UK General Election 2015

[DungBeetle]

I think Cameron is being stupid here.  Yes UKIP will take votes off him, but it's going to hurt Miliband in front of a portion of his voters when he has to stand there and justify himself when Farage asks "why won't you let the people have a say on Europe.  Don't you trust their opinion?".  At least Cameron can say he has promised a referendum (under woolly terms admittedly).

Cameron does have a point democratically though.  The Greens outpoll the Lib Dems regularly and beat them in the European elections.  If you are inviting UKIP then you should invite Greens and SNP as well surely? 

[arbboy]

I think Cameron is being stupid here.  Yes UKIP will take votes off him, but it's going to hurt Miliband in front of a portion of his voters when he has to stand there and justify himself when Farage asks "why won't you let the people have a say on Europe.  Don't you trust their opinion?".  At least Cameron can say he has promised a referendum (under woolly terms admittedly).

Cameron does have a point democratically though.  The Greens outpoll the Lib Dems regularly and beat them in the European elections.  If you are inviting UKIP then you should invite Greens and SNP as well surely? 

I think from here moving forwards they should design a list of requirements which parties must meet for future GE's for these debates.  ie min number of mp's currently a party has/min number of MEP's a party has etc etc and have a list of requirements which a party must meet in order for their attendance.

[BorntoBubble]

I think Cameron is being stupid here.  Yes UKIP will take votes off him, but it's going to hurt Miliband in front of a portion of his voters when he has to stand there and justify himself when Farage asks "why won't you let the people have a say on Europe.  Don't you trust their opinion?".  At least Cameron can say he has promised a referendum (under woolly terms admittedly).

Cameron does have a point democratically though.  The Greens outpoll the Lib Dems regularly and beat them in the European elections.  If you are inviting UKIP then you should invite Greens and SNP as well surely? 

I think from here moving forwards they should design a list of requirements which parties must meet for future GE's for these debates.  ie min number of mp's currently a party has/min number of MEP's a party has etc etc and have a list of requirements which a party must meet in order for their attendance.

to me the difficult thing it seems is, the broadcasters have organised the debate, BUT they need to follow GE rules relating to a fair election. Difficult balance to find i think

[Kmac84]

I think Cameron is being stupid here.  Yes UKIP will take votes off him, but it's going to hurt Miliband in front of a portion of his voters when he has to stand there and justify himself when Farage asks "why won't you let the people have a say on Europe.  Don't you trust their opinion?".  At least Cameron can say he has promised a referendum (under woolly terms admittedly).

Cameron does have a point democratically though.  The Greens outpoll the Lib Dems regularly and beat them in the European elections.  If you are inviting UKIP then you should invite Greens and SNP as well surely? 

I think from here moving forwards they should design a list of requirements which parties must meet for future GE's for these debates.  ie min number of mp's currently a party has/min number of MEP's a party has etc etc and have a list of requirements which a party must meet in order for their attendance.

Don't they already have that? Or something very similar.

I don't think the MEP's should be given any consideration, The GE should  be based on current MP's sitting in the existing parliament.

[david3103]

I think Cameron is being stupid here.  Yes UKIP will take votes off him, but it's going to hurt Miliband in front of a portion of his voters when he has to stand there and justify himself when Farage asks "why won't you let the people have a say on Europe.  Don't you trust their opinion?".  At least Cameron can say he has promised a referendum (under woolly terms admittedly).

Cameron does have a point democratically though.  The Greens outpoll the Lib Dems regularly and beat them in the European elections.  If you are inviting UKIP then you should invite Greens and SNP as well surely? 

I think from here moving forwards they should design a list of requirements which parties must meet for future GE's for these debates.  ie min number of mp's currently a party has/min number of MEP's a party has etc etc and have a list of requirements which a party must meet in order for their attendance.

Don't they already have that? Or something very similar.

I don't think the MEP's should be given any consideration, The GE should  be based on current MP's sitting in the existing parliament.

ooh that would be cosy wouldn't it

How would parties like the SNP get a voice?

The debate should include all parties with a significant level of support in local or European elections too

[Kmac84]

I think Cameron is being stupid here.  Yes UKIP will take votes off him, but it's going to hurt Miliband in front of a portion of his voters when he has to stand there and justify himself when Farage asks "why won't you let the people have a say on Europe.  Don't you trust their opinion?".  At least Cameron can say he has promised a referendum (under woolly terms admittedly).

Cameron does have a point democratically though.  The Greens outpoll the Lib Dems regularly and beat them in the European elections.  If you are inviting UKIP then you should invite Greens and SNP as well surely? 

I think from here moving forwards they should design a list of requirements which parties must meet for future GE's for these debates.  ie min number of mp's currently a party has/min number of MEP's a party has etc etc and have a list of requirements which a party must meet in order for their attendance.

Don't they already have that? Or something very similar.

I don't think the MEP's should be given any consideration, The GE should  be based on current MP's sitting in the existing parliament.

ooh that would be cosy wouldn't it

How would parties like the SNP get a voice?

The debate should include all parties with a significant level of support in local or European elections too

I would regionalise the debates.  I don't think the SNP should be given UK wide coverage until they decide to start fielding candidates in other regions of the UK. 

Same as the North of Ireland.  Sinn Fein/DUP/SDLP have more MP's than the Greens. 

I would then have a leaders debate which would be National and would include The leaders of all Elected parties to West Minister.  This would be political parties not independents. 

Further to this I think we should have a constitutional debate around the voting system and all political parties moving forward should agree to move to a PR voting system. 

[Longines]

Further to this I think we should have a constitutional debate around the voting system and all political parties moving forward should agree to move to a PR voting system. 

Didn't we have a referendum on PR that didn't pass?

[Kmac84]

We had a vote on using AV. 

I would go for an STV system, and wouldn't have a referendum on it. 

[redsimon]

We had a vote on using AV. 

I would go for an STV system, and wouldn't have a referendum on it. 

because you'd lose it? Nice democratic impulses there

[MintTrav]

Cameron does have a point democratically though.  The Greens outpoll the Lib Dems regularly and beat them in the European elections.  If you are inviting UKIP then you should invite Greens and SNP as well surely? 

BNP got more votes than the SNP or the Greens last time.

[DungBeetle]

We had a vote on using AV. 

I would go for an STV system, and wouldn't have a referendum on it. 

I'm in favour of PR, but you can't just change the electoral system so dramatically without a referendum.  The problem last time was it was a compromise (AV) and we didn't have much of a public debate prior to the vote so people just stuck with what they knew.

[George2Loose]

I think it's the perfect time to introduce PR. The argument for FPTP is that it usually delivers a majority and not a coalition government.

I know we've only had 2 coalition governments in 100 odd years but it looks increasingly likely that the this election could deliver the same.

The voting system just disengages people even more. I'm in a Tory stronghold where they just won't lose so I just feel like I'm going through the motions when I turn up to vote. If I actually thought my vote would count I'd pay more attention to who's saying what. As it is it doesn't really matter who I vote for.

[david3103]

I think it's the perfect time to introduce PR. The argument for FPTP is that it usually delivers a majority and not a coalition government.

I know we've only had 2 coalition governments in 100 odd years but it looks increasingly likely that the this election could deliver the same.

The voting system just disengages people even more. I'm in a Tory stronghold where they just won't lose so I just feel like I'm going through the motions when I turn up to vote. If I actually thought my vote would count I'd pay more attention to who's saying what. As it is it doesn't really matter who I vote for.

It matters. Even if you're planning on voting Monster Raving Loony Party, it matters.

[DMorgan]

I think it's the perfect time to introduce PR. The argument for FPTP is that it usually delivers a majority and not a coalition government.

I know we've only had 2 coalition governments in 100 odd years but it looks increasingly likely that the this election could deliver the same.

The voting system just disengages people even more. I'm in a Tory stronghold where they just won't lose so I just feel like I'm going through the motions when I turn up to vote. If I actually thought my vote would count I'd pay more attention to who's saying what. As it is it doesn't really matter who I vote for.

It matters. Even if you're planning on voting Monster Raving Loony Party, it matters.

Yeah if we do end up with a hung parliament again then voting against the incumbent in safe seats adds more fuel to the argument that FPTP ia a poor system

[George2Loose]

I think it's the perfect time to introduce PR. The argument for FPTP is that it usually delivers a majority and not a coalition government.

I know we've only had 2 coalition governments in 100 odd years but it looks increasingly likely that the this election could deliver the same.

The voting system just disengages people even more. I'm in a Tory stronghold where they just won't lose so I just feel like I'm going through the motions when I turn up to vote. If I actually thought my vote would count I'd pay more attention to who's saying what. As it is it doesn't really matter who I vote for.

It matters. Even if you're planning on voting Monster Raving Loony Party, it matters.

It's easy to say that. Very difficult not to get disengaged. You've got enough turning people off politics. A poor voting system is perhaps near the bottom of that list but in the words of a wise blonde poster- it matters.