That Election Thing....
May. 12th, 2010 08:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daveonSo... obviously not an outcome which appeals to many people. I suspect there's a bunch of Tory backbenchers on the UKIP "wing" of the party who are currently plotting and moaning that if only they'd REALLY gone hard right.
Anyway.
Things that look good:
- This does appear to be a coalition - this in and of itself is something that stinks like week old fish to me. Not that it didn't take them several days of negotiation, but that it ONLY took them several days. If I was a suspicious, cynical type I'd say that Clegg and Cameron did look very chummy through the process - hell they *could* be brothers
- The Lib-Dems have got some good people into the cabinet. They've not got the top jobs but they've a could of strong roles
- I am pleased to see Ken Clarke back. Regardless of anti-Tory feeling he's seemed to be one of the saner characters of that era. He's also got actual, like, government experience in a front bench of juniors
- Options for reform, albeit lightweight
- Some of the worse Lib-Dem policies removed, some of the worse Tory ones edited
- Controversial policy is unlikely to be put to the house
Things that look less than good:
- The government is still effectively anti-Europe
- The government is fragile and there's enough clueless nutters on the Tory backbenches who could/probably will align with their associate nutters on the left wing of the Labour Party
- Whoever won this election has a poisoned chalice. Cuts are coming and not just because of typical Tory blindspots but because the UK is effectively broken economically after a 2 decade credit boom fueled largely from bubbles and consumer spending
So what now? I don't live in the UK at the moment and, frankly, I don't know if I'm ever going to again, not because of any particular evangelical position but because the new business is here and, to be honest, the standard of living we can afford in Seattle is WAY above what we could have in London and neither of us really want to move out of the London commuter zone.
Still, I think I'd better sort out my voter registration for election take 2 and the upcoming referendum. I'm not 100% convinced by the STV but something does need t be done.
Anyway.
Things that look good:
- This does appear to be a coalition - this in and of itself is something that stinks like week old fish to me. Not that it didn't take them several days of negotiation, but that it ONLY took them several days. If I was a suspicious, cynical type I'd say that Clegg and Cameron did look very chummy through the process - hell they *could* be brothers
- The Lib-Dems have got some good people into the cabinet. They've not got the top jobs but they've a could of strong roles
- I am pleased to see Ken Clarke back. Regardless of anti-Tory feeling he's seemed to be one of the saner characters of that era. He's also got actual, like, government experience in a front bench of juniors
- Options for reform, albeit lightweight
- Some of the worse Lib-Dem policies removed, some of the worse Tory ones edited
- Controversial policy is unlikely to be put to the house
Things that look less than good:
- The government is still effectively anti-Europe
- The government is fragile and there's enough clueless nutters on the Tory backbenches who could/probably will align with their associate nutters on the left wing of the Labour Party
- Whoever won this election has a poisoned chalice. Cuts are coming and not just because of typical Tory blindspots but because the UK is effectively broken economically after a 2 decade credit boom fueled largely from bubbles and consumer spending
So what now? I don't live in the UK at the moment and, frankly, I don't know if I'm ever going to again, not because of any particular evangelical position but because the new business is here and, to be honest, the standard of living we can afford in Seattle is WAY above what we could have in London and neither of us really want to move out of the London commuter zone.
Still, I think I'd better sort out my voter registration for election take 2 and the upcoming referendum. I'm not 100% convinced by the STV but something does need t be done.
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Date: 2010-05-12 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 09:55 pm (UTC):-)
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Date: 2010-05-12 10:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 09:34 pm (UTC)Reading a Steve Ovett bio at the moment - 2.76 from Amazon - he buggered off to Oz with as many kids as Coe had mistresses :D that sounds wrong... he buggered off *with his wife and 4 kids* better....