Lord Duckhunter

It could because the reforms are not in the coalition agreement. However, my feeling is that the Torys wont be pushing this too far because of that. If they do leave early, how can their next leader (who wont be Clegg) say that he'll deal with any party and that the Country needs parties to work together. The Lib/Dems can only govern as part of a coalition, if the first one fails, they wont get another chance. They have to make it work. They can not oppose anything in the agreement without Cameron making it a confidence issue and if he losses seeking a mandate.

I agree. I've been very lucky in having a Mrs who hardly drinks and always keeps a sane head on her. Many times she's taken the Kids home whilst I've stayed at the bar socialising. Had she been a bit of a artist herself, we may well have done some stupid things.

If they want to commit political suicide they can. Provided the Tory’s stick to the coalition agreement they are bedded in for 5 years. They made a big play of this being a 5 year plan, have spent 40 years+ telling everyone that we need parties to work together. The only hope they have is a buoyant economy in 5 years time and the chance to say to people that they curbed the Tory excess, and took a lead in bringing about a recovery. There can be nothing worse than them abandoning the coalition on the back of poor local election results. History has shown that when the party with the most seats asks the British people for a mandate with an early election, they tend to get it. there is no way the Lib/Dems want an election now, they’d end up with a handful of seats. If they withdrew the Tory's would limp on with a confidence and supply agreement, before going to the Country. Provided the Tory party stick to the coalition agreement, the Lib/Dems can not turn round and say “we’ve changed our mind”, they will pay a massive price for that.The Tory party aren’t stupid, they’ll stick to that agreement however much Cable and the other clowns try to manufactory splits.

Lib/Dems fight Labour seats to the left and Tory seats to the right. The two main parties tend to stay between the centre and their core base.

Unlike Labour who had a manifesto pledge not to, won the election outright and then went ahead and broke that pledge. Dont you just love the double standards of Labour attacking the Lib/Dems over this.

What complete and utter rubbish. Do you really believe that the people are so simple that they dont realise that the Tories are the major party in this coalition. That the Tories gained seats on Thursday because people are so simple they blamed the Lib/Dems and not the Tories. The Lib/Dems have lost the anti Tory voters, that for some unknown reason seem betryed by the fact that they went into coalition in the first place. When people put their X by the Lib/Dems did they not understand that Nick Clegg said that he would talk to whoever had the most seats. Are Lib/Dem's so simple that they didn't realise that this could be the Tory party? Clegg was asked time and time again before the coalition who he would deal with, his answer was "whoever has the most seats".Why therefore are they throwing their sandals around in a fit of temper. If anyone is using Clegg as a human shield it is the Sandal wearers who are getting cold feet about being judged on their performance and their promises. Dont forget Clegg didn't enter into this agreement against the wishes of his party, but after activists overwhelmingly backed it at a special conference.The parts of the Country that backed Tory party on Thursday, did so, not because the Lib/Dems were their human shield but because they backed their policies and know what they stand for. People vote for the Lib Dems as a protest or as an alternative where their party can't win, so it's no surprise they are polling so low.. They've been begging for a share of power for years, now they've got it, their not up to it.

I cant believe people are surprised about this; The Lib/Dems have been the most unscrupulous of parties for a number of years, saying different things to different voters at every election. They run a completely different campaigns and stand for completely different policies in Tory areas than they do in Labour areas and always have done. They fight the dirtest of any party, witness Simon Hughes' disgraceful homophobic attack on Peter Tatchell all those years ago (described as the "the dirtiest and most notorious by-election in British political history" ).Surely it's obvious to everyone that once they got into bed with the Tory they would lose left wing support, just as much as if they had got into bed with labour would lose right wing support. I'm glad they've been shown up for what they are, a rabble who will do anything for power. They were a protest vote, but now they're in power have lost the only reason for voting for them. They'll now tear themselves apart over the coming years, with some joining the Tories, some returning to Labour and the sandal wearing rest, ending up with a dozen MP's in our 2 party system.

I thought the Walsall players were great, going up into the stand with their supporters.

Apologies if there has already been one of these, but I’ve yet to see one. Having spent all of my adult life watching Saints in the top two flights I have thoroughly enjoyed our spell in League 1. Whist glad we got out pretty quickly and not wanting to stay a moment longer, I am glad I’ve watched the club at this level and meet some great supporters from clubs I never thought we’d be facing in the league. Highlights for me were, obviously yesterday (and the Walsall fans were great), Boxing day sell out against Exeter, the JPT and the great Carlisle fans, and our head to head run in with Huddersfield. There is more to football than the Premiership and apart from some numptys from Boscombe and Brighton the League 1 supporters have been friendly and knowledgeable. What are your highlights and do others feel the same as me.

The one thing I have never been able to get my head round is why they didn't take the children out with them. I have 4 children and have been abroad with them every year. There is nothing unusual about taking children out in the evening on holiday. We used to give them a sleep in the afternoon so they would be awake later. Either that or we had them asleep in their pushchair. There is 13 months between my youngest 2 and many time's they've slept in pushchairs by the table or in a bar, the Europeans are quite used to youngsters out and about late and we never ever had any comments or people looking at them.My take on it has always been the same, we go on holiday as a family and that incldes drinking and eating in the evening. I am not saying that they deserved what happened, of course they didn't. And I've no doubt that they spend every waking hour regretting their actions.However, a part of me is uneasy about the fact they left 3 young children on their own.

It's not perfect by any means, but I'm yet to be convinced of a better way. Certainly telling me that MP's would work harder or not fiddle their expenses is not the way and is quite frankly insulting.The adantages of a constituency system is that each MP gets 1 vote and therefore the people of Cornwall's MP's vote is the same as the people of Chelsea and Fulham. Without this link I would be worried about the long term implications of parties having to tailor policies to win the South East of England and forgetting about some of the other regions. The first thing that needs to happen is other Countries MP's stop voting on English matters that are devolved to their own Parliaments.

I hope they gave him a plastic glass to drink from, because he can't keep hold of anything.

Spot on. We have a system based on constituency. It means that every region of the UK has representation and that an MP's vote from the furthest part of Scotland carries the same weight as one from London. If we followed a pure PR system then a party would only need to appeal to certain areas of the Country to win, because that's where a large majority of the Country live.Even the US president is voted in by a system that ensures he has substantial support distributed throughout the U.S.How do the Highlands of Scotland or remote parts of Cornwall get decent representation, when under PR their votes would be completely irrelevant?

Ed Milliband says Labour fightback begins in Scotland-29/10/10. He said about the SNP in the same speech ""Let's make next May's election a referendum on the job they have done for the people of Scotland." He has the answer now.

For the Tories to gain 81 extra Councillors a year into tough austerity measures is a fantastic result for them.

A massive win for the No campaign which puts electrol reform back in the box for another 20 years. Milliband, Clegg, Ashdown and the like are so out of touch with the electrate that never in a million years did they expect a defeat on this scale. The Lib/Dems had their chance when entering into the Coalition agreement, they had a chance to get the best deal possible as a condition to entering the coalition. Clowns like Cable and Ashdown and the grass roots can bleat all they want, but Clegg didn't negotiate on his own and the party had a vote on entering the coalition.They acepted the deal offered of a vote on AV. W've seen how easy they are and the turnout was pretty good so lets have a referundum on Europe a simple in or out, after all that was another manifesto promise made by the Lib/Dems.

Early results from the BBC is that No is running away with it. Nick Robinson is calling it a stunning victory for the No vote.

That is the interesting question, if people think the Yes/No campaign was full of half truths and lies, wait for the independance vote. I think a Federation is the only way to go, because the people and companies of England and Scotland are too linked together. There's the issue of North Sea oil, of the bank bail outs, and all sorts of other issues. Whilst "Ethnic cleansing" of all the English based Jocks would carry some appeal, it's proberly not policically correct. My hope is that a more nationalistic Scotland will lead the English to wake up and demend some sort of devolution for themselves.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/briantaylor/2011/05/shout_of_joy_for_snp.html Quite a good summary of what happened in Scotland.

This seems to be the Labour line, I've heard it over and over again today. Makes you wonder why the Leader is standing down. As an "English Nat", I'm hoping that the Scots are starting to eye and independent state. Labour fully expected to win in Scotland and pick up the Lib/Dem votes. If they cant pick them up in Scotland,they're not going to do so in the South of England.

Before the Sheff Utd game I told my little boy that I would not be running on the pitch, told him that for a club like ours staying in the Championship was not something to be running on the pitch for. Come the final whistle and I'm off, gone past him, over the barrier and last seen dancing around on the hallowed turf. It was a spontaneous act and I feel that thousends of others were the same. Saturday wont be the same, and I really want to acknowledge the great job that Nigel and boys did by staying in the stands as they do a lap of honour.

Figures show more people turned out to vote in the AV referendum than many commentators expected. Of the eight regions so far announced, Scotland had the highest - 50.7% - and London the lowest - 35.4%.

The headline key points were; The Lib Dems have had their worst local election result since the party was formed, losing control of several key councils in England. The SNP have won an overall majority in Scotland. The Conservatives have held their ground in England. Labour have made gains in Wales, but suffered a terrible night in Scotland. What do people make of these sets of results and what is the future for the UK on the back of Labour losing their Scottish heartlands?

Us, Huddersfield and Brighton are head and shoulders above anyone else this season. However much they deserve it, I hope they dont go up. They have some investment behind them and are a proper football town. It'll be tough getting 6 points off them next season, whereas Boscombe, MK and Peterb will all be down the bottom and easier pickings for us. I also dont want West Ham relegated, as they'll be challanging next season. Wigan and Blackpool will be like Hull and Burnley, with only Wolves posing a threat. One of the reasons the promoted clubs did so well this year is that Burnly, Skates and Hull were all poor and nowhere near the shake up. The weaker the Championship is, the better for us.

Funny how so many British politicans seem to be praising the death of Bin Laden, yet had he murdered British Kids like Huntley or Brady they would not want the death penalty. I'm all for going in and murdering evil people without trial, but then I believe in the death penalty for all murder, not just certain types. The next time the Israelis go in and murder a terrorist enemy of that state I hope Ed Milliband echos his "the world is a better and safer place" quote from yesterday.However, I get the feeling that the policy will be USA kill terrorist-good, Isreal does it, bad.