And so farwell to any possibility of a second Cameron term

[ffutures]

According to the Evening Standard, which is admittedly right-wing nutter heaven, our beloved leader wants to "fix 120,000 problem families", "End the human rights culture" and impose "citizen service for 16-year-olds"

Words fail me. So let's try a totally unbiased poll...

[Poll #1769880]

Is there anyone who thinks that the Lib-Dems will survive this coalition, whether or not the Conservatives do?

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I don't know what life in the UK is actually like; I read about it from thousands of miles away. But it seems to me you guys have been expanding social welfare, reducing criminal penalties, and depriving the general population of the means of self-defense for decades now, progressively, and it doesn't look as if it's worked all that well in terms of reducing social unrest or making ordinary people safe. Do you really think that continuing the same course is the only sane option? Or are you wanting a drastic change in some direction other than the one Cameron favors?

[autopope.livejournal.com]

you guys have been expanding social welfare, reducing criminal penalties, and depriving the general population of the means of self-defense for decades now, progressively

None of the above is true; however, they're all right wing talking points over here that get widespread media traction (through, notably, the Murdoch owned press).

What we need is a return to socialism. And no, Tony Blair was no socialist -- he was Thatcher Lite.

[lonemagpie.livejournal.com]

Actually, what we need is for the left and right to realise they're both part of the same organism, and work together and balance each other - let's see a bird fly with only one wing...

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

John Smith. Best Prime Minister we never had.

[ggreig]

Our politics is clearly to the left of yours in the States, but seen from other parts of Europe part of our problem may be that we're America-lite and actually too far to the right.

I'm not giving a personal opinion here, just pointing out that there are different perspectives.

[lonemagpie.livejournal.com]

I'd go with "person who's never had to live in the real world."

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's also true.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

The sad thing is I think this rhetoric probably plays extremely well with Conservative voters, so he's probably strengthening himself.

Hitting the law and order spiel, and going after the social underclass, probably brings him more voters than it loses.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

May be true, unfortunately. Wonder if they envisage their own kids being drafted when they read this stuff.

[jsburbidge.livejournal.com]

According to the Grauniad's version he sounds a little saner. He talks of making a national citizen's service available to all 16-year-olds" and that the government "would look at the "twisting and misrepresenting of human rights that has undermined personal responsibility". The pledge to "turn around the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families" is there, though.

It also sounds as though he's trying to fend off the hard right -- which simply wants more cops on the beat and harsher penalties -- and tie this into his already existing education initiatives.

So he doesn't sound so much demented as embattled. OTOH, Miliband is presenting well over this, which is not good for Cameron in the long run.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

The BBC also puts a slightly saner perspective on it, but it still isn't a perspective I want to see in my country's government.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Oh, and yes, I think the Lib-Dems are finished. I see no reason why the wipe-out they suffered in the Scottish elections won't be repeated at the next general election.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately almost certainly true. No way they're getting my vote again short of the entire party crossing the House.

[murphys-lawyer.livejournal.com]

Cameron's apparent inability to recognise that the traits he decries in the rioters and looters are the same as those held by the bankers who have impoverished millions of people and continue to steal by not paying anything near the same tax rate as hoi polloi, or the newspaper magnates who profited from their lackeys' phone tapping. In short, feral groups with no respect for common morality and with an overwhelming sense of privilege, but they're rich, so that's all right.

I personally think the death blow was dealt by the Chinese government when they applauded Cameron's "striking the right balance between freedom and responsibility" when he suggested shutting down the Internet in the event of further public unrest.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Yes, that went down well with a lot of dictatorships. Not with me...

[nelc.livejournal.com]

*cough*Bullingdon Club (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Bullingdon_club#Reputation)*cough*

[mkillingworth.livejournal.com]

That whole shutting down the internet thing - so *totally* the wrong thing to do and a violation of human rights.

[paratti.livejournal.com]

I hope not but I suspect the cockroach factor will carry them through:(

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Where is Franz Kafka when you need him? If they looked like cockroaches they might not be quite so popular.

[frank zablocki (from livejournal.com)]

What worries me is that as we wait longer and become more unpopular the Libdems will have more of a hold over us - we wont want an election at that point. Probably thats what Dave Cameron wants. He can then pursue his Liberal agenda
thanks
Regards, Selecttech 552 (http://dumbbellstreadmillsandellipticals.com/bowflex-552/)

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

What liberal agenda? Apart from destroying the lib-dems, of course?

[ci5rod.livejournal.com]

In a slightly sad way, this may be the LibDems' best chance of surviving the coalition now that we've lost the PR vote. If the party spikes the more outrageous ideas the Tories want to pull out of the bag -- and Simon Hughes was saying pretty much that today -- and get the public credit for it, then they have proved their worth as a brake on the nutcases. Normally I wouldn't expect them to get the publicity, and Murdoch is smart enough to keep his mouth shut, but in this case the rest of the right wing press isn't that smart and is that frothing, so there's a chance.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Believe it when it happens.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

I hope the LibDems will survive, but I believe that both they and Labour must rid themselves of the cliques of crypto-Tories who have done what someone on The West Wing seriously suggested Democrats should do to the NRA and taken control from within. I'm open to persuasion on whether this was deliberate and organised subversion, but I don't think anyone can doubt that it has happened, or that from the Tory viewpoint it was a logical thing to do.

It may be that in some area at some time the LibDems are modifying the more extreme policies of the Tories, but to me out here it really does not look like it--plus, of course, given what is getting done, what the frod could those more extreme policies be?

So. House-cleaning, a fresh commitment to the principles of liberal democracy and socialism respectively, and yes, I think the two parties that could actually be fit to govern a country might survive. Sadly, I think the other one will as well, because democracy demands that if the people want to elect loonies, loonies should be available to be elected.

[mkillingworth.livejournal.com]

The LibDems are more sane than the Conservatives. Over here we have the Libertarians, but we don't really have an active three party system, so no one stands a chance if they aren't a Republican or a Democrat.