General Election called for June 8th

yeah can hardly say 1billion for Northern Ireland services is a bad thing can they

(27-06-2017 23:55 )The Silent Majority Wrote:  

(27-06-2017 14:40 )Doddle Wrote:  If they had any scrap of sense, they would know that working with the Tories will given Sinn Fein a series of open goals. Starting with the fact that there is STILL a question mark over the probity of Arlene Foster!

No, I think the £billion will have pretty much tied Sinn Fein's hands. Even Gerry Adams has grudgingly welcomed it.
If they try and screw things up and the £billion isn't delivered, it will be on their head.

It's a bribe! It doesn't make Arlene Foster any more innocent! It would be a perversion of justice if it did! If anything, it should make SF even more irate at blatant chicanery!

I didn't say Sinn Fein were happy about it, but they're probably going to have grit their teeth and tread carefully since their voters stand to benefit from the £billion just as much as DUP voters.

Also, the overwhelming opinion of NI posters on another forum I am a member of is that Foster, while not blameless, is being made scapegoat and the civil service, Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development (Michelle O'Neill, Sinn Fein) and Deputy First Minister (guess who) were just as culpable.
Now, I'm not saying that's right or wrong but, as with most things veiwed 'from a distance' we're at the mercy of how it's reported by the media.

This is how politics works in a land devoid of a suitable Government majority. All those who feel we should not have 2 party politics and Parliament should represent the people along the lines of how they actually voted number wise, take a look. When Conservatives and Lib Dems were in power it was a shambles, we just cannot operate as a nation like that. Once we grow up a bit more we will be able to. The press are the number one section of society still in pre-school when it comes to Governments have to do deals when they do not have the power a decent overall majority gives them.Each little snatch of hear say or 'sources close to' are straight into their reports,we cannot even verify they are legitimate. If we want Government of that type let them get on with it I do not want to know what individual news reporters think about it just tell us the facts and we will decide. The current dealings between the DUP and Conservatives will have those for and against but it has to be done, we had our vote June 8th and you get what you deserve, don't like it, change it next election..Shame we cannot vote out members of the press, they can do as they please.

the Lib dem coalition didnt work WTF !! we got stable goverment at a time we were about to go off a cliff economically. the coalition worked and if the voters hadnt been numptys and destroyed the lib dems in 2015 and gave us a tory goverment we wouldnt have had a brexit vote and cuts would not have been deeper and we wouldnt be in the Shit hole we are in now.

Coalition works every other grown up country can handle it. Nick clegg said it best week after election on Last Leg. you ask parties to work together for the good of the nation and then when they do and compromise you say oh your a sell out.

the country gets what the voters deserve

(28-06-2017 08:07 )The Silent Majority Wrote:  I didn't say Sinn Fein were happy about it, but they're probably going to have grit their teeth and tread carefully since their voters stand to benefit from the £billion just as much as DUP voters.

I'd be confident that SF could manage the phrase "a bribe of silence" or something like that.

Quote:Also, the overwhelming opinion of NI posters on another forum I am a member of is that Foster, while not blameless, is being made scapegoat and the civil service, Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development (Michelle O'Neill, Sinn Fein) and Deputy First Minister (guess who) were just as culpable.
Now, I'm not saying that's right or wrong but, as with most things veiwed 'from a distance' we're at the mercy of how it's reported by the media.

Well, it isn't reported in the UK media at all! Just "ooh, them silly backwards Belfast berks might see Direct Rule tomorrow", not "Arlene Foster's new best friend has paid £1bn in hush money".

the renewable heat incentive scandal is a scandal almost wholly made by the dup.

(28-06-2017 09:03 )HannahsPet Wrote:  ...
Coalition works every other grown up country can handle it. Nick clegg said it best week after election on Last Leg. you ask parties to work together for the good of the nation and then when they do and compromise you say oh your a sell out.
...

^ That is just Clegg's poor attempt at self-justification. Politicians of his ilk can never accept when they get their just desserts for their actions. I really can't imagine many people actually voting for a coalition. They vote on local personalities, maybe tactically in marginals, but, in the vast majority of cases, to get their choice and opinions representation in the commons. They are not voting to ask parties to work together as such. Coalitions are a fudge that no-one except minority party politicians really care for. It is just a way out of a tight election that alleviates the need for numerous re-runs.

Pacts, deals and coalitions may work in terms of tempering the main party's more egregious policies but that is really what commons' votes and strong opposition is for. On the whole I think most people's preference would be for a party to have a reasonable majority in parliament and to at least have the ability to lead in the manner the majority of pollees voted for. Anything else is weakened government.

I would say that this Government is far weaker than the coalition was. In part I would agree with Clegg's assumption but I still think that we could either before voting before Christmas or the New Year because I feel that the majority the government may not last long how far the DUP is prepared to go in commons votes we shall have to see, but think it could take one vote to go off kilter and the Government would be in real chaos plus there is the German election coming up soon and if Merkel is ousted that could have a very huge bearing on the EU negotiations and if we are forced ot vote during the negotiations then we have to make our voices heard - "We want the best Brexit possible whoever wins!"

I did think it was interesting that we're often told that coalitions are the way things work in Europe, and despite having voted to leave the EU, the UK has now had 2 of its last 3 General Elections produce the sorts of results that ensure coalitions, which suggests we're getting more European after all