Cameron Begins to Negotiate.
Cameron has made his speech, claiming that his government won more seats than the government of Margaret Thatcher. It's simply bollocks.
Cameron won with 36.2% of the electorate backing him, which is woefully short of the 42% who regularly voted for Thatcher.
He's made an offer to the Liberal Democrats but he set out his demands:The Tory leader says it is reasonable to expect the bulk of his policies should be implemented in a deal with the Lib Dems. But there are opportunities for negotiations, he adds. He cites education policy and creating a low-carbon economy.
He then offered the nearest thing to a sweetener:
David Cameron says the Tories and Lib Dems can discuss electoral reform, with an all-party committee of inquiry set up to discuss the issue.Will that be enough to get Clegg on board? Time will tell, but we all know that Brown is waiting in the winds.
Mr Brown said he would be "willing to see any of the party leaders" adding: "I understand and completely respect the position of Mr Clegg in stating that he wishes first to make contact with the leader of the Conservative Party."Clegg remains in the role of king maker, with both the others fighting to get him to choose them.
But he added "should the discussions between Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg come to nothing... I would be prepared to discuss with Mr Clegg the areas where there may be some measure of agreement between our two parties".
It's ironic that this provides an almost perfect example of what is wrong with proportional representation, as we are watching the two parties who between them won 65.1% of the votes cast, having to barter with the guy who only got 23% of the vote.
UPDATE:
Here's Brown's speech from Number Ten.
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2 comments:
You're anti PR comment is beneath you. The two parties who between them won 65.1% of the vote cast are under no obligation to barter with the party that won 23% of the vote. The fact is those two parties could barter with each other, the reason they don't is that they have nothing in common to barter about. PR is about voting for a government that actually reflects the will of the people that voted for it. You can't just add up polar opposites and say - hey look they got more than half the vote - that is frankly ridiculous.
Well, my problem with PR is that the parties which get the fewest votes tend to turn into quite large players when it comes to forming coalitions. One only has to watch what regularly happens in Israel to see that.
The fact is those two parties could barter with each other, the reason they don't is that they have nothing in common to barter about.
Actually the Liberal Democrat manifesto is to the left of the Labour party, so what they have in common with the Tories baffles me.
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