No white smoke.....

[BertiWooster]

... yet coming from the roofs of the parliament building , signalling an agreement between the liberal and tory reps , attempting to thrash out a deal .

The last time there was a hung parliament was in 1974 , when Heath ( who wanted the liberals to join him in a coalition ) could not secure an agreement with Jeremy Thorpe .
The best that Heath could offer was a official enquiry and free vote in the commons on electoral reform .
Thorpe wanted a guarantee on electoral reform , amongst other things .

Since then there has not been any oppurtunity for the Liberals to bring electoral reform unto the agenda ; as neither labour or the tories have had any need or inclination to consider voting reform .

A week is a long time in politics - 36 years is an eternity
Who knows when the lib/ Dems will have another oppurtunity try and change the electoral system . There is no way that they will ever come to power under the current system .

Therefore , should the lib/dems insist on electoral reform guarantee, as part of any deal with the tories or labour ?

[jno]

I sure would. A cast-iron guarantee of a referendum within, say, six months, preferably with the LibDems to choose the form of words (to prevent Brown/Cameron from trying to sabotage it with fudge or ambiguity).

[1rovert]

I think it might be better if they spent more time sorting out the finantial situation first, once the government is working, they will have five years to worry about deciding to have a referendum on the voting system.

[jno]

the election has already been resolved in one place

http://politiken.dk/n...ish/article964348.ece

[bibblebub]

Rory Bremner has just made a good joke along the lines that Scottish airspace has been shut because Gordon Brown has erupted.

[jno]

this might alarm Clegg

http://www.guardian.c...hreatened-eurosceptic

[modeller]

Many people are asking for electoral reform but how many even know what that means.?
There are hundreds of voting systems in the world which one do they want. ?
PR is trumpeted by many but there are at least a dozen of them each with its own variations and they can all be manipulated. Only one thing is certain they all result in delay and fudge. What we have today is only a taste of what every election will be under PR.

[jno]

I'm not bothered by what's happening, modeller. So it takes a while to sort out a government? The country hasn't exactly ground to a halt; only volcanic ash can do that. Or are we in a society that requires instant gratification and a prime minister RIGHT NOW, so that the media have a new story to report?