Are the Lib Dems just making up the numbers?

[mxspyder]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11525031

It seems to me that a lot of people voted Lib Dem and hoped in doing so they would bring their policies to government. I would have thought that this would have been their opportunity to show people that they can be taken seriously, instead we have a bunch of yes men!

Are they committing political suicide in this coalition government? Will anybody trust them in future?

[Targarama]

I think Liberal politicians seeing the world in a different light now they are actually getting a glimpse at 'the books' and needing to make real life decisions. This is very different to standing on the sideline shouting about how it should be done in their ideal cosmic bubble. However I expect most Liberal voters will not be impressed.

[Mojooo]

LD will no doubt lose a lot of voters at the next election.

[Mark Benson]

Targarama said:

I think Liberal politicians seeing the world in a different light now they are actually getting a glimpse at 'the books' and needing to make real life decisions. This is very different to standing on the sideline shouting about how it should be done in their ideal cosmic bubble. However I expect most Liberal voters will not be impressed.

This. They may have the same ideals, but reality looks markedly different.

Just not for their supporters who still think the 'Big State' will solve everything and are now disgruntled because the idealists they voted for have become realists.

[Alfa numeric]

Mojooo said:

LD will no doubt lose a lot of voters at the next election.

I think many people expected them to be a "calming" influence helping to reign in the more extreme spending cuts from the Tories- what's happened in reality is that the LD's have been put in a position that make it look like the cuts are their idea. I hope they enjoy their five years sitting on that side of the house because I don't think it's going to happen again in my lifetime.

[Mojooo]

Generally speaking I am liking what the Coalition has done so far

Perhaps the Tory party on its own would have made even further cuts.

Can anyone list any policies/ideas the Tories have binned due to the coalition?

[otolith]

The coalition has compromised on both sides - but the LDs can't expect to be equal partners in the coalition when they hold only 16% of coalition seats.

Conservative - 307
Labour - 258
Liberal Democrat - 57

[JagLover]

Mojooo said:

Can anyone list any policies/ideas the Tories have binned due to the coalition?

Their initial idea on CB was to withdraw it for the over 16s, that was stopped by the Lib Dems.

[aclivity]

otolith said:

The coalition has compromised on both sides - but the LDs can't expect to be equal partners in the coalition when they hold only 16% of coalition seats.

Conservative - 307
Labour - 258
Liberal Democrat - 57

What would happen - hypothetically speaking - if 50 of the liberal democrats found a spine, and realised that they were being laughed at across Westminster (and the country as a whole) and defected to the opposition benches?

[DJC]

It will depend where we are in 4-5 yrs.

If the cuts work and the economy in recovering nicely in 5 yrs, then the Lib Dems will play the "we tempered the worst of the cuts to protect the vulnerable, it worked and look at us now!" card and it will go down a storm.

If the economy stays stagnant or pear shaped they will be hammered and most of their voters will go red.

The Tories will stay the Tories.

[mxspyder]

otolith said:

The coalition has compromised on both sides - but the LDs can't expect to be equal partners in the coalition when they hold only 16% of coalition seats.

Conservative - 307
Labour - 258
Liberal Democrat - 57

Totally agree with this, but of course this is where the proportional representation argument comes in. And I suspect that will be the final nail in the LD coffin!

It has no doubt been a reality check for LD Politian’s and voters alike, but they could at least put up a fight. It’s one massive love in at the moment! Is party politics forgotten in a coalition? Does anybody how it has worked in Germany?

[mxspyder]

aclivity said:

otolith said:

The coalition has compromised on both sides - but the LDs can't expect to be equal partners in the coalition when they hold only 16% of coalition seats.

Conservative - 307
Labour - 258
Liberal Democrat - 57

What would happen - hypothetically speaking - if 50 of the liberal democrats found a spine, and realised that they were being laughed at across Westminster (and the country as a whole) and defected to the opposition benches?

Can that really happen? (hypothetically)

[aclivity]

mxspyder said:

aclivity said:

otolith said:

The coalition has compromised on both sides - but the LDs can't expect to be equal partners in the coalition when they hold only 16% of coalition seats.

Conservative - 307
Labour - 258
Liberal Democrat - 57

What would happen - hypothetically speaking - if 50 of the liberal democrats found a spine, and realised that they were being laughed at across Westminster (and the country as a whole) and defected to the opposition benches?

Can that really happen? (hypothetically)

I suspect it's impossible for most of the Lib Dems to stand up for anything they believe in, but the idea of an MP crossing the floor is quite possible - Sean Woodward did it when Labour was in power, I guess he must be considering it again now. AIUI that's why we elect a person rather than a party.

[otolith]

If that happened, we'd be left with a weak Tory administration unable to push through a legislative programme. It would be disastrous for the country - forming a coalition government with the largest party was the Lib Dems Doing The Right Thing, IMO, however distasteful some of their supporters find it.

[JagLover]

On a side note these plans assume a cut in the public teaching subsidy (ie excluding research grants) of 80%.

I'm not sure where we will be in 4 and 1/2 years time, but many aspects of the public sector will look very different.