Clegg

[Palisadoes]

I like the idea of PR in theory, but the main thing that would keep me from ever supporting it is that all of the PR systems I know anything about implement it by taking control over who the actual legislators are away from the people and giving it to some party bosses--at least partly. That's a dealbreaker for me. If I could ban political parties altogether I would--but if we have to have them, we should at least preserve the voter's right to vote for an actual person and not a color.

People do vote for a person. In PR systems there are multiple seat constituencies, and you vote for a candidate personally. They allocate the seats by party, with the first, second, third, etc... places being the candidate of that party getting the highest number of votes in that party.

[Agelastus]

I'm surprised by this comment. Europe remains the most important issue for both the Tory rank and file and for a plurality of tory candidates. There's a clear manifesto commitment to renegotiation and while I would expect a Tory Govt to act prgamatically I's also expect them to make a lot of anti-Euro noise. The Libs would not be able to stomach this in coalition. We also have major policy clashes on immigration & crime the two dog whistle issues for most Tories.

I's put the chances of a Tory/Lib coalition at barely above 0%.

I'm surprised at your surprise.

After all, as I have posted, I consider the possibility of a Lib-Dem/Tory pact to be zero myself, although I used the examples of electoral reform and Europe as the fault lines, rather than immigration. But Europe is a dead letter in British politics until the continental countries get around to their next round of treaty negotiations, and I am not aware of this coming due within the next couple of years. As I said, to the pleasure of our European "partners", Brown held on long enough.

Besides, Clegg is being rather heavy-handed in his courtship of Labour. It's quite clear he will join them, but the price will be Brown's head.

On the other hand, the DUP has come out saying they will vote in parliament "for the good of the country" rather than coming out with the "snouts in the trough" approach of the SNP and Plaid Cymru. I can quite easily see them holding the balance of power, and their more likely to side with the Tories than Labour...I think.

[Gups]

My mistake, I thought you were suggesting a Tory/LD coailition was likely.

DUP would certainly side with the Tories but I'm sure they's have a price just as much as the nats. Northern Irish politics is hardly stuffed with sea-green uncurruptibles. But I doubt if they would have the balance of power with just 9 or 10 seats. The Tories are a good 5-6% short of getting anywhere near the level where they could depend on minor parties to prop them up against liblab opposition.

[Gups]

 

The Tory press really laying inito Clegg now. The Mail article is particularly outrageous if you read the actual article Clegg published a few years ago.

[Fate]

Which of those newspapers is owned by Mr. Fair and Balanced?

[alfred russel]

In my experience it is not terribly unusual for a smaller party (that often gets completely ignored the rest of the year) to get a bump during the writ period, largely because of the increased exposure.  They can often then come back to earth as they can start to sputter under increased scrutiny (though not always).

Is this the sputtering under increased scrutiny?

[Gups]

Which of those newspapers is owned by Mr. Fair and Balanced?

Only the Sun. Interestingly, News Corp are really wrong footed by the Lib Dem surge and probably have the most to lose of any of the papers. See article by the former editor of the Sun below.

I doubt if Rupert Murdoch watched the election debate last week. His focus is very firmly on the United States, especially his resurgent Wall Street Journal. But if he did, there would have been one man totally unknown to him. One man utterly beyond the tentacles of any of his family, his editors or his advisers. That man is Nick Clegg.

Make no mistake, if the Liberal Democrats actually won the election – or held the balance of power – it would be the first time in decades that Murdoch was locked out of British politics. In so many ways, a vote for the Lib Dems is a vote against Murdoch and the media elite.

I can say this with some authority because in my five years editing the Sun I did not once meet a Lib Dem leader, even though I met Tony Blair, William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith on countless occasions. (Full disclosure: I have since met Nick Clegg.)

I remember in my first year asking if we staffed the Liberal Democrat conference. I was interested because as a student I'd been a founder member of the SDP. I was told we did not. We did not send a single reporter for fear of encouraging them.

So while we sent a team of five, plus assorted senior staff, to both the Tory and Labour conferences, we sent nobody to the Lib Dems. And while successive News International chiefs have held parties at both those conferences, they have never to my knowledge even attended a Lib Dem conference.

It gets even worse. While it would be wrong to say the Lib Dems were banned from Murdoch's papers (indeed, the Times has a good record in this area), I would say from personal experience that they are often banned – except where the news is critical. They are the invisible party, purposely edged off the paper's pages and ignored. But it is worse than that, because it is not just the Murdoch press that is guilty of this. The fact is that much of the print press in this country is entirely partisan and always has been. All proprietors and editors are part of the "great game". The trick is to ally yourself with the winner and win influence or at least the ear of the prime minister.

The consequence of this has been that the middle party has been ignored, simply because it was assumed it would never win power. After all, why court a powerless party?

So, as the pendulum swings from red to blue and back to red, the newspapers, or many of them, swing with it – sometimes ahead of the game and sometimes behind.

Over the years the relationships between the media elite and the two main political parties have become closer and closer to the point where, now, one is indistinguishable from the other. Indeed, it is difficult not to think that the lunatics have stopped writing about the asylum and have actually taken it over.

We now live in an era when very serious men and women stay out of politics because our national discourse is conducted by populists with no interest in politics whatsoever. What we have in the UK is a coming together of the political elite and the media in a way that makes people outside London or outside those elites feel disenfranchised and powerless. But all that would go to pot if Clegg were able to somehow pull off his miracle. For he is untainted by it.

Just imagine the scene in many of our national newspaper newsrooms on the morning a Lib-Lab vote has kept the Tories out of office. "Who knows Clegg?" they would say.

There would be a resounding silence.

"Who can put in a call to Gordon?" another would cry.

You would hear a pin drop on the editorial floor.

The fact is these papers, and others, decided months ago that Cameron was going to win. They are now invested in his victory in the most undemocratic fashion. They have gone after the prime minister in a deeply personal way and until last week they were certain he was in their sights.

I hold no brief for Nick Clegg. But now, thanks to him – an ingenue with no media links whatsoever – things look very different, because now the powerless have a voice as well as the powerful.

All of us who care about democracy must celebrate this over the coming weeks – even if Cameron wins in the end, at least some fault lines will have been exposed.

[alfred russel]

Which of those newspapers is owned by Mr. Fair and Balanced?

Only the Sun. Interestingly, News Corp are really wrong footed by the Lib Dem surge and probably have the most to lose of any of the papers. See article by the former editor of the Sun below.

Do you really think so? Obama has been a bonanza for Fox News, even though the administration is very cool to them. I would think that a strong force for more integration into Europe would help sell papers to a euro sceptic audiance.

[Gups]

We've had decades of both parties courting Murdoch and his media empire. He's now burnt his bridges with Labour and teh Lib Dems and that could hurt him pretty badly over here. Selling a few extra papers (unlikely) due to a more Europhile Govt pales into insignificance if he doesn't get his customary easy ride on monopolising pay tv, sports rights etc.

[alfred russel]

We've had decades of both parties courting Murdoch and his media empire. He's now burnt his bridges with Labour and teh Lib Dems and that could hurt him pretty badly over here. Selling a few extra papers (unlikely) due to a more Europhile Govt pales into insignificance if he doesn't get his customary easy ride on monopolising pay tv, sports rights etc.

That sounds like significant institutionalized corruption where politicians determine media rights based on their relationships.

[Gups]

It's not as clear cut as all that but Governments can, for instance, introduce legislation protecting certain sporting events from being broadcast only on pay tv. Similarly we have an independent commission on Monopolies but that's not to say that teh Govt doesn't have some weight.

And all significant media organisations want at least a decent working relationship with Govt, that goes without saying.

[MadImmortalMan]

Ah, well. As long as there's a quango to watch over things, it all right.

[Grinning_Colossus]

Britons, how went the second debate?

[Sheilbh]

Britons, how went the second debate?

I think Clegg won which is impressive given that they're anti-Trident, pro-Europe and more liberal on immigration.  The polls may say Cameron but I think he had a very unimpressive night.

Personally I think Brown came across about as well as he can.  So though he'll poll worse than the other two, that's a given so it doesn't actually matter.  Brown would probably need to be caught beating a child to damage his reputation at this point.     

Edit: Oh my favourite line was from Gordon Brown to a female pensioner asking a question: 'Woman - and you are one of them'

[Sheilbh]

Ah, well. As long as there's a quango to watch over things, it all right.

The UK's always liked quangos, look at the Royal Commissions.