Another unelected labour PM

also people saying "Clegg should just decide" - it's not in his gift to just decide.

He has to get any deal through his party and the "triple lock", and then he has to make it work in practice.

There's absolutely no point in him nodding along to an arrangement that his party won't swallow, no matter how much anyone else would like him to.

I think that anyone criticising Clegg for being duplicitious is ridiculous - have you met politics?

He said that he would give Cameron first shot, not that he would take whatever scraps he was offered, Labour be damned. Maybe Cameron just didn't offer enough. Maybe getting in bed with the Tories was just too unpalatable. Can't imagine why

Love the saying MmeLindt.

With hindsight, maybe all three leaders should have issued a joint statement (ha ha!!) to say we will all be involved in talks over the next week, and will let you know when anything of significance is agreed.

I think you have to ask who 'anyone' means don't you? It might mean 'the media' and that's why they're so cross about it?

Has anyone mentioned that if there is a LibCon coalition, that David Cameron would be an 'unelected' PM of such a government? Nobody who voted for him voted for him to be PM of a coalition government! It'd be a democratic disgrace!

I think someone further down the thread talked about him holding the country to ransom.

Talks like this are going to be in private, without the press. They have to be. While we all want to know what is going on, we have to trust our politicians (ha!) to do the best deal possible. If the press and the electorate are party to all the details of the talks then we will never get a government.

What is the saying? Two things you don't want to know how it is made - governments and sausage.

Was a reply to Minthumbugs post about PR

MmeLindt - I agree he has to talk to all parties, but his team did meet with the Labour team without telling anyone. If he's not going to talk at all - fine - but as he started talking to the press, he needs to be open, and not pick and choose what he says imho.

Don't know where 'ransom' came from?

Clegg is doing fine, imo, and shouldnt talk about what he's doing in the press.

Clegg is not sneaking around, he is holding meetings to find the best partner. As he has to do.

And he is not holding the country to ransom. The Labour government is still in power and will stay there until a new government is grounded and approved.

It is not like GB has packed his trunk and trundled off to Scotland, we are not leaderless.

Coalition agreements take time and it is very irresponsible of the press to suggest it is something that is done in an afternoon, imo.

There is a huge difference between laying all of your cards on the table, and saying we're talking to both parties.

I actually think he's in the middle of quite a big break!!!

Oh dont be ridiculous! Nobody lays all their cards on the table right at the start of a negotiating process. Give the man a break!

If Clegg had said at the outset 'we will discuss the situation fully with both Conservative and Labour parties', everyone would have known where they stood, and what was happeneing.

Instead, he's been sneaking around holding meetings. To my mind, if you're not being open, you've got something to hide.

The problem is, that Brits arent used to seeing their politicians negotiating and talking! We're used to seeing a stable and strong Govt announcing that this is how it's going to be - which isnt always the same as what was on the manifesto.

I dont think Clegg is losing credibility. These are talks, negotiations, not policy making.
It is normal for coalition govts to have this period after the elections. As Mme Lindt pointed out, it lasts for weeks in Germany.

How are small parties holding anyone else to ransom? That's a sweeping statement, not true. If the Tories cant make a deal with Libs, they can go it alone.
And if we had proper PR, there'd be loads of smaller parties, which would get their point of view implemented in part, only if they had enough support at the polls.
It would be democracy by pressure groups, voted for by people. IMO, thats a better form of democracy than the very limited one we have at the moment.

This is all very shambolic. Never mind 'landslide' victory at any future election. I would be surprised if anybody went out to vote in the future.

If that's the case, I think Clegg has got it well wrong nighbynight - he is losing credibility by the minute

I think Clegg is just flirting with Labour to get more commitment to PR out of the Tories. Remember that their first offer was a "review" ha ha ha the Liberals fell for that one in the 1970s.

Agree, a Lib/Lab govt would be significantly less credible than a Lib/Tory one. But either would be worth it, to get PR.

In all seriousness, my main concern is that the Lab/Kib coalition is actually going yo have to be the Lab/Lib/SNP/SDLP/UDP etc coalition. Each of these parties will want something in exchange for their support and with the Scottish and Welsh nationalists already stating that they will be asking for protection from major cuts I just can't see how it can work.

Do they really think the UK population will be prepared to sit back and let England see the bulk of the cuts whilst Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are protected from the worst of it?

Yes, but if we have a Lib/Lab pact, then the Tories wont change their leader, so we wont vote for them next time either

I really hope the Lab/Lib coalition goes through. Then we can have another election before the end of the year and witness a Tory landslide .

I'm surprised that Labour are so keen to cling on to power - Mervyn King said some months ago that whoever gets in at this election will be out of power for a generation as the cuts that need to be made will be so unpopular.

MmeLindt - but traditionally, the Germans talk a lot, to decide things! Everybody has to have their say. The British are used to just being told by their masters how things are going to be.

There have been more unelected Conservative PMs than Labour. This is how democracy and our crap voting system works . The LibDems got nearly a quarter of votes which were worthjust 57 seats yet Labour on only 5% more have 257.

Not enough people like David Cameron. And judging by the hysterics of the Tory press I'd say there would be big discontent in his own party. If he cannot pull off this deal with NC then my prediction is that we'll also be seeing a new Tory leader too.