Should Labour Voters Be Careful What They Wish For?

[naomi24]

//Paddy Ashdown has said: "The SNP has got one aim. They're are not coming south to help Westminster work. They are coming south as a Scottish raiding party to burn Westminster down and to make the thing dysfunctional.//

//SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has ruled out any post-election deal with the Conservative Party. However she has said she is open to supporting Labour on a case-by-case basis. Miliband has ruled out a formal coalition with the SNP, but another looser deal remains a possibility.//

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/03/30/snp-coming-to-burn-westminster-down-warns-lord-ashdown_n_6967228.html

[Gromit]

If more people vote Labour then a coalition (with the SNP or anyone else) is less likely.

If the vote is split between Conservative and Labour, then a coalition is more likely.

If you are so scared of the SNP, then you MUST vote Labour.

Thought not.

[Baldric]

Well, that's gratitude for you,
After all we did for them in the early 1700's.
Some people!!!!!!!!!

[naomi24]

Gromit, //If more people vote Labour then a coalition (with the SNP or anyone else) is less likely. //

That works both ways but you'd rather spin than think about that. Try "If more people vote Conservative...."

[mikey4444]

Paddy Ashdown ? ......Oh....now I remember !

The SNP are doing exactly what any other opposition Party should be doing....the clue is in the word opposition.

I am not sure why there is so much fuss about all this. Would there be so much opprobrium thrown at Sturgeon and the SNP if they said that they would be prepared work with the Tories ?

The Unionists from NI have traditionally sided with the Tories, but they have not come in for any stick in the Press for so doing. Plaid Cymru have traditionally supported Labour.

This is what happens when we have the feisty, adversarial kind of politics that we have in Britain, and long may it remain so.

If dave and his supporters are so pained by what the SNP are saying that they are going to do, he would be better employed working out why his Party only has one MP from Scotland. At the same time, he should be pondering why he is still not capable of opening up a convincing and lasting gap in the Polls between himself and Labour. He has had nearly 5 years to do it and he still hasn't managed it ! He is sleep-walking to defeat.

[Gromit]

Naomi,
I am puzzled by both your question and your response.

It seems to be borne out of a fear that the SNP will gain some kind of power. The only way that will happen is if Labour win more seats but do not have a majority. So the logical thing to do is make sure Labour have the majority they need, if you want to keep the SNP out.

Just voting Tory is not tactical and may actually deliver exactly what you don't want.

[naomi24]

Mikey, this is not about Dave. Do you really want a puppet government manipulated by a group of people whose sole interest is Scotland?

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/03/tories-unveil-poster-ed-miliband-dancing-alex-salmond-calling-tune

[naomi24]

Gromit, the logical thing to do is vote Conservative and keep the lot of them out.

[TWR]

I've always voted for the workman / Woman, I think what the Tory's Gov have done is turn a lot including their own against the Eg/ I.D.S. & the dreaded Bedroom Tax, I feel for these people, I do agree the benefits had to be sorted once & for all but I also think they have gone overboard, the Gov should have started with handouts given to persons that pain nothing into this system of our's & getting a lot out, my own opinion, this Gov is the making of it's own destruction with their Thatcher Attitude, I also think, instead of getting brownie points against each other, they want to start in their own back yard & clean up the Fraudsters / Tax Evaders / 2 Job M.Ps then earn the money they get paid to do what we voted them to do & make G.B. Great again instead of being the laughing Stock of the world by the way we handle things! Eg, those 2 that got married in Prison, it could only happen here.

[Gromit]

Yes Naomi,

Except the poles indicate that the Tories will not win, or will not win a majority.

If you really want to keep the SNP out you should vote tactically.

But your main aim is to scaremonger, so you won't.

[mikey4444]

Naomi....If the SNP is an important part of a future UK Government, then so be it. The people will have spoken. That is how it works here in Britain. The SNP will oppose a Tory administration, in the same way as every other opposition Party will do.

I have just heard the Leader of Plaid Cymru say that she will never support the Tories, ever. Just what is wrong with another opposition Party saying the same thing ? Scotland is still an integral part of the UK, so why is it a problem when the Scottish voters send MPs other than from the three main Parties ?

In response to your comment to Gromit......if dave could persuade more Scottish voters to vote Tory, rather than Labour or the SNP, he wouldn't have a problem in the first place ! But out of the 59 MPs that Scotland sends to Westminster, 58 of them are not Tory. In fact, the Tories only achieved 16.7%
of the popular vote in 2010.

[douglas9401]

Will I be swayed by the antics of the outgoing gang of tax dodging, paedophile sheltering, crony enriching scumbags and the rantings of an eye for the main chance failed Liberal into voting for them?

Can't see it myself.

[TWR]

lol lol Your as bad as me Douglas lol

[naomi24]

TWR, //I've always voted for the workman / Woman//

Me too. That’s why I swapped my allegiance from Labour to the Conservatives during the reign of Tony Blair. Labour is not the party of the working man – it’s a fallacy.

Gromit, //Except the poles indicate that the Tories will not win, or will not win a majority. //

Let’s be honest here. The polls indicate that neither the Conservatives nor Labour will win a majority. I’m not scaremongering – just telling as it’s likely to be.

Mikey, //if dave could persuade more Scottish voters to vote Tory…//

… and by the same token if Ed could persuade more Scottish voters to vote Labour we wouldn’t be facing the potential problem – but he can’t. No surprise there!

[mikey4444]

Ah Naomi....a fair weather friend then ! (tic)

[naomi24]

I've learnt my lesson. (Not tic).

[Gromit]

If the Tories could just take 15 seats in Scotland then the SNP would not have enough MPs to form a coalition. But that is not going to happen.

We are in this situation of the SNP making huge gains in Scotland at the expense of Labour, because Labour campaigned vigorously for a 'No' to Independence vote at the referendum, and Labour are reaping the backlash. The Government campaign led by Danny Alexander was pisspoor and Cameron had to enlist Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling to win the vote.

Labour fought tooth and nail (unlike the Conservatives) to preserve the United Kingdom, so they are no just going to give it away to form a coalition with the SNP.

[naomi24]

Gromit, // they are no just going to give it away to form a coalition with the SNP. //

Your faith is greater than mine, but we shall see.

[jim360]

It's possible that this will all be hypothetical and Labour/ Lib Dems will hold off the SNP in enough seats to make this all irrelevant.

Well, we can dare to dream...

[Quizmonster]

As has been pointed out above, with the Tories holding only one constituency in Scotland, it's clear that the Scottish voters do NOT want a Conservative government. However, they do - such as the last five years by and large - have to put up with one, because that is often the will of the English voters. All of a sudden, if the polls are right, we may well have a Labour minority government after May 7th, supported on a case-by-case basis by the SNP.

I think the idea of "the shoe being on the other foot" is wonderful...namely, what happens to the English would be partly dictated by the Scots! Given the whingeing that goes on about that south of the border, it might be educational for the English to learn what it feels like to have government effectively "foisted upon" them.

[naomi24]

Mikey, //Scotland is still an integral part of the UK//

That’s the theory, but looking at Quizmonster’s post above, are you sure?