6 Comments

• Jenny Munro 9th May '10 - 10:49pm

  I have just watched with dismay the TV news, in which you seem to be supporting a Lib Dem link with the tories. Please don’t let this be the outcome. I can’t believe all those who voted Lib Dem and Labour can contemplate with anything other than horror a link with euro-sceptic tories, aligned to far right parties in Europe. Labour are your natural allies, and that’s the link that would best respect the voters’ wishes.

• Ray Kay 11th May '10 - 9:31am

  Just been listening to Paddy Ashdown on R4. As a Lib Dem supporter and sometime member and activist and a former Royal Marine with a natural connection to and respect for Paddy it was extremely dissapointing to hear a senior member of the Party sounding like some discredited New Labour spokesman. His use of the word legitamacy was Orwellian. Do Politicians not understand that the public voted for change? Voted against New Labour and it’s misrepresentations, half truths and shabby dealings. We want them out. If the Lib Dems keep Harman, Balls, Mandelson….In power we will be less popular than the BNP at the next election. It is not even about policy, it is about CHANGE. The Tories are sounding statesmanlike, reasonable and authoritive. If some Lib Dem MPs are really Labour supporters let them be honest and defect. The future of our country is on the line here.

• Andrea Gill 11th May '10 - 9:39am

  Ray Kay – I agree. It sounds like this is his hobby horse and he is willing to ruin the Liberal Democrat Party’s credibility over it which is extremely disappointing.

• Tony Marshall 11th May '10 - 9:59am

  It’s a sad sight for English voters who gave a strong and clear message in favour of Cameron’s Conservatives last week. They now find themselves in the disgusting situation where the leader of the third place party is prostituting himself with a Labour Party that has just suffered its biggest rejection by the electorate for 80 years. This is being undertaken, not in the “interests of the country”, but in solely in the interests of electoral reform. Clegg seems to forget, somewhat conveniently, that 75% of voters voted against electoral reform last Thursday.

  But the potential outcome of a Lib Dem pact with a discredited and leaderless Labour Party is far more serious than any moves towards electoral reform. The net outcome of an “everyman and his dog” Coalition would be that England would be governed by the Scottish National Party who themselves made massive inroads in Scotland by securing the glorious total of 6 seats at Westminster! But it is these 6 seats, along with the handfuls of other rag-bag minor parties that will potentially rule the roost as far as getting key legislation through Parliament is concerned. Whilst such an arrangement may be Constitutionally acceptable it remains, quite clearly, morally repugnant. So repugnant in fact that even senior Labour Party figures like John Reid and David Blunkett have been publicly vocal in their opposition to such an arrangement. Meanwhile Paddy Ashdown talks about “legitimacy” but ignores the fact that the Lib Dems received less voter support last week than they did in 2005 whist Labour lost nearly 100 seats! A Coalition of losers has nothing to do with “legitimacy” and even less to do with democracy. In Third World dictatorships they would call this a coup d’etat.

  As for electoral reform, I believe like many Conservatives, that reform is long overdue to ensure a fairer and more represent political system. But this issue is way down the list of priorities right now. People are worried about how a new governement will sort out the economic mess following 13 years of Labour incompetence. Whilst paying lip service to “the national intrerest” it is blatantly clear that Nick Clegg is far more concerned with “Lib-Dem interests”.

  The British people spoke loud and clear last week and they said, quite emphatically, we do not want another Labour led government. The English electorate were even more emphatic in expressing a clear desire for Cameron. What no one said was, give us Alex Salmond.

• Peter Keen 12th May '10 - 11:52am

  My view of where we are:

  1) LDs have shown their price for supporting the Tories – & nothing to do with policy. I now realise that corruption does not have to be a financial matter.

  2) The LDs have fallen for the “promises” of a few crumbs; from the Tories of all people.

  3) They have been tied into 5 year between elections so, presumably, they can’t pull the plug when they find out just what they been conned into for a couple of junior bums on seats.

  4) Clegg’s price was a grand sounding non-job – (what is a Dep PM’s job & responsibilities?)

  5) The only person who acted honorourably in this whole sordid matter was Gordon Brown who must be glad to be away from it all, & not be there to see, at first hand, the destruction of all he has done for the people of this country

  6) Roll on Cameron’s first reshuffle.

  7) The Lab MPs can now put their feet up for five years, just drawing their salaries.

  8) I will not vote for anyone again – it’s taken me a long time to realise that all those who told me on the doorstep “they’re all the same” were dead right.

  By the way – what were those 4 points that was going to be the basis of of all his negotiations.

  Am I downhearted? – you bet I am!

• Peter Keen 12th May '10 - 12:10pm

  I should, perhaps, have made it clear that until today I have always worked for, & therefore voted LD