I'm really, really angry that Clegg has sold us out for a few seats in the cabinet.

But seriously though: what else could he have done? If he'd gone with Labour the Tory shouting would have been at least as loud. At least this way there should be a stable government for a while. Get some advance on electoral reform, try and hold back the worst of the Tory excesses, let them bite the bullet on economic reform and let Labour regroup post-Blair-Brown. Sounds OK, if they can pull it off.

I'm not convinced by AV, it doesn't sound like proper electoral reform to me. PR is fairest. In Germany there's a 5% threshold, so it's very rare that extremist parties get a toehold.

And no, the Tories will never let the people chose.

On a side note, I realised a couple of days ago that I must know Nick Clegg. He was at my best friend's college when we were at Uni.

Oh, and another I'm-getting-older moment: not only do I remember Margaret Thatcher being elected, but the new Prime Minister is only one year older than me. How did that happen?

I'm not convinced by AV, it doesn't sound like proper electoral reform to me. PR is fairest. In Germany there's a 5% threshold, so it's very rare that extremist parties get a toehold.

I'm a big fan of preferential voting of course, and think it would be a good step forward. I also prefer a system that doesn't make coalitions the norm. However, I agree with the need to provide representation for minority parties. A hybrid constituency/PR system is worth looking at (New Zealand introduced such a system relatively recently). In Australia we have both elements - the lower house is all single-member electorates, but the upper house has 12 members from each state, elected via a PR system. Since the 70s, the balance of power there has usually been out of the hands of the two major parties.

Fiona, have you heard of a board game called Die Macher? It's based on Germany's rather idiosyncratic electoral system, and has quite a devoted following among board game aficionados.

Fiona, have you heard of a board game called Die Macher?

Actually, I haven't, but I should probably look it out. Sounds like something B. might be into. He's already mastered The Settlers of Catan....

However, I agree with the need to provide representation for minority parties.

In the British system, we're not even talking minority parties, but parties with around a quarter of the popular vote. It's pure fluke that the LibDems are finally able to punch their weight. If they're not careful it won't happen again.

Now he'd better do some good and keep the Tories in check, or I predict thousands of us will give up on the Lib Dems for good.

I agree, but - speaking as a LibDem voter myself - I wonder where we'll go. I don't expect to ever be able to vote Tory, and think that Labour have a long way to go before I'll be able to vote for them.

et them bite the bullet on economic reform

BTW this is a really foolish idea on both sides of the Atlantic. Cutting spending in middle of a recession makes zero sense. Keynes was right. Deficit spend (on sensible things like windmills and a continental grid) until the recession ends, then raise taxes.

But seriously though: what else could he have done?

I was holding out for them doing nothing. They assumed that it was their role to support one of the major parties. They could have demanded the Tories formed a minority government, opposed it on all fronts, and forced an early re-election. This wouldn't have been stable, but it would have been democratic. I'm really feeling let down by Clegg and co at the moment. Power corrupts and all that - apparently even just the possibility of power.

BTW this is a really foolish idea on both sides of the Atlantic.

Completely. I am actually quite terrified of the public spending cuts that are coming. Also of the Tories' plans to 'reform' the social security system at the same time, i.e. chuck everyone off benefits just when people really need them. There's going to be trouble.

And just to move the conversation off politics and back to telly: anyone see Ashes to Ashes last night? Bloody marvellous. Dull speculations: I still reckon that the stars, sounds etc are about this world falling apart. I don't think it's about Alex leaving anymore, though. I think it's about Gene being discovered for whatever he is. It's Gene that keeps this world going. I won't be at all surprised if he's in a coma somewhere and either slowly dying or slowly recovering. It also wouldn't surprise me if Keats has worked out that to get out of this world and back to his life, he has to get to Gene's secret. Hence trying to destroy the team.

It's also interesting that Alex has stopped having 'interruptions' from the real world, and is now only having visions of dead policemen. Is she dying? She seems to think so, given her conversation with Gene at dinner.

AtoA: finally getting very interesting again, but the episode STILL left more questions unanswered than answered. No idea what's going on with Ray/Chris/Shaz, though your explanation is plausible, Seska. They're going to have a heck of a lot of wrapping up to do next week .

Did anyone else do a double take when the nice Venetian Gondolier from Doctor Who last week suddenly turned out to be an ANC terrorist ?

I know that the one tiny scene from the trailer is supposed to make us think that Sam - John Simm - will be back next week, but I really, really hope it's true .

Fiona: I very much hope he'll back, too - but I can't believe the BBC would have been able to keep that quiet! We'll have to see...

Oh, they do manage it from time to time. Fingers crossed.

Thinking about it (probably more than I should), Shaz and Ray and now Chris have all had their starry moments following a crisis with Gene, after which they've returned to the ranks. The identification of Nelson as the voice was interesting too. Are they really all still stuck in Manchester in 1973 ?