Vince Cable likely to have to resign

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

shortchanged wrote: »

Actually he's the only one in the coalition with any brains.

Nonsense.

He's a pompous old goat, idiotic enough to be caught boasting about how important he thinks he is is to a pair of journalists.

shortchanged_2

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Nonsense.

He's a pompous old goat, idiotic enough to be caught boasting about how important he thinks he is is to a pair of journalists.

It was pretty obvious all along that Vince Cable was never very comfortable with this sham of a coalition.

The LibDem faithful have been sorely let down by a leader who is in fact probably more Conservative than David Cameron.

The LibDems as we know them and the Tories are miles apart in political ideology. This certainly is not and will not be a marriage made in heaven and as things become worse as they are starting to already with growth forecasts down etc I'm afraid I see a collapse of the coalition in the near future.

PhylPho

Vince Cable's current discomfort aside, how comfortable would people on here have been if the LibDems had entered into a coalition with Labour and voting power would have rested with Nationalist MPs of Scotland and Wales?

Just wondered (amidst all the piety of this thread about the "sell-out" of the LibDems teaming up with the Conservatives.)

tomterm8

Well, personally, I think that some kind of deal was inevitable with the Tory, because the lib dems couldn't keep up a really unpopular labour government.

But, there were other options than a full coalition... the Lib Dems could have opted for supply and condidence, which would have meant they could prevent some of the most unpopular measures.

PhylPho

tomterm8 wrote: »

Well, personally, I think that some kind of deal was inevitable with the Tory, because the lib dems couldn't keep up a really unpopular labour government.

But, there were other options than a full coalition... the Lib Dems could have opted for supply and condidence, which would have meant they could prevent some of the most unpopular measures.

Serious question, tomterm8: what other options might sensibly have been pursued? I'm not trying to be sarky or post a provocative comment but am genuinely interested in knowing what those options might have been. Unlike so many of the earlier posters on here, you seem to remember very well the May 2010 political context within which the Conservative-Libdem coalition came into being.

(Just to recap: Conservative 307, Labour 258, LibDem 57, Democratic Unionists [Northern Ireland] 8, Scottish Nationalists 6, "others" 14.)

sabretoothtigger

I read vincent will stay but is to be taken from this particular case as he is not impartial.

Very bad politics by him which is a point in his favour if anything.


Resigning would not be desired by his either leader I imagine, they havent even lasted a year yet

chucky

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

I read vincent will stay but is to be taken from this particular case as he is not impartial.

Very bad politics by him which is a point in his favour if anything.

so he thinks he's Wayne Rooney or Carlos Tevez now...

what a clown

PhylPho

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

I read vincent will stay but is to be taken from this particular case as he is not impartial.

Very bad politics by him which is a point in his favour if anything.


Resigning would not be desired by his either leader I imagine, they havent even lasted a year yet

But resigning his ministerial office would be exactly the honourable thing he'd expect of anyone else.

Ah well. Vince Cable. Another politician publicly devalued.

shortchanged_2

PhylPho wrote: »

Serious question, tomterm8: what other options might sensibly have been pursued? I'm not trying to be sarky or post a provocative comment but am genuinely interested in knowing what those options might have been. Unlike so many of the earlier posters on here, you seem to remember very well the May 2010 political context within which the Conservative-Libdem coalition came into being.

(Just to recap: Conservative 307, Labour 258, LibDem 57, Democratic Unionists [Northern Ireland] 8, Scottish Nationalists 6, "others" 14.)

This is the problem Phylpho in that the Tories have very few natural alliances in Parliament. A labour LibDem coalition would have been a much more natural partnership.
However as you stated the results made this virtually impossible.

The problem was that the Tories didn't get an overall majority and one has to ask the question why?
With Labour and Gordon Browns lack of popularity, realistically the tories should have walked the general election.

Yes the tories won the general election but they didn't get enough public backing to govern outright and therefore have been pushed into an unnatural alliance that is now starting to show some cracks and I have a feeling this is only the beginning of the problems they face.

sabretoothtigger

PhylPho wrote: »

But resigning his ministerial office would be exactly the honourable thing he'd expect of anyone else.

honourable is standing your ground and if a mistake is made then correct it. I hardly think its falling on sword time, though the crowd always likes drama