UK election thread

[Walsingham]

We must be talking about different MoDs. John Reid was popular? He was treated with due reverence for his temper, but he had a terrible reputation for not listening to any advice, and by consequence failed to establish bureaucratic 'grip' on the department through consensus.

 

I accept the principle of your counter-argument but I still say that the present defence secretary must do four things

 

1. He must inspire raw confidence in UK front line military

2. He must inspire raw confidence in US headquarters military

3. He must have an awareness of and 'grip' over the political complexity of the war we are fighting

4. He must have the chutzpah to guide Parliament on defence matters

 

His personal history answers this as follows:

 

1. RM/SBS

2. RM/SBS/Intelligence

3. Intelligence/FCO/Bosnia experience

4. Long experience of Westminster, and firm speaker

[Gorgon]

But the Tories are insane. There is good reason why they have been left out of government for so long.

[Magister Lajciak]

Oh, ok. I see what you mean. And yes, that's one reason why I hate prop rep.

 

But as you can clearly see (since the UK is FPTP, and so is Canada), this issue has nothing to do with prop rep in particular.

 

Proportional representation does not make decisive victories impossible, but it definitely makes them much less likely than the FPTP system. Yes, this time no party gained enough seats to govern alone, but if you look at states with PR, that kind of situation is more often the rule than the exception there. From your statements on this issue it is clear that you hate FPTP with a passion and many of the criticisms are legitimate, but apart from its disadvantages, it also does have advantages over PR and this is one of them. Don't pretend that these advantages do not exist.

[Gorgon]

Why is a landslide victory an advantage ?. A clear majority is an advantage, without it government will have a hard time acting decisively. You don't need one to have the other.

 

There are advantages to learning to compromise with your rivals, especially when faced with tough questions about the immediate economic future. Britain should feel fortunate that the stalemate has finally been broken and that there is now more than two viable parties.

Edited May 13, 2010 by Gorgon