General Election

[BarcelonAl]

I've already voted (postal as I'm away next week) so didn't tune in last night...gutted I missed the best set of the debates!

Did any of the politicians say anything useful regarding the economic situation and how they'll turn it around?

[Mike]

Not really, all stated they want to make efficiency savings immediately but Brown wants to keep investing in the economy for another year. To be honest the £11-16bn figures being branded about seems to be a drop in the ocean compared with the £163bn deficit.

Personally I think I know how I am going to vote but I fear a landslide conservative victory (although I am willing to be proven wrong). Poor mr_e and Tony will be under alot of pressure (for a government department staff anyway) to increase productivity for less money!

[mr_e]

Most government departments were under pressure anyway, so not entirely sure where these savings are going to come from. Heavens forbid they actually cut the use of consultants or get rid of a few quangos. I cannot believe that making immediate deep cuts is going to do anyone any favours in the long-term.

[Mike]

Tory mocking Video to 'Common People' by Pulp

[Mike]

The election results are still flying into the BBC news site. At the time I wrote this there are 604 results in and the Tories are leading but still 39 seats short of an overall majority. This is tending the pundits to predict that there will be a hung parliment, however, the Conservatives could still win.

Since Conservative Michael Gove says that the Construction industry (particularly Architects) are to blame for skimming the cream off the BSF projects and ripping off the government funding. I think this bloke is deluded, Architects have not been in a position to skim anything since the elimination of standard fee scales and the introduction of Design and Build / PFI which puts the contractor firmly in the driving seat.

On a side note I still find the D&B / PFI systems a bit strange. In this arrangement you have a Client who is generally unfamiliar with constructions and a contractor who is. They negotiate directly and they the Client has no adjudication / advise to guide them. I honestly don't know why this is the case. I would not buy a house directly from another person without a Solicitor to advise on the legalities and protect my best interests.

[mr_e]

Well, C4's alternative election night coverage was pretty damn good, even enough to lure me away from the charms of Dimbleby and Paxman. The exit polls seemed startlingly accurate this time as well (307/255/59 predicted, compared to the current 306/258/57 with one still to be decided).

Let the negotiations for power begin! And all that jazz.

Stan mentioned Gove's comments as well. What an ignorant comment for him to make.

[Mike]

Michael Gove issues a grovelling apology for his reckless and uninformed comments.

[Andy]

He's a knob. End of.

Mind you, he isn't your direct future boss in charge of legislation/administration.... oh, he's so inspiring. I haven't been this excited about going to work for a government minister since Ruth Kelly.

If anyone saw the educational election debate on Bank Holiday Monday they would know why I have my head in my hands. Basically, to paraphrase it -

Andrew Neil : Why did schools suffer in the 80s?
Couldn'thackitintheclassroom : There was a recession.
Andrew Neil : So you'll cut spending then?
Couldn'thackitintheclassroom : No
Andrew Neil : But your manifesto says you will
Couldn'thackitintheclassroom : ...........

And with that I switched off and felt safe in the knowledge that once again my sector was being led by an incompetent twat. Only this time, they will cut spending drastically like the 80s which means it's back to eating left-over chalk at morning break.

FYI, Couldn'thackitintheclassroom was saved by the Lib Dems. Don't know why. In fairness, he wasn't that much better and Ed Balls should have been filtered out as spam.

[johnriley1uk]

Be fair, Andy, it takes them years of hard work to reach those sorts of levels of incompetence. Credit where credit's due....

[Mike]

It has been fascinating to watch the hung parliment discussions going on. The BBC did a very good round up of the action yesterday with a short and sharp 30 minute update - BBC iPlayer link. I would very much recommend an watch.

There has also been a live news feed from the BBC updating us on progress for the government forming which has been very informative too.

A couple of quotes from the live feed that need a response!

Conservative London Mayor Boris Johnson says what is happening is an "absolutely spectacular and scandalous" example of what you would get if you had proportional representation. He says it leads to "ludicrous skulduggery and cloak-and-dagger assignations" when the right thing is to have everything out in the open.

It is better to have democracy rather than a Tory majority based on a very small part of the population being able to win you seats.

The Conservatives have a majority of 63 in England. The English have no devolved power of their own. When does the will of the English electorate get heard?

.

Again small percentage of population wins a majority based on seat numbers not actual percentage of the vote. You would not have the majority if the seats were divided up by proportion of the total vote. You will find that our vote is being ignored not yours.

[Andy]

Cameron's the PM. Based on his speech and the rumoured proposal of the Con/Lib alliance, the new govt formation should be interesting...

Altogether now, Leave Gove out....Leave Gove out...Leave Gove out

[stimpsonslostson]

I've heard one too many Con-Dem-Nation puns for my liking already this morning. (Plus one amusing reference to Ed Balls being part of a hung parliament).
My 2p worth is that I don't like Cameron- he seems REALLY slimy to me, but he's what we've got. So we'll just have to give him the benefit of the doubt... and see how long it lasts.

[Mike]

Indeedy, I suspected that it would be a Cameron as PM with Nick Clegg as Deputy PM. Mr Clegg got a very good deal for his 57 seats!

All in all I like the idea of a hung parliment even after all the discussions over the last few days. I think it has been more democratic than a majority government who basically dictate a party policy. Go proportional representation!

[BarcelonAl]

The only problem with PR is that with it, the BNP would have almost certainly won seats, without it they got the ass kicking they deserve!

Not sure how on earth this coalition goverment is going to work, in all fairness, it probably won't! But as Phil said, it's what we've got so we've got to live with it!

[Mike]

You can't say that, you have to reason with the BNP and unless they have a majority they are never going to be able to rule effectively. If they do have a majority then the people have spoken! Surely that is the point of democracy, not 'yes lets vote unless I don't like your policies'!