Tories take a hit on the bedroom tax

[Tangled up in Blue]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-29075300



Might this spell the end of the coalition?

 

[OldBlueLady]

Well, at any rate I would imagine the lad Clegg deserves a good old fashioned beasting imposed for not keeping his unruly boys in tow.

 

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

Libs in a bit of a panic about being judged by their friends - four years too late

 

[londonblue]

Libs in a bit of a panic about being judged by their friends - four years too late

I'm not sure which political commentator made the point, but after the last general election and the formation of the coalition someone did say it could well lead to them having a very bad time of it in 2015.

It looks like whoever it was could well be very right.

 

[maninasuitcase]

I'm not sure which political commentator made the point, but after the last general election and the formation of the coalition someone did say it could well lead to them having a very bad time of it in 2015.

It looks like whoever it was could well be very right.

Yes, the Lib Dems sold their souls to the devil for a brief period in power.

 

[South Bank Hank]

Yes, the Lib Dems sold their souls to the devil for a brief period in power.

Or did they recognise that they would be far more effective influencing policy as part of the coalition than as the minority voice of parliament that they've always been? No doubt that it will cost them this time around as they'll take all of the blame for any policies that aren't popular with their traditional supporters but none of the credit for anything they did achieve. I'd be curious to see if people thought they could or should have made a different decision at the time?

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

It's not a tax!

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

It's not a tax!

No it's a "spare room subsidy." :sick:

 

[londonblue]

Or did they recognise that they would be far more effective influencing policy as part of the coalition than as the minority voice of parliament that they've always been? No doubt that it will cost them this time around as they'll take all of the blame for any policies that aren't popular with their traditional supporters but none of the credit for anything they did achieve. I'd be curious to see if people thought they could or should have made a different decision at the time?

It came out after the coalition had been formed that the Lib Dems had also been secretly talking to Labour. One of the Lib Dem stipulations was that Gordon Brown had to go, but Labour refused.

A different decision could have been to explore that route further, or not even enter a coalition at all. Note, your question was what different decisions they could have made, it didn't ask for the merits of those decisions.

 

[South Bank Hank]

It came out after the coalition had been formed that the Lib Dems had also been secretly talking to Labour. One of the Lib Dem stipulations was that Gordon Brown had to go, but Labour refused.

A different decision could have been to explore that route further, or not even enter a coalition at all. Note, your question was what different decisions they could have made, it didn't ask for the merits of those decisions.

Actually I did ask if they could or should have, but I believe you're correct about the Gordon Brown stipulation.

 

[maninasuitcase]

Or did they recognise that they would be far more effective influencing policy as part of the coalition than as the minority voice of parliament that they've always been? No doubt that it will cost them this time around as they'll take all of the blame for any policies that aren't popular with their traditional supporters but none of the credit for anything they did achieve. I'd be curious to see if people thought they could or should have made a different decision at the time?

An interesting question, they can take credit for raising the tax threshold, but they went back on their promise not to increase tuition fees. They failed to curb the worst excesses of IDS's welfare reforms, taking money from those that can least afford it, and lumping everyone who is on benefits in to a box marked scrounger.

Vince Cable should have done more to ensure that big businesses pay their way in taxes. HMRC estimate the shortfall in tax not collected in 2011/2012 was £35 billion, up from £34 billion in the previous 12 months.

 

[North Banker]

Minority partners is coalitions never do well - they don't get credit for what they do and get blamed for everything that goes wrong or that they can't do through no fault of their own.

http://whatthehellhavethelibdemsdone.com/

Clegg's still a to$$er though.

 

[applelover]

'It's not a tax! It's the removal of a spare room subsidy!'

The Tories became obsessed with this line. It's classic example of how political parties can get communication so wrong despite spending thousands on so called experts to advise them.

Every time one of their robot ministers and back bench MP's uttered these words it simply further entrenched term 'bedroom tax'.

The staggering level of ineptitude within western democratic power elites is almost too much to comprehend