I would disagree with you on that one.
Oh very much so. Admittedly, coalition governments in the past have screwed up royally. All you have to do is look at the Weimar Republic if you need a quick history lesson. And the Italian government is about as stable as a Chinese block of flats, considering it's fallen apart roughly once a year since the end of WWII. And Berlusconi is a bit of a cunt as well, despite the fact I have a rather grudging admiration of the fact he is able to bed extremely nice looking women and he is three times my age. I'm a bloke- what do you expect?

Anyways- strong governments while useful in some cases, can also pass some very questionable legislation. RIPA, the Dangerous Dogs Act, the extreme porn laws, and other kneejerk legislation have the potential to seriously impinge on our civil rights, and in some cases have already done so. One guy has already been banned from the internet for his choice of wankfuel- which is in fact a breach of his human rights as he has been banned after being charged, but hasn't actually been found guilty of any crime yet. And no, he wasn't a nonce. And don't even get me started on the whole "Oh but think of the Children!" arguments because quite frankly they're a load of tosh and only being used to put through legislation that any normal and right-thinking person would be scratching their head over.

So, coalition governments then. Who said they were bad? I can think of plenty of examples that work fantastically well. Germany, Switzerland, well most of the EU in fact barring Spain, France and Portugal. Germany's government has for years been seen as a model of stable governance, and they seem to work fantastically well at keeping out the nutters. Also, you have to consider the fact that a coalition government does actually better reflect the political makeup of a given country, and keeps the lunatics very much in the minority, where they should be.

And as a final riposte- if for one minute I thought Gordon Brown would actually do all of those things, I actually would vote for him. But considering I trust Garry Glitter to run a creche more than Gordon Brown to run the country, I certainly fucking won't be.
( jim_bob can herd cats., Fri 5 Feb 2010, 7:55, Reply)