Pecker
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2004
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Just to start with, this is not intended to be a discussion of whether or not you agree with the current coalition government's policies.
You may an ardent socialist, or UKIP-er, and hate much of what has gone on, but that's not what this thread is about.
Has coalition government 'worked'?
The historical fear of coalition in the UK has been, as far as I can tell, threefold:
1 - It would be unstable, with parties walking in and out of the agreement, and a change of government every 5 minutes;
2 - It would be weak government where neither side could agree on anything, so little got done;
3 - The smaller, centre ground party (in this case the LDs) would hold power and influence larger than their vote suggests it should.
As far as I can tell none of this appear to have happened.
Whilst we've had the odd rumour of a fall out, the coalition has looked fairly solid.
There have been some fairly drastic/tough/innovative/draconian (depending on your point of view) policies over the last 5 years. Whether or not I like what they've done, they've certainly done things.
And whilst the LDs do appear to have perhaps taken the edge off the more extreme Conservative policies, this has certainly looked more like a blue administration than a gold one.
What does everyone else think?
Are there other fears about coalition government which I've missed or forgotten?
Have the parties been less successful in practicing the art of coalition than I think they have?
Discuss. But please remember that this isn't a discussion as to how much we agree with the coalition's policies.
Cheers.
Steve W
You may an ardent socialist, or UKIP-er, and hate much of what has gone on, but that's not what this thread is about.
Has coalition government 'worked'?
The historical fear of coalition in the UK has been, as far as I can tell, threefold:
1 - It would be unstable, with parties walking in and out of the agreement, and a change of government every 5 minutes;
2 - It would be weak government where neither side could agree on anything, so little got done;
3 - The smaller, centre ground party (in this case the LDs) would hold power and influence larger than their vote suggests it should.
As far as I can tell none of this appear to have happened.
Whilst we've had the odd rumour of a fall out, the coalition has looked fairly solid.
There have been some fairly drastic/tough/innovative/draconian (depending on your point of view) policies over the last 5 years. Whether or not I like what they've done, they've certainly done things.
And whilst the LDs do appear to have perhaps taken the edge off the more extreme Conservative policies, this has certainly looked more like a blue administration than a gold one.
What does everyone else think?
Are there other fears about coalition government which I've missed or forgotten?
Have the parties been less successful in practicing the art of coalition than I think they have?
Discuss. But please remember that this isn't a discussion as to how much we agree with the coalition's policies.
Cheers.
Steve W