Nick Clegg now in contention as potential PM

Nick Clegg now in contention as potential PM

www.guardian.co.uk

A quarter of voters who watched the three leaders on the ITV programme say they will switch their vote, with most changing to the Liberal Democrats.

Clegg emerges from the telephone poll as the overwhelming winner, with 51% who watched saying he came out on top.

The poll, based on a sample of 505 voters who had previously told ICM how they would vote, found Conservative and Labour supporters also thought Clegg won the event. While 44% of Tories thought Cameron won, 46% thought Clegg did. Among Labour v

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.timesonline.co.uk
www.independent.co.uk
news.bbc.co.uk
www.telegrap h.co.uk

[edit on 16-4-2010 by Peruvianmonk]

Ok so this is only one poll. But it is quite a conclusive result, with a quarter who revealed who they planned to vote for switching their vote. And all other polls have called the debate conclusively for Clegg. The media are clearly loving him right now, how long will it last?

If Clegg continues to perform and the Lib Dems can repel the imminent assault from the Blue and Red corner does he and his party have a real chance?



www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)




[edit on 16-4-2010 by Peruvianmonk]

Not sure, but these debates are dangerous, we don't need the best actor to lead the country, but the one with the best policies.

Scrapping our nuclear deterrent? I think not...

His odds of being Prime minister have been slashed by the bookies from 100 -1 to 14 - 1. Pretty amazing stuff, still highly unlikely he will be PM, it mixes things up a bit and he was by far the best in the debate last night.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
His odds of being Prime minister have been slashed by the bookies from 100 -1 to 14 - 1. Pretty amazing stuff, still highly unlikely he will be PM, it mixes things up a bit and he was by far the best in the debate last night.

i like him...i still cant trust him though..until a politician says he will have a referendum on the lisbon treaty they will not get my vote...

Originally posted by AR154
Not sure, but these debates are dangerous, we don't need the best actor to lead the country, but the one with the best policies.

Scrapping our nuclear deterrent? I think not...

Well Im with the Lib Dems on this. Trident is a massive waste of money. as Ive said in other threads, if it ever gets to the stage we ever use just one nuclear weapon, the world will not be a fit place to live.

Its tough choices but seeing as America has nuclear weapons deployed here, do we really need to spend billions on weapons of mass destruction?

Been watching Sky News. and this morning they changed all the data from last night.

According to them, the winner was David cameron, then Gordon Brown, Then Nick Clegg.

With the stats:
Cameron: 32%
Brown: 26%
Clegg: 22%

Honestly who are they trying to kidd. last night it was reported Nick Clegg,(Liberal Democrats) was ahead in the polls by 51 percent. from that debate.

some serious BS going on here, from sky news..

[edit on 16-4-2010 by MR BOB]

reply to post by AR154


We should at least decrease the amount we hold from the current 200 approx.

This was from 2001, i cannot imagine it has changed much.

This system too was significantly scaled back. The final seven Trident II missiles that had been planned were cancelled (saving 50 million pounds and writing off another 40 million), leaving the UK with a total missile inventory of 58. The number of submarines on patrol at any given time was reduced to one, and the number of warheads deployed on a submarine was reduced to 48 (half of what had been planned, and identical to the force loading on its previous Polaris fleet).

The SDR also announced that Britain would hold its arsenal to "a stockpile of fewer than 200 operationally available warheads". The UK was already believed to have fewer than 200 Trident warheads, although the number could have eventually gone as high as 248 under previous MoD directives. In the fall of 1998 the Trident warhead was still apparently in production but probably ended early in 1999.

nuclearweaponarchive.org...

Other Lib Dem policies include.

* Breaking up the banks and getting them lending again
* Introducing a Banking Levy so that banks pay for the financial support they have received
* Setting a £400 pay rise cap for all public sector workers
* Restoring the link between the basic state pension and earnings

and

* Increasing the UK's aid budget to reach the UN target of 0.7pc of GNI by 2013
* Holding the G8 to its Gleneagles pledges on aid, including the 0.7pc target
* Working with other countries to establish new sources of development financing
* Supporting reform of global financial institutions such as the World Bank and IMF
* Supporting a global fund for social protection to help developing countries build viable welfare systems
* Pushing for a renewed international effort on debt
* Supporting 100pc cancellation of the unpayable debts of the world's poorest countries
* Supporting the establishment of an International Arms Sale Treaty

www.telegraph.co.uk...

I like the plan to refrom the IMF and World Bank.

Still what are they not telling us? I hear they wish to grant an amnesty for all illegal immigrants and lead Britain in to the Euro?

[edit on 16-4-2010 by Peruvianmonk]

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


I havnt really thought about voting for the Lib Dems but maybe i'll check out their site and their policies... as for referendums, i'm all for them so whichever party is going to offer referendums and actually give the public a say in matters is probably going to be the favourite and isnt that Conservative?

reply to post by MR BOB


What you need to keep in mind is that diffrent stations held Diffrent polls.

The Lib dems don't have a a chance, period.

There are far too many safe seats for the Lib dems to get a decent proportion of the vote.

Nick Clegg is a very good presenter and he did very well last night..

However...

Who here thinks its a good idea for the UK to abandon its nuclear deterrent??

If the Lib Dems get in the UK would dismantle their nuclear weapons....

Also, Nick clearly pissed off all new and would be parents by stating that they would scrap the child trust fund!!

And what about the tagging system for immigrants so they couldn't move from one area to another??

Nick Clegg would make a fine prime minister.... if his ideas on how to run the country would have been different.

Peace Out,

Korg.

I dont vote for any of those threeI vote green party. But it would be better if lib dem got in. Anything but conservatives please

reply to post by superdebz


Im in the same boat. Anything other than Conservative.
Thats why i think id vote Labour.
Although as I said in one of my threads I like the Green Partys manifesto, yet, a vote for them would be one less from Labour giving the Conservatives a better chance of getting in Number 10.

reply to post by superdebz


I would also vote for a smaller party such as ukip.
but i feel that i would have wasted my vote, as there is no chance they are going to get voted in.

When i could vote for sigh* lib dems. at least it has a chance of blocking cameron or brown getting in. both untrustworthy lizards.

I dont believe all Nick Cleggs policys but, i trust him much much more than cameron. Plus he seems like a nice guy, unlike the other two, who are acting.
Ive met people like cameron in real life, and trust me they are a$$holes. unless you are rich, and they want something.

cameron looks like he would sell his own mother.

Well, he seemed the best public speaker on the night, took the time to remember questioners names and directly try to answer their questions. Brown and Cameron both seemed to avoid directly answering questions and seemed much more inclined to obfuscate any real answers.

Now I'll never place trust in a politician until I see real change... Labour and the Conservative party have both had ample time to prove a track record, neither have, both parties constantly dogged by some scandal or other. Maybe it's time to give a party that haven't been proven to be lying, deceitful, corrupt bastards a go?

As for scrapping Trident? Well, it's out of date... do we really need a nuclear deterrent? Imagine what a stunning example we could be to the rest of the world if we actually scrapped nuclear weaponry...
I've never particularly been clear on the nuclear "deterrent" - it just seems like, ok so you nuke us and we'll kill you back, harder!

What I did find interesting, was watching this with some of my family, who are staunch old-school Labour, as I was myself until Blair's reign - was that even though Brown is clearly a poor leader and policy maker, that they (my family) were unwilling to hear or take note of anything either opposition speaker had to say. I wonder how entrenched this kind of view is across the country?

reply to post by Korg Trinity


We should at least decrease the amount of nuclear weapons we hold, by at least 50% in my opinion.

The Lib Dems may just have a chance. I don't think anyone is wholly convinced by the Tories under Cameron and if Clegg can build up a head of steam and trounce the other two in the remaining debates who knows?

There are alot of safe seats, agreed. But 1997 showed just how UNsafe some seats can be in a watershed election(Which i think this is), remember Portillo?

The next debate will deal with foreign policy and the last with the economy. As long as Clegg can sell the idea of not replacing Trident wholesale well, he will trounce them on all other international policies, in particular in regards to helping developing countriesm and he is the only one detailing where the cuts will have to be made. He will not have to back away from questions on the economic debate the other two will.

People will see this and Momentum could really build.

A Lib Dem surge could at least lead to a hung parliament and see a Labour/Liberal coalition.

[edit on 16-4-2010 by Peruvianmonk]

Members from countries other than the U.K are more than welcome to offer their intelligent input. I know i stick my nose in enough on other nations, in particular on American and Israeli affairs! Get involved.

[edit on 16-4-2010 by Peruvianmonk]

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


True! But its also only going to get harder for Nick Clegg.
Due to the apparent success, he has set a high standerd for Lib Dems, as with building up a raport with the audience.
But, now Labour and the Conservatives will likely pick appart his political manifesto in the next debate.
And remmember, he started slow last night. If the other two partys nit-pick his agenda he may retreat into his shell.

I hope not though.

Originally posted by Korg Trinity
The Lib dems don't have a a chance, period.

There are far too many safe seats for the Lib dems to get a decent proportion of the vote.

Nick Clegg is a very good presenter and he did very well last night..

However...

Who here thinks its a good idea for the UK to abandon its nuclear deterrent??

If the Lib Dems get in the UK would dismantle their nuclear weapons....

Also, Nick clearly pissed off all new and would be parents by stating that they would scrap the child trust fund!!

And what about the tagging system for immigrants so they couldn't move from one area to another??

Nick Clegg would make a fine prime minister.... if his ideas on how to run the country would have been different.

Peace Out,

Korg.

How can you be so dismissive of the LibDems chances? The country is fed up with the two party system made up of self-serving, untrustworthy politicians. We want change.

The LibDems may not be the best of possible alternatives, but at least by voting for them in enough numbers, the public have the opportunity to really put the cat amongst the pigeons and shake up Westminster. People in this country are sick and tired of the political system and the abuses of trust and power.

I don't think we should completely abandon our nuclear deterrent - that would be foolhardy but Trident is an almost bottomless pit of financial waste. Billions that could be spent elsewhere on more important issues.

And why should we be concerned about the child trust fund? In past genertions, if you chose to have children, then you put money by to be able to afford it, and if it meant missing out on one or two luxuries here and there, so be it. Unfortunately, we know have a generation who, it would seem, want to have their cake and eat it. Sad.

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


Who here thinks that if any other party won the Election it would actually be treated as such?

Would we be any wiser if UKIP or Lib Dems won the Vote but we were told Conservative or labour won it?