Why Liberal/Conservative talks are going well....

[Sam Slater]

For everyone that's worried, or surprised that the Lib/Con talks seem to be progressing well then I think it's obvious why, from Clegg's point of view, it has to seem so.

The more likely a deal looks, between the Tories and the Lib Dems, the more bargaining power Clegg has when he turns to Labour and asks 'What have you got?' The last thing Clegg wants is for Brown to know there's no way a deal with the Conservatives will happen. That leaves Brown knowing Clegg has no more viable options left and he then has the upper hand.

Cameron, if he has anything about him, will know this too so Clegg has to persuade Cameron that he's really willing to broker a deal. It has to look authentic to both Cameron AND Brown for Clegg to make the most of his position.

That's the way I see it, anyway, so all the articles in the papers about how well the talks are doing I take with a pinch of salt - especially if they're coming from the Lib Dems or Clegg himself. Of course, I could be wrong, and if I am I cannot fathom Clegg's tactics at all and must assume he's either daft, or a closet Tory.....or Cameron really will give in to electoral reform (doubtful)!

[Ned]

He's not even going to ask Labour what they've got.

[Sam Slater]

Yes. That's the impression he wants to give.

[IndianV]

I agree. The situation for Nick Clegg is that he cannot personally agree anything alone and has to take his party (the executive) and his MPs with him - they have t vote 75% in favour for any deal for it to become reality.

Question is, would any of those MPs actually vote in favour of a conservative deal if they thought Clegg hadn't even found out what was on offer from Labour? I think it's unlikely

[David Johnson]

"The more likely a deal looks, between the Tories and the Lib Dems, the more bargaining power Clegg has when he turns to Labour and asks 'What have you got?'

And it takes at least 3 days of negotiations to create that impression does it?

Maybe Cleggie shoud have saved a bit of time and just pointed Brown's attention towards the Lib Dem/Tory run councils where swingeing cuts have been implemented

"Of course, I could be wrong, and if I am I cannot fathom Clegg's tactics at all and must assume he's either daft, or a closet Tory.....or Cameron really will give in to electoral reform (doubtful)!"

I couldn't possibly comment!

Could you possibly see yourself adding hypocrite to the list of "daft or a closet Tory"?

Cheers
D

[Sam Slater]

I agree. He'll talk to Labour eventually. He's a politician - it's what they live for! People need to calm down.

[Ned]

He's not going anywhere near Labour. He had a meeting with Gordy to fill him in on progress, almost as a courtesy, but left all of his advisors with Cameron's mob.

The irony for me is that if Clegg hadn't failed so badly, the arithmetic would be on the side of the left and we'd have a Lib/Lab deal in place already, most probably.

[number 6]

Can someone remind me how many seats clegg got in the election again?

[number 6]

The one good thing to come out of a lib /con pact is that if it goes through the libs will be finished as a political force forever and the cons will be thrashed at the next election. Then back to labour back in for 12 years. Im starting to hope this clegg/cam pact comes off.

[Sam Slater]

[quote]The irony for me is that if Clegg hadn't failed so badly, the arithmetic would be on the side of the left and we'd have a Lib/Lab deal in place already, most probably.[/quote]

The irony for me is that you say Clegg failed so badly by gaining 1% of the vote from 2005, yet fail to mention that Labour's swing was -6.2%. It's not Clegg's fault that the silly FPTP system means a gain of 1% equals a loss of 6 seats! If you're pissed off that the left of centre parties are struggling for an overall majority then you have to blame the party that lost most of it's voters. That was Labour.