The Final Nail?

[youngmafbog]

http://news.sky.com/story/1348171/clegg-lib-dems-would-ask-rich-to-pay-more-tax

I thought Clegg was dead in the water before this but surely this will finish the lib-dems off once and for all.

Glegg seems to be pitching for another coalition, but would labour or the Tories risk it? I somehow doubt it.

[Gromit]

The problem for Cameron (or his successor) is that if the Conservatives do not have a majority at the election they will have to cave in to the LibDems demands, like they did last time.

UKIPs spectacular by election win this coming Thursday will herald the possibility of a poor general election showing due to UKIP stealing their votes.

[youngmafbog]

Yes, you could well be right Gromit.

[jim360]

It may be too early to write off the Lib Dems yet. I think they can legitimately claim to have had a positive influence on some policies; in particular the raising of the tax threshold is primarily down to them. Even optimistically I'd be surprised if they managed to make gains in 2015; I'd expect to see the LibDems hold maybe 50 seats at most.

[janbee]

As you say ymg, the final nail is well and truly hammered home now. Little Nicky came 3rd in a 2 horse race and now somehow, he's in government. Never again. The LIMPs will be lucky to come fourth after May. They're now consigned to the history books.

[Gromit]

// The LIMPs will be lucky to come fourth after May. They're now consigned to the history books. //

Wishful thinking. They will come third, with probably half the seats they have now. UKIP will only win a handful of seats.

At Clacton they will probably lose their deposit and finish 5th.

[mikey4444]

Gromit...you are correct in assuming that any progress UKIP makes next May will be at a cost to the Tories, just like this coming Thursday. So it makes the prospect of a Tory outright majority, or a Tory-led coalition even more unlikely. But we mustn't rules out the Libd quite yet. They are still able to come third next May, which may be enough to call the tune again.

Far be it for me to defend the Libs but it must be admitted that they have been successful in stopping the worst of the usual Tory excesses since 2010.

[Gromit]

Just looked at the Clacton candidate list, and there is a chance an Independent could beat the LibDems, meaning they finish 6th.

[naomi24]

I listened to someone from the LibDems spouting on at lunchtime, and could only think.... 'Ask not for whom the bell tolls.....'

[mikey4444]

Naomi...You are very dutiful. I wish I could summon up the effort to watch the LibDem Conference, but I can't be asked. Its much more interesting on AB this afternoon !

[naomi24]

Mikey, let's no go overboard here! I was busy doing something else and caught just a bit of it - all of five or ten minutes. ;o)

[mikey4444]

Thats OK then Naomi !

[Quizmonster]

Mikey, you write, "I can't be asked." I have never understood why anyone would say this rather than the more obviously correct, "I can't be ar$ed."
Saying, 'I can't be asked' is absurd; absolutely anyone can be asked absolutely anything, surely?
On the other hand, the 'ar$ed' version is probablt derived from earlier sayings such as, "I needed his help but he didn't bother his Yabbie." That may, in turn, have come from a more impolite request such as, "Get off your Yabbie and help me with this."
The notion, of course, is that the rear end is central to whatever activity might be involved...and I don't mean that rudely!

[Quizmonster]

Let me assure you, at no point did I use the word 'yabbie'!!

[Quizmonster]

Have we gone back to the olden days of AnswerBank, when one could not refer to Scunthorpe or wristwatch because of certain four-letter sequences within them?

[mikey4444]

Thansk Q....most interesting...I think ?

[mikey4444]

Yabbie :::::

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_yabby

[Quizmonster]

Fascinating stuff, Mikey, but what an Australian crustacean has to do with the British butt is a mystery to me! Wherever did the techies get that connection from?

[mikey4444]

Until you used the word Q, I can honestly say that I had never heard it before ! I have lived a much more sheltered life that I had first thought, it would seem. I shall now try to use the word yabbie ( or yabby ) in conversations in the future.

[Quizmonster]

As I said, Mikey, I didn't use the word; AnswerBank simply substituted it for the word I actually did write!

[mikey4444]

Sorry...I am getting confused here Q ! What was the word that you did use ?
If you leave a space between each letter it might get through security.

But don't if its too rude please !