The 2nd election debate

[kowalski]

Will be enjoyed by me with copious amounts of Sainsburys own brand bourbon.

Regardless of how the whole thing turns out it's certainly got people at work talking more politics than ever before.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/ ... 636394.stm

[ThirstyDrunk]

To make things fun you should turn these debates into a drinking game. Use keywords to trigger a drink (ie "economy" "financial crisis" "Iraq" "Afghanistan" etc.). I'm sure you can think of some popular words or phrases that will not only keep everyone interested and fun, but also it kinda makes you feel more involved.
And if done correctly it'll get ya DRUNK!

[fiyah]

To make things fun you should turn these debates into a drinking game. Use keywords to trigger a drink (ie "economy" "financial crisis" "Iraq" "Afghanistan" etc.). I'm sure you can think of some popular words or phrases that will not only keep everyone interested and fun, but also it kinda makes you feel more involved.
And if done correctly it'll get ya DRUNK!

keyword ="taxes".. that'll get ya there..

[kowalski]

Excellent, we have 1 more coming up, so key words and phrases will also include:

'illegal immigrants'
'jobs tax'
'right of recall'
'referendum'
any time Gordon Brown mentions how he saved the economy
any time one of them accuses the other two of 'squabbling'
'Trident'
'expenses scandel'

I'm sure I can come up with a few more...

[tomodon]

Yeah, must remember to get some of that Sainsbury's stuff tomorrow - not bad.

[kowalski]

3 bottles of Duvel for £4 from J Sainsburys steered me through the 3rd and final debate. I still don't know who to vote for...

[tomodon]

flagging at 2:29am - running out of beer. might have to see who wins tomorrow. Hung thingy looking likely. Lauren Laverne on Channel 4 the hotest pundit so far. Paddy ashdown said 'prick' on telly instead of summat else before which was funny.

[ThirstyDrunk]

Hung thingy looking likely.

Enough with your fancy English political jargon.

[peetie44]

The Conservatives won the most seats but don't have a majority. Does this mean they might try and go with a minority government or would they be more likely to attempt to form a coalition with other parties? And is it possible Labour and the Liberal Democrats will form a coalition to keep power from the Conservatives? Admittedly, my understanding of parliamentary rule is a bit shaky (and rusty), but it seems like you're going to have quite a bit of issue-by-issue, bi-partisan negotiating in the future no matter what happens.

Considering all that's going on in the world, it seems rather poor timing for Britain not to have a majority government.

[kowalski]

If anything, I think we might have been better off keeping Labour in, just for some stability. I think the Conservatives will try and form a coalition with the Lib dems rather than try for a minority government. However, if Gordon Brown goes, the Lib Dems might try and form a coalition with whoever gives them the most compromise.

Should be interesting whatever, and so long as my tax doesn't go up and I keep my job I don't really care :-)

[peetie44]

If anything, I think we might have been better off keeping Labour in, just for some stability. I think the Conservatives will try and form a coalition with the Lib dems rather than try for a minority government. However, if Gordon Brown goes, the Lib Dems might try and form a coalition with whoever gives them the most compromise.

Should be interesting whatever, and so long as my tax doesn't go up and I keep my job I don't really care :-)

It would seem, at least on the outside, that Labour and the Lib Dems would have more in common with each other than either party would with David Cameron and the Conservatives. But as I understand it, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg of the Lib Dems are not exactly fond of one another?

[kowalski]

If anything, I think we might have been better off keeping Labour in, just for some stability. I think the Conservatives will try and form a coalition with the Lib dems rather than try for a minority government. However, if Gordon Brown goes, the Lib Dems might try and form a coalition with whoever gives them the most compromise.

Should be interesting whatever, and so long as my tax doesn't go up and I keep my job I don't really care :-)

It would seem, at least on the outside, that Labour and the Lib Dems would have more in common with each other than either party would with David Cameron and the Conservatives. But as I understand it, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg of the Lib Dems are not exactly fond of one another?

You're right, that's why a coalition with Labour and Lib Dem will probably only happen if Gordon Brown goes.

[peetie44]

If anything, I think we might have been better off keeping Labour in, just for some stability. I think the Conservatives will try and form a coalition with the Lib dems rather than try for a minority government. However, if Gordon Brown goes, the Lib Dems might try and form a coalition with whoever gives them the most compromise.

Should be interesting whatever, and so long as my tax doesn't go up and I keep my job I don't really care :-)

It would seem, at least on the outside, that Labour and the Lib Dems would have more in common with each other than either party would with David Cameron and the Conservatives. But as I understand it, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg of the Lib Dems are not exactly fond of one another?

You're right, that's why a coalition with Labour and Lib Dem will probably only happen if Gordon Brown goes.

So, how likely is that (GB stepping down) to happen?

[kowalski]

So, how likely is that (GB stepping down) to happen?

Pretty likely I hope. I think the majority of people in the UK would be happier if he were gone, and of course we have the fickle mass media mainly against him.

[peetie44]

So, how likely is that (GB stepping down) to happen?

Pretty likely I hope. I think the majority of people in the UK would be happier if he were gone, and of course we have the fickle mass media mainly against him.

It seemed to me, at the time, that when Tony Blair stepped down, very much under the gun for having gone lock-step with GW Bush on the Iraq situation, that Gordon Brown was going to have trouble gaining any traction of his own -- change for change's sake, maybe?

And then the world economy took a dive...