I Predict A Riot

Whilst I enjoyed Cameron and Clegg's reenactment of Brokeback Mountain yesterday, it seems that some people aren't entirely happy with the new government.

This tantrum is the pick of the bunch:

You can't 'rebuild the family'. The nuclear heterosexual family, that fragile unit of industrial capitalist economy, has been broken for a generation as people realise that they don't have to chain themselves to each other in order to survive. You can't cram that back in its box, no matter how many women you try to persuade that they'll be better off wedded to their sinks, no matter how many children you shame for having divorced parents, no matter how coldly you judge or how hard you slice at people's earnings. Times are hard already. They won't stand for it.
......

You can't stop the cities. You can't stop the internet fracturing everything that was solid and safe about the priggish culture that made you. You can't stop the riot that's brewing as people in Britain realise that they have been cheated, time and time again, by a system stuffed with people who hate them and want to put them into boxes and make them do what they're told.

It's stuff like this that makes the election result so worthwhile.

via Laban

Incidentally I have to say that I'm mystified at the Lib Dem supporters who are outraged at the very prospect of a pact with the Conservatives. If the only acceptable role that the Lib Dems could play was that of allies to Labour then why bother existing as a separate party in the first place? Without the option of dealing with either larger party the Lib Dems would have no purpose.

I For One Welcome Our New Liberal Democratic Overlords

Least worst alternative I guess.

Quote Of The Day

Something for anyone burnt out by the focus on politics for the last week, from 'Scraggs' in the comments under this article at Comment is Free:

Typical that, out of the three of them, Clegg appears as the deep-thinking but slightly bewildered underdog who haplessly allows events to overtake him. Anyway, I'm not even sure why I'm watching Last Of The Summer Wine.

Building On The Progressive Election Victory

Exclusive To All Left Wing Newspapers & Websites:

To many the election seems to be a clear Labour defeat and a rejection of what they stand for. However we can’t let the notion of a Tory mandate become the official story. If we assume, despite a complete absence of evidence, that Liberal Democrat voters overwhelmingly prefer a Labour government then the situation is clear.

The election is a decisive victory for a progressive alliance led by Gordon Brown.

Only 36% of people voted for the Tories. Whereas if we add Labour and Liberal Democrat votes together for some arbitrary reason that I won't explain then we get 52%.

There is a progressive majority in this country today.

The overwhelming issue for the public is not as the Murdoch press would have you believe the size of the deficit or the war in Afghanistan- The public have spoken and it is clear that they are clamouring for proportional representation under the D’Hondt system of allocating representatives.

Many Liberal Democrat supporters who voted tactically to keep the Tories out are dismayed at the current talks with David Cameron, and those who voted Lib Dem to keep Labour out don’t exist. So let Nick Clegg hold his nerve and have the courage to form a grand progressive alliance of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Green Party, the SDLP, the Alliance Party, Sinn Fein, the DUP, the Cornish Nationalists, and Esther Rantzen.

We could then offer the progressive change that the British people have so clearly demonstrated that they want:

• A move to tackle the problem of older people dying in winter by making the wearing of hats compulsory.

• Banning “Top Gear” from the television, to be replaced with Jo Brand, Marcus Brigstocke and Jeremy Hardy exploring the most exciting new bus lanes and cycle paths whilst offering cutting satire about the how they hate the Daily Mail.

• Increasing taxes on certain foreign owned newspapers.

• And the Daily Mail.

• Ensuring that every child has access to a Social Worker an ASBO advisory officer.

• Increase immigration so that every town in Britain can benefit from the cultural vibrancy of a Little Mogadishu

• Ensure that every child scores above average in exams by 2013.

• More powers for Social Workers to target high risk groups who pose a danger to children, such as parents.
  

With such a programme the progressive coalition will be practically unbeatable.

Just imagine how a progressive cabinet would look:

Prime Minister/First Facilitator: Gordon Brown
Secretary of State for Fairness: Harriet Harman.
Secretary of State for Progress: Nick Clegg
Foreign Secretary: Hugo Chavez
Children’s Secretary: Beatrix Campbell OBE
Home Secretary: Caroline Lucas
Secretary of Defence: Gerry Adams
Secretary of Peace: Ken Livingstone.
Chief Ayatollah for the NHS: Ed Balls
Secretary of State for Wales: Lembit Opik
Secretary of State for Scotland: Alec Salmond
Secretary of State for England: Alec Salmond
Global Warming Secretary: Bono
Europe Minister: Jacques Delors


This is why Nick Clegg must seize this once in a generation opportunity to remould British politics.

So How Did The A List Go.....

..... about as well as expected.

Whose Afraid Of PR?

Should the Tories really be worried by electoral reform? The idea of a "progressive majority" that enthuses many on the left rests on the assumption that people will continue to vote as they do if the system is changed. Not all Liberal Democrat voters are particularly left wing, many are basically centrist. Most countries with PR do not continually elect left wing governments.

Besides as both Michael Portillo and Simon Heffer point out today, electoral reform maybe something which is inevitable, so it is therefore a question of whether it is done in a manner designed to bolster the Labour Party's grip on power or not.

Given the tribal antipathy towards the Tories in many parts of the country it is possible that it could open up the possibility of a new force on the right that can appeal to groups who are set against them.

It could even be a really good means of stuffing the Labour Party, If they offered the Lib Dems a deal of AV+, with redrawn constituencies to neutralise Labour's inbuilt advantage of smaller electorates, and some restrictions on Union funding then they could finish Labour off.

Ship Of Fools

The things you see when you don't have a U-Boat to hand.

Aftermath

Conservatives- A disappointing night, even though it was one of the biggest swings to the party on record. The fact is a majority government looked assured for the last two years but it has not materialised. Given the cuts that will be needed this is tricky.

They have made good inroads in Wales but Scotland remains a disaster zone and the link up with the Ulster Unionists seems to have flopped. They have a majority in England though.

Labour- Surprisingly good. Despite being the most incompetent government for generations they remain in with a small possibility of forming a coalition government. They are unquestionably the main party of the left both in terms of votes and seats. If they are in opposition then they have a good platform from which to launch their recovery once they ditch Gordon Brown.

Liberal Democrats- A disaster, after looking to be on the verge of a major breakthrough they actually lost seats. Worse still they now have the dilemma of propping up a despised Labour Party and suffering the inevitable backlash at the polls or supporting the Tories and enraging their left wing activists, which would kill their chance of becoming the main party of the left.

On the plus side they did lose Lembit Opik.

Greens- Great night, they won a seat.

SNP- In once sense a perfectly respectable result, but given how much they hyped up their chances, going for 20 seats, it was poor. Salmond looks like a fool. I suspect that a Tory government will benefit the Scottish Labour Party more than the SNP.

Plaid Cymru- Nothing much changed.

BNP- Their chances of winning were always overhyped.

UKIP- We need to wait until the Buckingham count until we can judge. Nigel Farage's election stunt was awesome.

DUP- Mixed night, the loss of their leader will hurt, but they are the main party of Unionism once more.

UUP- A poor night.

SDLP- As they were.

Sinn Fein- Ditto

Alliance- Another party that has made its Westminster breakthrough. They should try to recruit the independent MP Sylvia Hernon.

The Basildon Moment?

Labour hold Birmingham Edgebaston, which seems to indicate that they won't get an overall majority. It seems as symbolic as the Tories holding Basildon in the 1992 election.

Oh well.

At least Lembit Opik has lost his seat.

Peter Robinson Ousted.

David Vance from the 'A Tangled Web' blog, was standing against Peter Robinson in East Belfast for the TUV. His vote tally of 1800 odd, is slightly greater than Robinson's margin of defeat to the Alliance candidate.

Awesome!

Peter Robinson is now going to spend more time with his family.

Poor bugger.

Those Closed Polling Stations

The lazy fuckers should have got up earlier.

Lib Dem Collapse

BBC & ITV's exit polls are predicting the Lib Dems will lose seats!

Seems unlikely but cold be indicative of Lib Dem support being ephemeral..

Countdown....

... to 10 pm, when the first Labour Ministers turn on Gordon Brown.

Gordon Is Sorry.

Having been away from my computer for the last week, I never got round to revealing my exclusive footage of Gordon Brown apologising to Gillian Duffy for calling her a bigot.

Bear, Woods.

Given his record as a ultra loyal supporter and apologist for Labour for over a decade isn't it a bit ridiculous for David Aaronovitch to pretend on polling day that he's a floating voter who has reluctantly decided that voting Labour is the best option?

Quote Of The Day

Ash cloud permitting, look forward to a wave of celebrities fleeing the country come Friday.

- Mark at Blognor Regis.

So I suppose the obvious question is which Labour luvvie do you really want to leave?

I'd say Jo Brand.

Stoopid Brits

Remember the disastrous intervention by the Guardian into the US election in 2004, Operation Clark County, in which they encouraged Guardian readers to write to US electors in a swing county in the swing state of Ohio?

This had exactly the effect that you would have anticipated, Clark County registered the biggest swing to Bush in the state.

This can work in reverse though, if we could on publicise these smug and condescending lamentations of US liberal pundits at the imminent demise of Labour- with an undertone of how stupid and unenlightened we are- I'm sure a Tory landslide could be guaranteed.

The Official Unenlightened Commentary Endorsement

Official endorsements of which party to vote for, whether by newspapers, celebrities or businesses are incredibly patronising. You cab figure out who you should support for yourself.

Fwiw I would vote Conservative if I lived in a marginal constituency or maybe even Liberal Democrat if they were the alternative to Labour. As I live in a safe seat I shall vote for whoever is closest to my views, which is still the Conservative candidate in this case.

But Apart From That....

.... can we count on your vote on Thursday.

Experience

Gordon Brown: 'His experience now looks like a handicap'

Experience is only good if it equips someone with positive skills. Given that Brown's experience is of total incompetence and a demonstrable inability to learn from his mistakes then experience is indeed going to be a handicap.