If you read between the lines Bob I think it is quite obvious that Clegg was saying he would try at first to do a deal with the party that won the most votes.

I don't doubt it. My point was not about these deals themselves, but that these 'deals' would be more honest if they were done in public rather than the backroom of a pub somewhere rather than trying to pretend they were respecting the electorate..

"solemn pledges in Party manifestos will be bandied about, dropped altogether or amended beyond recognition..."

as in "We will not introduce university student top-up fees and have legislated to prevent it.."

Bob, you're quite right that coalition deals should be done in public rather than in a backroom. Given that my party's policy is to promote coalitions as a better way of governing, I'd hope we would set an example, if it ever came to a hung parliament, by publishing a very honest account of the coalition negotiations, and explaining exactly where the compromises had been made.

But to be fair to Nick, how is he supposed to second-guess coalition negotiations? Presumably he'd want to sit down with Brown and Cameron, and thrash out a liberal programme of legislation. How can he possibly know how far either of the other party leaders would be prepared to go until negotiations have actually taken place?

You're also forgetting the impact of the political landscape, and we have no idea what that will look like after the next GE. Suppose Labour get a real thrashing at the polls. They might theoretically be able to put together a coalition, but if the thrasing is quite bad, Clegg might not feel they have the moral authority to govern. Or if the Tories undershoot expectations badly, and Labour are still the largest party, would Clegg feel able to put Cameron into Downing Street? All these things just can't be forseen.

Last year on my blog, I had a crack at suggesting how the Lib Dems might put the hung parliament question to bed once and for all - you can find the article here.

Good post and well said in varous ways I have been saying the same thing myself for a while. The Liberals have always been contemptuous of the voter , it has grown up from being the centre minority Party. The truth is this , Clegg will not be able to get his Party to ally with the Conservatives so he will be obliged to support Brown.

Those who do not want Brown cannot vote Liberal. So not only do I agree but I applaud your principled stand despite the fact that Liberal dishonesty is likely to benefit the left if anything

Johny I have just read your Ming speech and it is a rich and steaming pile of meretricious manure. The Liberal Party are not going to be allowed to get away with that . Vote Clegg , get Brown its as simple as that. I would rather have a Labour Government than a coalition wherby the Liberals cheat the electorate and grab PR which no-one wants.

I dearly hope that with the main Parties both providing strong and clear alternatives the centre party will disappear. You cannot be king makers and retain a protest vote and as about half of your vote is just that the fraud of pretending you will not support Brown has to be nailed.

In fact the Liberal Party occupy territory some way between Blair and Brown and this being the case votes against state bullying should also be lost.

...there will be deals done in House of Commons Committee Rooms and bars, solemn pledges in Party manifestos will be bandied about, dropped altogether or amended beyond recognition... all well out of sight of the electorate...

You know, that sounds like the government as status quo... whether we talk about a referendum on the 'treaty' tuition and top up fees, going to war in Iraq, or the lefts moral compass...

the nature of our broken political system always means that the people are kept out of the loop... the disease is a non representative electoral system which elects a government on 25% of all eligible votes and allows prime ministers to be 'elected' by, well, nobody, and the symptom is record voter apathy at the polls and a public who couldn’t give a damn about our political system.

The truth of the matter is that choosing either of the parties is a non starter; they're as sleazy, dishonest and corrupt as each other.

Well if the 'Thought for the Day' on my blog this morning is anything to go by, Brown is going to start coddling up to Clegg very soon...

I've added you to my blogroll as well, Bob.

http://lettersfromatory.wordpress.com

LibDems be honest with the electorate - now I know you are joking. The whole party operates on the basis of saying what you wnat to hear. They pick and choose which bits of their policy they think will be popular with their audience - so in working class constituencies they are all for local income tax - while they go a little quiet on this in the wealthy suburbs - the examples are legion.

I can think of more than one manifesto pledge broken by a government with a very large majority...

I find Jonny Wright's argument somewhat amazing. Firstly, what he is really saying is that his party really isn't prepared to trust the electorate and give them idea in advance how they would behave in coalition talks after an election - perhaps they could humour us with a few likely secenarios. Secondly, if the LibDems were to be involved in coalition talks it would one of the very rare occaisions when his party would be involved in taking a political decision of any consequence - yet in such a situation they appear to be incapable
of telling us what their policy is. Compare this with all the other situations where whatever they say could ever have any impact - and in such situations they will usually tell us what we want to hear.

Really does sound like the LibDems really are just about gesture politics rather than the exercise of political power.

stephen, I don't know why you are singling out the Lib Dems. Has Cameron said they would do a deal with the Lib Dems and what terms would be for that deal? Has Brown?

No, because all parties want to do a deal behind the electorate's back if they can cobble togerther a majority.

If Labour or the Tories have some principles they would sacrifice, perhaps they too should tell us what they are?

I think its clear, as Jonny said, that Clegg would be able to form a coalition with either party. It is my personal feeling that he'd rather go with the Tories and set immigration, civil liberties, and constitutional reform policies. I don't see it as viable to prop up a neutered Brown. However, Clegg can't just go out and say he'd go with the Tories now because its unthinkable to much of the membership. Logically if the next election results are something like 33 - 40 - 19 I can't see any leader of the Lib Dems, past, present, or future opting to prop up a clearly rejected Labour party. I hope I'm not proved wrong.

I don't disagree with you about all parties not doing things behind peoples backs or answering reasonal hypothetical questions - the difference with the LibDems is that until they answer this hypothetical question their answers to all other national political questions are pretty meaningless given that there is little realistic chance of then achieving a majority in their own right.