Gordon Brown's 'angry exchange with Clegg'

Source: BBC

Gordon Brown had an angry exchange with Nick Clegg, a senior Lib Dem has told the BBC's Jon Sopel.

Speaking on the BBC News Channel Jon Sopel said the source told him the conversation deteriorated when Mr Clegg suggested Mr Brown should resign.

Labour and the Lib Dems have since said the conversation was "amicable".

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8669816.stm

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Audio of Jon Sopel explaining what happened at the link.


Live on Sky News there's a fairly big and loud demonstrations organized by "http://www.power2010.org.uk/">Power 2010" for fair votes developing outside Parliament and in Smith Square where the Lib Dems' HQ is, they just had to go to a break because they couldn't continue with an interview because it got so noisy. They're back now and interviewing a representative from "http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/">36 Degrees". The woman "interviewing" him sounds exactly like a Faux anchor, shouting him down and not giving him a chance to answer her questions. Disgusting.

Update: The protesters filling Smith Square have been chanting for the Lib Dems to accept their petition and someone has just come outside to collect it.

Update 2: Nick Clegg is about to come out and address the protesters.

Live blog with details of the demonstration here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/may/08/general-election-2010-live-blog



Related articles...

Clegg has a real chance to change the system. He must not blow it

Source: The Independent

By Steve Richards

All three parties lost the election, but there was still a winner.

The Liberal Democrats performed poorly. There was no Cleggmania by the time voters headed for the polling stations. As far as the Liberal Democrats are concerned it should not matter. They have secured what is for them the dream outcome. The electoral system rarely delivers a hung parliament. This time it has. It will not do so again for a long time. Nick Clegg has the chance to seize the moment and get a change to the voting system. There is a danger he will let it pass – an error that is entirely in line with his party's tentative approach to the pragmatic demands of power.

Clegg declared in advance of the election that the party that secured most votes and seats should have the first chance to attempt to form a government. He was obliged to repeat his declaration yesterday. Some Liberal Democrats seem convinced that they will get credit at the next election by allowing the Conservatives to rule. They are deluding themselves. They risk being swallowed alive.

Of course they face a dilemma. The politics of power presents parties with nightmarish dilemmas every hour of the day. The Liberal Democrats are not used to the politics of power and this is a big test. They do not want to be seen propping up a Labour Party that by any definition performed abysmally in the election. For a time they will no doubt face a critical onslaught. Clegg hates the idea of appearing with Gordon Brown on the steps of No 10 having agreed a deal.

But they are being spectacularly naïve if they believe the formation of a minority Tory administration will lead to their party's revival over the next few years. Similarly, Labour figures who assume a period of opposition would give them space to form a new progressive alliance with the Liberal Democrats that will soon sweep them to power are also deluded. Once the Conservatives seize power they will not let go.

Full article: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clegg-has-a-real-chance-to-change-the-system-he-must-not-blow-it-1968188.html

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Leading article: A result that confirms our electoral system is broken

Source: The Independent

This most extraordinary of general elections has upset many expectations and preconceived opinions.

But the 2010 national vote has left untouched the central fact of British politics: the rottenness of our voting system. The ballots from 650 constituencies around the United Kingdom have almost all been counted. And one picture, at least, is clear: the main parties' share of seats in the new House of Commons does not reflect their share of the popular vote.

The Liberal Democrats are the primary victims of this broken system. Despite marginally increasing their share of the vote, they have ended up losing seats. Meanwhile, the Conservatives and Labour together won around 65 per cent of the popular vote, but take 86 per cent of the seats. Unfairness is hard-wired into this voting system.

And even the supposed practical advantages of first-past-the-post have failed to materialise. The traditional argument from defenders of the present voting system is that it can be relied upon to deliver clear mandates for single parties. Well, it certainly failed to do that on this occasion. This newspaper was sanguine about the prospect of a hung parliament, with no single party in overall control, in the run-up to this poll. We deplored the manner in which the Conservatives tried to use the prospect to scare voters into their camp. And we do not resile from that position now.

Full article: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-a-result-that-confirms-our-electoral-system-is-broken-1968245.html



Something I posted in the UK forum earlier...



The Liberal Democrats' preferred type of Proportional Representation is the Single Transferable Vote.

This Wikipedia article gives a good overview of STV: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote

STV Count Calculators: http://www.stvaction.org.uk/count_calculators

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and whip the financial terrorists properly regulate the financial system?

A Lab-Lib accord would require, I would I have thought, the considerable, visible and genuinely effective excercise of legitimate Lib-Dem power and should be symbolised by placing, if not the Premiership, at least the Finance Minister role (Chancellorship) in Lib-Dem hands.

A definitive, far-reaching referendum on electoral reform, of course, and the implementation of the outcome, conserving constituency representation at the expense of party machinery and media chicanery, must be guaranteed.

Lab-Lib accord is Labour will have to have other parties agree to form a coalition as the combination isn't enough to ensure a majority.

It'd be interesting to see the Tories adopt a leftward stance to form an alliance with LibDem

The SDP used to like that idea too

he's gonna have mic-rophobia now

the fear of an open-mic left on around his neck


when in reality, he should fear not facing up to what his tongue offers up when caught

me ill.

...modelled on the British system, I have to say...the British system - as they break down their distribution of seats - is totally fucked. Anti-democratic to the maximum definition of the term.

Some parties have to get 30 odd thousand votes per seat, others have to get hundreds of thousands...that is massively waxed. Massively.

Talk about rigged elections.

Fu-uck me.