The government is...

[MrsMadWriggle]

or

The government are....

Can you help settle a family dispute?

I'm of the view that there is one government, so it should be "is".

DH thinks there are lots of people in the government so it should be "are". I realise that "are" is sometimes used colloquially but I'm pretty sure I'm right.

You're right

ditto.

it's singular, so "is". Similar to "this family is..". Morethan one person in 'the family' so you wouldn't say "this family are..".

Next!

Sadly DH has gone to sleep now but I shall revel in my linguistic prowess in the morning.

is. definately.

My understanding is that it depends on the context; if you are talking about something that the government are doing collectively then it would be 'is'. eg "the Government is proposing to deport all foreigners", but if the individual members of the government are involved then it would be 'are'. eg "the Government are discussing whether to throw custard pies at Ed Miliband during PMQ"

Nope. it is always 'the Government is' or 'the members of the Government are'

It should be 'is' as 'government' is a singular noun, but you hear phrases like this (particularly in sports reports, "the team are...") more and more now. I've even heard it on Radio 4 .

it should be is but when talking about members as individuals i would tend to use 'are'.

but then again, i can't bear to always use the plural for data - sometimes it just grates and i have to say is instead of are.

The government (one government) is.
The members of the government (lots of members) are.