the Lib Dems.


Why don’t you just go now? It’s far too late to inject any dignity into you premiership. It has been a disaster from the very beginning and now that it is almost over we get this last cynical gamble on keeping the Labour party in some sort of power. Whatever happened to the national interest that everyone was on about. Is that what this is? Or is it rather an attempt to stymie the Lib Dems efforts to cobble together a coalition with the Tories?


Gordon revealed that Nick Clegg has asked for formal talks with the Labour Party. So do we assume that the talks with the Tories are not going as well as we are being led to expect? I don’t exactly see why it is taking so long. Nick ought to insist on at least a referendum on PR or no deal, what is the point of talking about everything else first if that is going to be a stumbling block. Mr Cameron is slavering to get the keys to Number 10 so I would say PR or no deal. Let Cameron go form a minority government without Lib Dem support see how far that will get him.

23 comments:

  1. Tris I watched the BBC1 news special and was flabbergasted at what Gordon Brown said. Well not really at what he said but the fact that he will be limping on until at least September.

    He had no option and had to stand down.

    I know Scotland and the SNP would probably be better off with a rainbow coalition in the short term but I think for the stability of the UK and economy then the only way forward is for a Tory/Lib coalition.

    Lol I know I sound like a broken down record but the thought of Alexander/Balls and Murphy staying on in power after being clearly rejected by the public is very troublesome for me.

    The Tory party won more votes in this election than the Blair won in the 2005 election yet they were happy to limp on as the government which 65% of voters rejected.

    What is also sickening is the way some on the Labour party have now come out to gloat. When the Libs were talking to the Tories the Tories were very dignified and said very little but as soon as Labour got a whiff of being put back into power by the Libs, they came out like a bad rash and started the negativity again.

    I will be one very angry individual if Labour are back in power because I could not stomach the negativity that surrounds the party.

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  2. Well you know how Tony Blair wanted to be prime minister for longer than Margaret Thatcher well I think that Gordon Brown wants to be prime minister for longer than Jim Callaghan-what a legacy! (that’s 3 years and 29 days btw)

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  3. Labour continuing in power Gt!loat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!
    Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat

    Alexander/Balls and Murphy staying on in power

    Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat


    More people voted against the Conservatives


    Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat

    for you Allan

    http://www.flamed.com.au/executions/online/adma/web/sick_bag.jpg


    Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat!Gloat

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  4. Mr MixedPickle it hasn't happened yet so hold your horses unless you want to be eating crow.

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  5. Mr Irish Alphabet

    You might think you are being funny but I don't think its funny that I have just smashed another computer screen after reading your comment.

    Seriously though, more people voted against Labour in 2005 than voted against the Tory party in 2010 so your argument is empty and shallow in substance.

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  6. ALLAN

    Alex is all for it so it cant be bad.........especially if it is snp policy now then???

    ps- I have part time job selling pc screens

    MUNGUIN


    It is the rainbow coalition join us(the good guys) who can resist the dawn of a new politics in which Unionist and nationalist and all across the political spectrum embrace each other as comrades.....

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  7. Mr Irish Alphabet

    I know Salmond is backing a progressive alliance against the Tory party but I don't necessarily agree with him although I can see why he is backing it.

    The amount of screens I have gone through after reading your comments I think you might have to think about going full time lol

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  8. Niko,

    The piles giving you gyp today, I hope?

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  9. A rainbow coalition wont work for long so there is no point, the only good thing would be seeing Jim Murphy and Iain Grays faces. LOL

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  10. Allan I was a bit flabbergasted too. I heard it on the car radio and nearly totalled the rolls. Then I nearly had an accident with the car.

    I think as far as co-alitions go he's between a rock and a hard place. It might be better to walk away from both of them... Let the Tories try a minority government. It would certainly stop them from telling us in Scotland we can't get all our manifesto pledges through.

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  11. Munguin: I can only inagine Blinky being told to cool it with the attacks in Edinburgh, which would be altogether a bad thing.

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  12. Best thing for the country a Lib/Lab pact, it could destroy both parties for up to a generation and good riddance too.

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  13. QM: If we got rid of the two of them, then we would have the Tories for 25 years. Do you seriously think that that would be a good thing?

    Actually I'm fine with it because maybe, just maybe, then the people of Scotland would see that it is England who decides who wins the elections. They would go on voting Labour and they would go on getting Tory. Finally, maybe (towards the end of the 25 years mind), the penny would drop and they would stop voting Labour.

    On the other hand..... Niko?

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  14. What's been suggested is that the LibLabs are going form a coalition but that they will keep the SDLP/SNP/PC/whoever at arms length. In essence they dare the SNP to bring down the LibLabs in Government and have another election.

    It's all going to come down to who offers the Lib-Dems the most chance of getting true PR with the secondary consideration that a ConDem coalition would have a workable majority but a LibLab coalition would be always be in hock to the smaller parties.

    I think that Salmond is pushing a LibLab coalition for two reasons. If the SNP do nothing to help the LibLab coalition then they will be accused of being happy to see a Tory Government in Scotland by Labour in the next 2011 election. Why it's up to the SNP to make all the running in saving Labour's bacon will never be explained but the Tory Government in Westminster will become the SNP's fault. That reason is pure politics.

    The second reason is that in a LibLab coalition the SNP will have some influence on the Government. A ConDem government won't need them.

    If a LibLab Coalition gets into Westminster then the English will be angry. The numbers could be Labour, 258, Lib-Dem, 57, SNP, 6 and PC, 3, which is enough for a majority of 324 as Sinn Féinn don’t take up their seats and the Speaker doesn’t vote.

    That's a combined total of 70 non-English based MP's voting on English only legislation.

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  15. Oops typo.

    It's actually 90 non-English MP's in a LibLab coalition.

    58 from Scotland and 32 from Wales

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  16. Doug: Good analysis. Thanks for that. Whichever way it it culd be good or bad for the SNP, depending how people take it

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  17. Tris

    Clegg is between a rock and a hard place and probably what is best for the Lib/Dem's is to walk away from both Labour and the Tories and let Cameron run a minority government.

    John Reid is not for a rainbow alliance for a whole raft of reasons but its always typical of former government ministers to come out and mutter something against the party after they have stepped down.

    So if we do get a Labour/Lib coalition then we are going to have another unelected PM with a party which won 29% of the vote.

    I think the Lib/Dems are finished now as a credible force now and I hope they feel it in the next election.

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  18. Yes Allan. I think it's Cameron's only real choice now. The right in his party will not be prepared to have PR at any cost.

    He should ask the queen to kiss hands, evict the muppet at Downing Street and try to get things through.

    He'll probably get a finance bill through with a bit of compromise and he will be able to act for a while, before he is defeated.

    Then the whole stupid business will start again.

    I'm starting to tire of it; if we have to go through it all again I think I might take 3 months holiday and head for Africa.

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  19. Tris I think most people are getting a little bit tired with the Punch and Judy show over who gets into Number 10 especially the News Papers.

    To be honest whatever happens I think we could be heading back to the polls within the year so I might come with you to Africa lol

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  20. You got it Allan! Botswana do ya?

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  21. Botswana sounds great Tris. Start packing!

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  22. Botswana uses first past the post and has had strong governments in the ten elections since independence in 1966, formed by the Botswana Democratic Party. So no danger of any such "seedy" scrambles for power there.

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  23. Aye Munguin, but Botswana has the good fortune to have GOOD strong government, whereas the UK...well, you could hardly say our governments have been good, can you?

    Anyway, I'm not going there to vote, I'm going there to help Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi run the dectective agency. Eh Allan?

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