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Doesn’t PR just end in weak coalitions most of the time, though? Which probably works better if there is a president.
“Farage can’t complain, he’s on record as supporting PR, although he’s gone a bit quiet now FPTP might benefit him, funny that.”
To be fair, he’s not the first politician to change his tune on that score. Blair made a few overtures towards the Liberal Democrats and hints about favouring PR but went quiet on the idea when FPTP gave him a majority of 179.
That’s always been the problem, it usually favoured Labour or Conservatives when it was effectively a two party system. As you note, signs are that things are changing.
I’ve long been against FPTP regardless of who’s in charge as a result of it. PR in its various forms isn’t perfect but we keep electing majority governments who are supported by a minority of the people. Is it any wonder people don’t feel represented? Surely it’s time to try something different. If it doesn’t work, we can always change it back.
“I still would not be surprised to see some sort of co-operation between the Tories and Reform”.
I would say the Tories are closer to Labour than Reform, heck the Conservatives laid the foundations to destroy this country, and Labour have accelerated on these.
Prob as good as we could get , Starmer did the right thing by resisting tit for tat retaliation when Trump announced the tariffs , to be honest Trump was always going to have come to some kind of compromise , the Americans want Landrovers , Whisky , Salmon etc , been a better week for Starmer
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Two ‘trade deals’ (perhaps not quite the right term for the USA arrangement) with major economies in a matter of days. The USA remains unpredictable but anything that settles things down at least for now can only be good. Plus the only criticism of the India deal that Labour’s opponents could manage was based on a complete lie.
We’re not exactly coming from a position of strength so any deals that don’t give too much away should be welcomed. There’s always going to be compromise, that’s how deals work.
The devil will of course be in the detail.
Before Trump the car tariff was 2.5%.
Trump upped it to 27.5%.
After this trade deal it is down to 10% for only the first 100,000 vehicles, anything over 100,000 a year is charged at 27.5%.The 10% is a lot better than 27.5%, but it’s still 4 times worse than 2.5%.
Everyone knows that Trump only made it 27.5% in the first place as shock value, so everyone would be relieved when it comes down. Whereas if he’d gone straight from 2.5 to 10% he knew nobody would sign.
Once every country has their own trade deal with Trump then I suspect 10% may not look so good.
Labour seems to have given in to a bully.
Now expect every other country to bully us.Value Is EverythingAnd why are we vulnerable to a bully? Did we do anything to economically isolate ourselves in recent times?
“Labour seems to have given in to a bully.
Now expect every other country to bully us.”Ginge – for someone who posts a lot of sense, you don’t half post some utter rubbish.
As I understand it this trade deal simply reduces the tariffs on cars, steel and aluminium back to the universal 10% on all exports, so while it’s to be welcomed trading terms are still worse than they were before Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’.
Still, it’s all relative and for the present we have a competitive advantage over the EU and elsewhere, which is good news for the car industry, the beleagured Scunthorpe steelworks and the UK’s last remaining aluminium smelter near Fort William
The latter is an interesting setup, being powered by it’s own hydroelectric system fed by the rivers cascading from the Ben Nevis massif; hence producing ‘green’ aluminium.
As for the free-trade deal with India I’m sure British Aerospace and other muinitions producers are relishing the ramping-up of production to supply ammo for the latest bing-bang-boom with Pakistan
Trump is already under pressure the US with his stab in dark nature , Americans are already complaining about the increase in living costs
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
First it should be pointed out the deal signed with India has been many years in the making and not just under the present government.The USA deal has embedded tariffs for many years to come at whatever rates agreed with still much to be done.As pointed out the devil will be in the detail and the ‘small print’ may yet hide some nasty surprises.Trump is a bully always has been always will be and for him to agree to a deal makes me suspicious because as a businessman he always had to ‘win’ no matter how others fared or whatever the cost to other parties.
I really do hope it leads to a good trade deal but always in the back of my mind I don’t trust Trump as we have all seen how quickly he can change.
good luck to allKid the Americans want choice , Trump has made a big noise about making the US the land of the free again , many want to drive there Range Rover to the restaurant , order there Scottish salmon or British beef and wash it down with a good malt , he had to make a workable deal
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
First it should be pointed out the deal signed with India has been many years in the making and not just under the present government.
You can’t claim ‘wins’ on behalf of the previous government unless you are also prepared to accept its many failures. Not hearing you say that Labour should be given a chance to fix those.
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