Okay, so that LibLab alliance is back on the cards…. Thanks, Brown. He deserves credit for doing the right thing

My prediction from last Friday.

<iCameron and Clegg will talk but will be unable to deal because Clegg will demand a commitment on electoral reform that Cameron will be unwilling (or unable) to give.

Clegg will then talk to Labour who, being more desperate, will give him what he asks for. As part of the deal, Brown will be replaced by Milliband, Johnson or (God help us) Harman as Prime Minister. Cable will be Chancellor.

Still on course. Any takers for the £20?

Oh yes, and the other bit.

As international economic pressure increases, the new government will last less than a year and will go before electoral reform can be enacted. The Tories will win the next election by a landslide and will be in power for a generation as both the other parties fragment.

Still on? It’s not just still on. It’s on like donkey kong.

Someone order planes from Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast to London: it’s time to bring together the Progressive Majority.

For his next trick, will Clegg be explaining to us how “political change” means an unelected PM?

Ed Balls PM, well done everyone.

Stupid sod.

He should let Lib Dems & Tories screw it up, with a detoxified Labour Party, shorn of the “New” and Brown himself in opposition.

Clean up in a new election within the year.

@Steve:

You have no idea how annoyed this meme makes me. We have a parliamentary system, so no PM in history has ever been elected. They are all appointed by the leading party.

Even if it did make constitutional sense (which I repeat it does not), David Cameron was not elected. It’s a hung parliament, with the Tories pretty short of a majority.

I would support the separation of powers, and I would support an elected executive. However, this is not what we have, and wondering why we have an “unelected PM” is akin to wondering why the LDs have 10% of the power with 1/4 of the votes – a good argument for constitutional reform, but irrelevant in the current system.

@Steve

So you want a presidential system? Funny, I’ve not seen that in the Conservative Party manifesto. Your chums in the right-wing press criticised the TV debates for being too “presidential” – because Clegg came off better than Cameron.

@Captain Swing

I think you speak for Labourscum. You’d throw away the chance for a genuine Progressive Government just so you could stick it to the Lib Dems and let the country burn so you could come back next year and “clean up”.

You shame the Labour Party.

can someone explain just what is progressive about the old-fashioned statist mentality of the Labour Party?

donald @10, quite.

BTW admins, Google Safe Browsing reports an issue with LC and yourkep…

Good, he had to go. Labour needed to show that they are moving on too. The last 60 hours has looked as if Labour is stuck in the mud.

Just because he has to carry out constructional duties did not mean he could not announce he was going. I still don’t think they should rush into the Rainbow coalition. Let Cameron form a minority govt, and watch him struggle for the next 6 months with the right wing media frothing at he the mouth, and all the fruit and nuts in his party revealing his true policies.

“. The Tories will win the next election by a landslide and will be in power for a generation as both the other parties fragment.”
funny thats what tory supporters said was gioing to happen this time.

@ 9. Mark Lightwood

We have a problem here Houston.

I’m not Labour.

Not voted Labour since John Smith died.

Just an old unaligned leftie looking for the least worst option.

Otherwise, carry on……

Even if you’re not Labour, anyone who thinks it is good for the country to have a government collapse at a time of economic and political crisis, purely so their party can do well in an election, you’re still scum

Does Alix still think that Labour aren’t TRYING for a coalition?

Oh no, I just heard Brown is staying on until the autumn. So he would be in charge of any deal. Not good.

@ 16 Mark Lightwood

‘you’re still scum’

Awww that the best you got troll? Arf!!!

Go and have a lie down in a darkened room sonny.

@Sally, don’t worry – Brown is a ghost PM, yesterday’s man. It’s up to the next generation now!

Hague says Tories are now offering Lib Dems “a referendum on the alternative vote”

The odious bald twot.

Murdoch toady Adam Boulton lose his rag with Alastiar Campbell live on Sky News.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XHuZqyuIS8

(A good outcome would have been if they had both beaten each other to death)

adam boulton isn’t even trying to hide his(and his masters) bias. just seen him attack and constantly interrupt falconer (lab) ,evan harris(lib) yet stay silent when the tory lord tim (flasher) bell spoke. he’s losing it,after telling us for days the only game in town is con/lib its all gone wrong.
i wouldn’t like to be a murdoch employee after this cock up.

Very unprofessional of Boulton, completely lost it because he did like the points Campbell was making. His personal disappointment that Dave might not be carried with gossamer wings into Downing Street was pretty obvious.

I am no fan of Gordon Brown but I agree with Sunny he acted very well and he also called Nick Clegg’s bluff who was trying to squeeze Tories by saying so I would go to Labour but Gordon brown going out there and making this announcement makes Nick Clegg look like a prat.

Gordon Brown showed his political class today and sadly Nick Clegg & Lib Dems are looking like a bit out of place now.

And voting reforms without a referendum. Now that’s interesting isn’t it? That’s not like people power is it.

So if Liberal Democrats go for the labour deal they are going to tell us that people have no say in how we vote – shouldn’t we have a voice?

Or is it only Lib Dem policy to listen to the people when they agree with them. Talk about juvenile politics and overplaying your hand. Now, the Tories have come back with a counter offer for AV with referendum.

I actually feel bad for Nick Clegg – from being the most popular political leader to prat in three weeks.

Gordon:
“The reason that we have a hung parliament is that no single party and no single leader was able to win the full support of the country. As leader of my party, I must accept that that is a judgment on me.” and therefore stands down
And therefore a judgement on all party leaders – little dig at Cameron there? Invitation to join him?

Weak Lib-Lab government having to make unpopular cuts. Tories will be creaming themselves.

So the choice is:

* Con – referendum on AV
* Lab – AV (no ref), and ref on further electoral reform

There is no need to put AV to a referendum. It doesnt change the voting system in any significant way, it just lets voters rank candidates in order. No change in constituency size, or MPs elected per constituency

@30: “There is no need to put AV to a referendum. It doesnt change the voting system in any significant way, it just lets voters rank candidates in order.”

That is a significant change – if it wasn’t a significant change it wouldn’t have taken decades for it to have any chance of coming to fruition. I favour a change to AV (for the Commons and PR for the Lords), but anyone who thinks a change to AV should be forced through without a referendum is not liberal by any definition.

It has taken “decades” to come to fruition because of our archaic political system.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but once the devolution referenda were passed, were they further referenda on the voting systems for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly?

I think not.

I know the Tories’ new line is “it’s undemocratic to bring in this shitty non-PR compromise that is even worse than FPTP”, but really – you don’t change boundaries, you don’t change the number of MPs, instead of putting an X next to the name of 1 candidate, you put numbers indicating your preference.

I repeat: all you change is the ballot paper.

Anyone who thinks AV is a “significant change” is a) stupid, b) a fuckwit, c) so biased they probably shit their pants when Brown resigned bc it meant the LibLab deal was back on, d) thinks Adam Boulton is a hero for losing his rag on live TV, d) Tom Harris, e) should fuck off.

Speaking of “forcing things through” without referenda, Toryboy, where’s that referendum on the Lisbon treaty? Didn’t Dave say something about a “cast-iron guarantee”? Hmm? Yeah, thought so.

@Stuart White

Well, put it this way. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if they think that rambling on about a “progressive majority” is an actual part of the negotiating process.

@Alix

The term can’t hurt can it? In fact, they need to use it more, on the TV and in the papers. Because the point needs to be made that the coalition would represent a majority of voters and seats. Our system awards first place to whoever forms a majority. So the Progressive Majority cant be a government of all the losers.

@Mark

Well, it winds *me* up. There’s very little that’s progressive about the Labour party. It’s exactly the arrogant attitude that the Lib Dems will always be on the same side as Labour that’s the background to electoral reform being ditched in 1998. I for one need to have it demonstrated to me that a deal with Labour is a good idea, as much as the Tories.

The claim about the “progressive majority” having the most votes and seats is also rubbish, because the Tories + Lib Dems together would have more. Obviously, you’ve all talked yourselves into believing that most Lib Dem voters hate the Tories and that it’s obviously ok to interpret their votes as a wish not to go into coalition with Tories. Which frankly I find rather scary. People voted how they voted. It might be an imperfect measure of the “will of the people”, what with tactical voting etc, but it’s the only measure we’ve got.