I don't have a problem with it as such (I dow ith the fact that people want to vote for them)
snoopcester Send a noteboard - 26/04/2010 05:15:02 PM
Obviously what you describe here is an impossibility, with some of your requirements contradicting others. But is it really a necessary requirement that BNP-like parties get no or very few seats? History in continental Europe shows that such parties get less extreme as they get represented in parliament and accountable to their voters, even when they never make it into a government (I oppose the Belgian cordon sanitaire in principle, but wouldn't want to form a coalition with the Vlaams Belang, either). And I can see why you'd have issues with coalition governments, but in most cases, having a government platform that makes compromises between the stances of several of the most popular parties who together have a majority of the popular vote is likely to represent the stances of more voters than having a single party government that represents less than 40% of the popular vote.
I'd like to see Clegg explain why he supports a system that would let the BNP get a seat or two though - I think the attempt to explain it would be superb as he tried to attack the BNP while sell the system to the public
But if enough people want to vote for the BNP, then I think it is right that it gains MPs in a democracy. I can't see it ever becoming more than a fringe party - it isn't a natural ally for any of the main parties and as things currently stand none of the main parties would risk any link up with the BNP because they'd tar themselves with that brush in the voters' eyes.
*MySmiley*
Robert Graves "There is no money in poetry, but then there is no poetry in money, either."
Henning Mankell "We must defend the open society, because if we start locking our doors, if we let fear decide, the person who committed the act of terror will win"
Robert Graves "There is no money in poetry, but then there is no poetry in money, either."
Henning Mankell "We must defend the open society, because if we start locking our doors, if we let fear decide, the person who committed the act of terror will win"
British politics is ... like a basket of crazy muffins. But they taste nice.
- 26/04/2010 09:34:57 AM
788 Views
British politics or muffins taste nice? Or both?
- 26/04/2010 10:52:35 AM
503 Views
- 26/04/2010 10:52:35 AM
503 Views
Both 
- 26/04/2010 05:11:54 PM
674 Views
- 26/04/2010 05:11:54 PM
674 Views
Indeed
- 26/04/2010 11:01:30 AM
565 Views
Re: Indeed
- 26/04/2010 11:06:10 AM
496 Views
Didn't mean to put the effectively in there
- 26/04/2010 11:17:20 AM
450 Views
That makes more sense
- 26/04/2010 11:24:33 AM
586 Views
- 26/04/2010 11:24:33 AM
586 Views
Yeah, I follow elections in lots of countries.
- 26/04/2010 11:11:28 AM
616 Views
Re: Yeah, I follow elections in lots of countries.
- 26/04/2010 05:17:55 PM
554 Views
It's all very entertaining.
- 26/04/2010 01:46:25 PM
544 Views
Re: It's all very entertaining.
- 26/04/2010 05:21:25 PM
645 Views
- 28/04/2010 02:49:51 PM
591 Views
- 28/04/2010 02:49:51 PM
591 Views
It works alright when you have a two- or 2½-party system with support divided geographically.
- 26/04/2010 04:40:31 PM
467 Views
Would it really be so bad if the BNP gained seats?
- 26/04/2010 05:03:06 PM
578 Views
I don't have a problem with it as such (I dow ith the fact that people want to vote for them)
- 26/04/2010 05:15:02 PM
614 Views
Re: It works alright when you have a two- or 2½-party system with support divided geographically.
- 26/04/2010 06:14:44 PM
493 Views
Big fucking deal. Coalitions of less than 5 parties = LAME *NM*
- 28/04/2010 12:03:36 AM
214 Views
Rather a bigger deal when it happens in a first past the post system. *NM*
- 28/04/2010 08:20:42 AM
355 Views