UK: Brown resigns

You must have not been watching when I was then.  For instance, when Cameron pulled up to Downing Street, there were people in the crowd booing, holding up negative signs, and doing thumbs down (as well as some positive), and Robinson called it "cheering".  Sure it was mixed, but from what I could see it was leaning more to the negative.  Don't get me started on how he handled any one who questioned the Conservatives winning a "majority" (his words btw).

Some more of why people want Labour to regroup:
http://freedom.libdems.org.uk/history/civil-liberties-under-new-labour/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/revealed-the-full-extent-of-labours-curbs-on-civil-liberties-1627054.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/23/madeleine-bunting-welfare-reform

http://ecdn.org/

Just to name a few.

For the record, I am in no way related to Nick Robinson - my surname isn't even Robinson, btw!    I thought he was looking a bit overly keen for Cameron too.

I agree that Labour needs a regrouping - will be interested to see what happens with the party now.  LA, appreciate your well considered commentary on the rambles I rambled on about.

From my reading of events thus far, it doesn't look like the PR thing is going to fly at all, except maybe in an elected House of Lords?

On the Iraq war, I do think the Tories would have supported Bush just as much, if not more so than Blair did.  There were already such close ties there going back to Thatcher/Reagan.

Asylum seeker children in detention centres - agree very bad.  I hope whatever they are planning to do now will see that the families are kept together, out of detention centres.  It would also be nice if asylum seekers were permitted to work while their cases are being reviewed - many of them want to in order to show their commitment & contribution to this society.  However, as they are neither allowed to work nor claim benefits, they are forced into the most unimaginable destitution, IMO.  Of course, allowing them to work (OMG - immigrants taking our jobs!) won't make good headlines for any of the parties.

Media-wise I was talking about the TV stuff, not the newspapers really - I know they (newspapers) are mostly biased in well understood ways already.

The posh thing - I don't think it's unreasonable for people to wish for political representatives that understand something about (and empathise with) how ordinary people's lives are.  Sadly, I think most politicians are really far out of touch with everyday folks (and I think Gordon Brown was out of touch on this as well).  And I would say that Tories in general are probably among the furthest out of touch with the poorest & most vulnerable members of society.  Just because Cameron once met a black man, once met an immigrant or a woman or whatever...well, I don't think he really understands diddly on a lot of scores no matter how fabulous his educational background is.

A friend here is really worried about losing her counselling job at a drug addiction rehab place, due to expected funding cuts & (not sure if it's one or both) Cameron/Clegg apparently think that addicts ought to be able to sort themselves out in a max of 3 months, or...?  Not sure what.  Maybe if you can afford to check yourself into The Priory, which are certainly not the kind of clientele she helps.

Me neither, Does anybody agree with me that Nick Robinson is a rather weird looking little bald speccy git?

Yes. Wasn't he with ITV for a while, too?

Well, I am sorry if I came off as strong too adamant in it.  I just am a bit tired of how some Labour people are handling this.  Trust me, my heart sank when I saw the exit poll numbers, and it wasn't just because it was projected that the Lib Dems lost seats.  Of my ideal outcomes, this one was near the bottom, but wasn't the bottom one (for realistic ones, the bottom one would be a Tory landslide).

I agree that the Tories would have gone along with Bush.  I don't know if it would have been more or less, and yes, I know of Thatcher and Reagan's relationship.

As for PR, I think that the Tories might get shamed by the public into making it into a referendum on PR.  We can hope.  Public pressure with a little private pressure might turn it from AV to PR.  It's sill to concede that the public can decide on AV, but not PR, and glaringly partisan.

I supported the Lib Dems this election because I believe in civil liberties, a fair electoral system, progressive society, a moderate welfare state, and the EU.  I am going to see how this plays out before deciding if I continue to support them (and eventually join).  I don't mean if the government fails, I won't support them.  I mean how they handle this.  I don't think Clegg jumped at this opportunity for "power".  I think this was the very last way he wanted to see his party in government.  There is some left and right swing to the party, but there is a much narrower focus to it than the two big parties.  It will be obvious if they fail to keep to those ideals.

Well, I am sorry if I came off as strong too adamant in it.  

Nah, you're alright - no worries.  I think this particular debate/discussion has been civil & considered. 

On the Iraq war, I do think the Tories would have supported Bush just as much, if not more so than Blair did.  There were already such close ties there going back to Thatcher/Reagan.

I think there is no argument on that, and it's why, despite the war being unpopular, that it wasn't a major issue in the 2005 General Election because the opposition had backed them and everyone knew the Tories would have done exactly the same.

As a Lib-Dem voter, I'm pleased. Well, as pleased as I can be given that my party only got 23% of the vote. There are 5 Lib-Dems sitting around that table today, and for me that's good news.

I voted for the Lib Dems because I liked their manifesto better than that of the other two parties.

While I wish the Tories weren't in power, I expected them to get the most votes so I'm disappointed but not shocked.

Hopefully, the Lib Dems might temper them a little.

It makes sense to me, politically, that the Lib Dems would form a coalition with the party that had the plurality of votes.

I also think it's kind of silly the way people who support PR are bothered by the way things worked out.  That's what happens with PR - smaller parties make compromises.

Hopefully, the Lib Dems might temper them a little.

It makes sense to me, politically, that the Lib Dems would form a coalition with the party that had the plurality of votes.

I agree with this. I think it would have been more controversial had Clegg tried to form a coalition with Labour. Yes, it might have made more sense in terms of policy, but not in terms of the system. All those people who are saying that Clegg sold out should bear in mind that he'd be called a lot worse had he gone with Labour.

Like sweetpeach, I'm just glad that my part of choice might now have a bit of influence. I think Nick Clegg put my vote to good use.

I'm really happy with how things turned out, if there was an option to put an X next to Con/Lib Coalition when voting i would have done so.

I voted Tory as i believe they are the ones to sort out all the crap left by Labour over the last 5 years - immigration, anti-social behaviour, crime and justice, benefit culture, lack of defence funding, health and safety overload, increased bureaucracy, budget deficit, unbalanced human rights policy...the list goes on.

The only thing that worried me about voting Tory was whether they would maintain the safety net for those that required it whilst tackling the problems inherited from Labour. I think that the Lib Dem's will ensure that the Tories have to bear in mind the effect of their (required) policies on the poorer parts of society and act as brake when required.

For those that voted Lib Dem i think they should also be happy with this outcome. Their party has got more power and been able to implement more of its policies than it could ever have expected.

I am hopeful this coalition can last as it has enabled Cameron to make huge, rapid strides in the modernisation of the Tories and at last start to breakaway from the Disastrous association people still have with them from the Thatcher years.

It really was the best possible outcome of this election in my view

I voted Tory as i believe they are the ones to sort out all the crap left by Labour over the last 5 years - immigration, anti-social behaviour, crime and justice, benefit culture, lack of defence funding, health and safety overload, increased bureaucracy, budget deficit, unbalanced human rights policy...the list goes on.

... but you deleted your membership rather than discuss what you posted?

... but you deleted your membership rather than discuss what you posted?

Just a drive-by posting to make sure everyone knew his views, I guess.  

...to sort out all the crap left by Labour over the last 5 years - immigration...

Strangely including, this - on a website for immigrants!  

Not a drive by posting at all, i simply typed my user name incorrectly (the word English   ) and was unable to change it so deleted and re registered.

Happy to discuss my posting, also happy to discuss immigration. irrespective of whether this is site for immigrants or not there is no denying it is an issue and one that was discussed at great length during the election.

Not a drive by posting at all, i simply typed my user name incorrectly (the word English   ) and was unable to change it so deleted and re registered.

So I take it you're not the old english.bloke from the IOW?

Happy to discuss my posting, also happy to discuss immigration. irrespective of whether this is site for immigrants or not there is no denying it is an issue and one that was discussed at great length during the election.

While I think Labour's performance was far from flawless, I doubt we are coming from the same perspective. Could you explain what you think Labour did wrong specifically in regards to immigration?

Yes, tis me.

Labours main problems in respect of immigration was not to have the same type of entry controls and quotas for the countries that joined the EU from eastern europe. They failed to guage the numbers inviolved and even when they became apparent they did not provide the money needed to cope with the numbers in respect of providing local infastructure and services.

What really pissed me off was their pathetic attempts to portray themselves as the ones to deal with the problem in the run up to the election.

Immigration was one of many issues i had with Labour. During their 13 years they either created the problem or if it was already there they failed to sort it out.

Well, then I don't disagree on immigration.  I don't think it was so much that they allowed the Eastern Europeans to come in freely, just that they allowed them in freely when there were only two other countries (both small too) who did the same.  I sort of think the smaller countries and the more crowded ones should be encouraged to be the last ones to allow free movement unless there is a clear need for new immigration until new member states adjust to the EU.

The fact that they then took it out on non-EU migration when the public got angry will be something that will take a lot for me to forget.