Wow...big protest in Britain...on BBC Live now

"1000 protesters outside Liberal Democrat meeting"

http://wwitv.com/portal.htm?http://wwitv.com/television/217.htm


Edit: they're apparently protesting in favor of election reform. I'll post more details as it unfolds.

With placards saying "fair votes now", about 100 to 200 people, many wearing purple, have unexpectedly arrived outside the venue for the Lib Dem meeting. Their loud chanting could possibly be heard inside.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/election2010/liveevent/

Election stealing: America's new export. :eyes:

they can send emails and chat on discussion boards. That's the way to real reform. And taking to the streets makes powerful people mad and while reform is OK, it's wrong to make powerful people mad.

One of the organisers of the protest has addressed the crowd, numbering about 1,000, saying they call on Nick Clegg or a member of his team to come out and accept a petition, signed by thousands, calling for voting reform. And then police want them to move on from the square.

A shot at power (a cabinet position) or sticking to the party principle and insisting on the core tenet of the party platform; election reform. Good for the people for making it clear that they won't settle for a 'keep our powder dry' philosophy from Clegg and the Lib Dem MPs while he is no doubt being offered a Faustian bargain by the Tories.

His best options:
Refuse to join the Cons and maintain his party's integrity and philosophy.

Don't join Labour with Brown as leader.

Let the Cons form a minority government - they'll be kicked out in a year.

Labour MP Mann calls for Brown to resign

add

The people who would have to 'kick out' the Tories would be Labour and the Lib Dems. There's little point in waiting a year to do it, rather than doing it now, unless you're convinced they'll make such a pig's ear of it that they'll become notably more unpopular with the electorate. And giving the Tories power for a year is a big price to pay to take that risk.

If Cameron won't offer a proper referendum on PR, then Clegg should go into a coalition with Labour - with or without Brown as leader (it's not as if any other Labour politician has more of a mandate than Brown does), with the referendum as part of the conditions.

"...they'll make such a pig's ear of it that they'll become notably more unpopular with the electorate."

with a guarantee of a referendum.

I think that the Conservatives if they had to be persuaded towards proposing a PR system would take the mixed meber PR system adopted in Australia. That keeps the constituency link (one of the key elements of any Conservative objection to PR), while it also ensures a proportional reflection of the parties in Parliament.

With the Conservatives Party finances structured upwards through their ward committees and constituency associations, they are not able to accept any other system. This was also key to Labour gaining advantages in the Boundaries. Conservative Associations often objected to the loss of a Ward to another Constituency because that Ward Committee raised lots of money for the Association it was going to leave.

Look for any argument to be about keeping a link between your Member of Parliament and you the voter.

The EU has helped win that argument for the Tories because no individual has an MEP, they are accountable to no-one except the Party list.