For the good of the party....
As Brown casts himself upon his sword, he does so to give the Labour Party a very slight chance of retaining power.
That is the nature of politics, that sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself for the greater good. Only trouble is, Brown should have worked this out a few days ago, and gained the moral high-ground then; not waited from the LibDem negotiators to put a gun to his head.
What is fascinating about this is what it tells us about the state of the negotiations and the absolute power being wielded by the LibDems over the other two parties.
It looks like the main negotiations are getting bogged down -perhaps in minutea, possibly in some of the bigger stuff - and the second team have decided to up the ante by appearing to offer to throw in their lot with Labour. Very smart negotiating stance, as Cameron probably needs Clegg more than Clegg needs Cameron, if he is to have any chance of getting the radical economic agenda through Parliament.
A pact centred around Labour can be done, but if you look at the arithmetic (and there is a great BBC graphic here) which shows how it could possibly be done. But trying to pull together such a disparate bunch is going to be such a challenge by itself as to make the game not worth the candle for Labour.
So what are the options if a Tory-Lib deal cannot be reached?
I quite fancy the likelihood of a Lab-Lib concordant running as a minority Government and challenging the Tories (and other to bring them down). Labour have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and given the informality of such an agreement it could be concluded quickly whilst allowing each to disavow the actions of the other partner. That will surely protect the LibDems from the worst political insults, whilst allowing Labour to push through its policies.
But, such a prospect will undoubtedly force the hand of the Tories, and propel the LibDems into the Cabinet and power. From whence they will crash at the next election, tarred with all the blame and not credited with any successes. PR will be the subject of a Royal Commission, new Parliamentary Boundary discussions and half a dozen tricks to delay it until the next Parliament where it could be abandoned.
Such a scenario could see the Libs quitting a coalition and a minority Tory Government struggling on to an early election. The question would again be "Who governs Britain?" and until we know who will replace Brown, we woun't be able to visualise an answer.
It is now all getting very interesting, and as a spectator sport it has much to commend, and little at present to condemn.
If the LibDems can remember the lessons learned by the FDP in West Germany, they could remain at the centre of politics for quite some time, but I fear that there innocence will be exploited. Which will be even more fun to watch.
That is the nature of politics, that sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself for the greater good. Only trouble is, Brown should have worked this out a few days ago, and gained the moral high-ground then; not waited from the LibDem negotiators to put a gun to his head.
What is fascinating about this is what it tells us about the state of the negotiations and the absolute power being wielded by the LibDems over the other two parties.
It looks like the main negotiations are getting bogged down -perhaps in minutea, possibly in some of the bigger stuff - and the second team have decided to up the ante by appearing to offer to throw in their lot with Labour. Very smart negotiating stance, as Cameron probably needs Clegg more than Clegg needs Cameron, if he is to have any chance of getting the radical economic agenda through Parliament.
A pact centred around Labour can be done, but if you look at the arithmetic (and there is a great BBC graphic here) which shows how it could possibly be done. But trying to pull together such a disparate bunch is going to be such a challenge by itself as to make the game not worth the candle for Labour.
So what are the options if a Tory-Lib deal cannot be reached?
I quite fancy the likelihood of a Lab-Lib concordant running as a minority Government and challenging the Tories (and other to bring them down). Labour have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and given the informality of such an agreement it could be concluded quickly whilst allowing each to disavow the actions of the other partner. That will surely protect the LibDems from the worst political insults, whilst allowing Labour to push through its policies.
But, such a prospect will undoubtedly force the hand of the Tories, and propel the LibDems into the Cabinet and power. From whence they will crash at the next election, tarred with all the blame and not credited with any successes. PR will be the subject of a Royal Commission, new Parliamentary Boundary discussions and half a dozen tricks to delay it until the next Parliament where it could be abandoned.
Such a scenario could see the Libs quitting a coalition and a minority Tory Government struggling on to an early election. The question would again be "Who governs Britain?" and until we know who will replace Brown, we woun't be able to visualise an answer.
It is now all getting very interesting, and as a spectator sport it has much to commend, and little at present to condemn.
If the LibDems can remember the lessons learned by the FDP in West Germany, they could remain at the centre of politics for quite some time, but I fear that there innocence will be exploited. Which will be even more fun to watch.
12 comments:
If only, if only .... more of us had voted for Murdo Murray. He could now hold the balance of power. No more Sunday flights, anywhere, no Sunday sailings; no more buses or trains or underground travel on the Sabbath. No golf clubs open. No more Sundays shopping at B&Q or at Ikea. See the opportunity we missed!
Whatever scenario presents itself it looks unlikely that there will be a Western Isles constituency with us for much longer, given the secterian style of politics between the SNP and Labour here its pretty ironic that the Western Isles will soon be a Lib Dem stronghold.
So Salmond plus PC could break one alliance and make the other or even break that too?
They have one chance to play the card and they better play it well.
Re - 5.58 pm
Spot on!
One suspects that some in the SNP even welcome the loss of the Westminster constituency.
What better way to demonstrate how picked upon Hebrideans are by robbing them of their constituency.
All grist to the propaganda mill!
Gordon Brown: A paradox
(Biblical text at GB's Sunday morning service):
Friends, our faith, if it is true faith, is profoundly transforming. That is the truth that we see when we hold together the paradox of finding our life by losing it and losing our life by finding it. When we lose our old, false lives and find our new, true lives, we are radically transformed.
So, let us rejoice in this most intriguing paradox, that we lose our lives by finding them and find our lives by losing them. We lose our old, self-centered lives. We find a new life, the life of our true selves. When we hold together the losing and the finding we are transformed into the people God wants us to be. Thanks be to God!
OR, as Gilbert & Sullivan so eloquently have written:
A paradox?
HM Queen (laughing)
A paradox,
That most ingenious paradox!
We’ve quips and quibbles heard in flocks,
But none to beat that paradox!
All.
A paradox, a paradox,
A most ingenious paradox.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
That paradox
Poor GB ... a PARADOX! So near, yet so near...to attaining POWER!
Bugger, no. Wrong.
Salmond is an MSP (they sit inEdinburgh) so he'll have nothing to do with it. He'll have to deputise it to one of the plebs that stood as an MP, that's right the ones who he had so little faith in that he had to appear personaly on the TV debate about an election that he was not standing in.
It takes a lang spoon tae sup wi' a Fifer
"More fun to watch" ? Yes if you are monitoring the farce from Iraq or Afganistan or Zimbabwe. I expect they are laughing their heads off as we try to impose our democracy on them. Bring in the Army is what I say and let us have Martial Law
One thing is for sure...... NOBODY wants to work with Alex Salmond and the SNP. What does that say about them?
What's so interesting is that Alex Salmond and the SNP are mentioned in the same breath and yet Alex Salmond isn't even an elected MP.
The Tories, Lib Dem and Labour all have senior members of their party negotiating on behalf of the party with the individual leaders being kept up to date.
Does that mean that Alex Salmond is so power hungry that he cannot delegate or are his MPs so stupid that he cannot trust them?
The past few days have show the Labour party in government in a different light, desperate to cling on to power at any cost, which can only precipitate a free fall in the markets. Watch the market starting its fall from today. Lets have no more pussy footing from Clegg, just admit you can't make a decision and go to the country again. Let the people make the decision for you, since those who have been elected do not appear to be capable of it. Surely Clegg must have thought about this type of scenario before the election and had his strategy mapped out. Let's waste no more time, there's a lot to be fixed with our country. The correct course of action is call another election, now.
10:28 there is a difference between the rest of the parties not wanting to work with Salmond, and him not wanting to work with them!
This will be proven when they desperately call on him to help - and unless Scotland gets the right deal, Salmond will refuse!
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