Perhaps the title of this thread should be corrected to 'Gordon Brown WAS the worst Prime Minister...'  tomorrow morning? 

Agreed.

  Same here  Hi cologne

Hi Marguerita

Honest Soozy.. it isn't that... and if there had been a bit of that....  then it was soon rectified when we saw David Cameron with his rolled up sleeves & his airbrushed posters.

What Nick Clegg did, that made some disillusioned voters (a lot of them the younger ones).. was he answered the questions put to him at the first tv debate.  

I hate it when politicians just ignore the question asked... and ramble off about something else.... its insulting that they think they have diverted us and we don't realise.

For the record... I would have voted lib dem anyway.... 

I am not totally anti Gordon Brown... and I acknowledge a lot of good things that have come from this labour government.. but I personally would like to see the Lib Dems get in...  and stop this constant two horse race that we have.

I am totally expecting the Conservatives to win though

The trouble with that is that he is the only one who can be totally honest because he will not have to put it into practice. They might have moved up a step from other elections, but it will still take at least 20 years before they could ever be ready for Government and they know it. He'd soon be lying if he was asked if he could win this election and answered yes.

 What ditty said about Nick Clegg. Perhaps if he were to be hit in the face several times with a bag of spanners he might gain some credibility. Brown is a decent enough fellow, but when he talks I imagine Mandelson stood in the wings talking to him through a mouth piece. I admire Brown for appearing so awkward being spun, but Politics is a profession after all, and Clegg is professional and direct.

Oh Cologne, that is so profound......you know what it feels like when you have nothing to lose, you become sincere and authentic...well I see that as an attribute worthy of admiration. We've been stuck in a party political mess for so long, like a gladiatorial battle between left and right...what has anyone got to lose with a brief period of (may be) bland middle ground?

Nothing at all suzy, I would love to see the lib dems going into a coalition with labour (I am German and have lived with a coalition government most of my life   I just think it's easier to tell the truth when you know you don't have to prove yourself. I also agree about the ping pong aspect of British politics, but as I said earlier, I think it will take at least another generation for the lib dems to be taken serious enough to actually be a threat to the old gits.

thats a really cool way of saying what I was saying to hubby earlier...   my wordier & less clear version was that the other two parties are made up of career politicians...   whereas you really have to have some kind of cause to be in the lib dems... cos up until the last few weeks if your political career was your main motivator then you'd be unlikely to align yourself with the lib dems.

I think if the intent is sincere & they were able to remember they serve the people...

I am an idealist...   in my ideal world they would just be honest with us...  I can cope with a cock up...   but not with a cover up or barefaced lie!

Instead of seeing us merely as a bottomless money pit....

I don't know if that was a hidden dig ditty, but I totally agree. The lib dem politicians have to be dedicated and sincere. What would happen though if they should by some miracle win? They would have to use the same subterfuge as the others do. As it happens, I trust them more than the other politicians, but power always corrupts, especially if they couldn't follow up on the promises and would then be just as evasive being interviewed by Jeremy Paxman as the rest of that shower is now.

no... no dig!   I am not confident enough nor inclined to have a dig at anyone about politics.    I don't beleive they would have to...   I accept there is a chance they would feel they had to
really?   always?    I like to hang on to a shred of hope that the incorruptable just get bullied out of the ring by the corrupt!

I think if someone were brave enough to do it the honest & up front way that they'd pull it off...   if we lived in a world where news reporting was also unbiased and honest.

or the gullible stooopid public!

or bigots!.....

I'm sorry ditty, I didn't mean to offend you. What I will say is my father was a politian in Germany and a very popular one because he thought of the people before anything else. But blow me down if I didn't find out some 10 years ago that he used some underhand tactics to aquite a piece of land for the community, which he would not have been able to if he hadn't been in the position he was in. It wasn't a personal aquisition and it was helping the communitiy, but it was still slightly whiffy. I adore that man, but it still stuck in my mind that as a politician, he used what power he had.

Absolutely cologne! Germany is a very good model to follow.....coallition aint so bad

you didn't offend me Cologne....   I type this at top speed cos I am dead excited about your post...

your dad was being Machiavellian in its truest meaning ... I'm actually not against it.. there is a time & a place for it.   Again... its all down to intentions xx

my husband did politics as A level...   and did Machiavelli...  & in his law degree.  it was him that told me all about Machiavelli...  and explained what it really meant, when I was confused about its meaning cos of big brother!

Hubby also made me watch re reruns of Yes Minister & Yes Prime Minister (yes, the winter nights just flew by!)...  but it did illustrate some of the back office goings on quite well.

I'm not going to make this thread about me now which is why it's the last comment I will make about my dad. You're right, he was machiavellian and it bothers me because there is no other blot on his time in office. I only owned up to his slip to make the point on power corrupts. The good things he did far outweigh this one, but it still bothers me.

well... fwiw cologne...   I like the sound of your Dad 

If a party has a huge majority, democracy goes out the window for me. Both Thatcher and Blair were like kids in a sweet shop and I feel if there are some people to say no now and again, democracy is better served.