Why Labour should go into opposition

th3 s1aught3r

They go into a coalition now, they will be junior partner in whats likely to be an unpopular government. And we all know what happens to unpopular government junior partners !

Let FG go alone with independents. They will have to make some very very difficult decisions in the next five years. Come next election they will be in for a bashing, and Labour would be poised to maybe take a lot more seats, become a major player, perhaps largest party in the state ?
And in 5-10 years the economy might be in a good state based on all the donkey work FG now have to do

De Dannan

They should but I dont think they will. The lure of power will over ride all sense of ideals with the flakey left :pac:

ei.sdraob

So its all about the good of the party not the country?

They may as well re brand as FF Lite then

De Dannan

ei.sdraob wrote: »

So its all about the good of the party not the country?

They may as well re brand as FF Lite then

Where is the evidence that Labour are all about the good of the country

ei.sdraob

De Dannan wrote: »

Where is the evidence that Labour are all about the good of the country

Shouldn't that be the sole and only aim of the political parties?

taking care of the party first and the country last is what got us here.

Pure Sound

I totally agree, Labour being the smaller party will have to comprimise a lot of there policies, Look at what has happened to the Lib Dems in the UK. I doubt FG will last that long anyways. If Labour don't go in a coalition and independents can't or won't make up the remainder to give FG the majority, it may force FGs hand to go into government with FF which would further damage them in future elections.

De Dannan

ei.sdraob wrote: »

Shouldn't that be the sole and only aim of the political parties?

taking care of the party first and the country last is what got us here.

It should I agree.
And I hope that Labour are going into government "for the good of the country" and not their own agenda policy wise. Is going in for their owns policy agenda for all our good ?

d'Oracle

th3 s1aught3r wrote: »

They go into a coalition now, they will be junior partner in whats likely to be an unpopular government. And we all know what happens to unpopular government junior partners !

Let FG go alone with independents. They will have to make some very very difficult decisions in the next five years. Come next election they will be in for a bashing, and Labour would be poised to maybe take a lot more seats, become a major player, perhaps largest party in the state ?
And in 5-10 years the economy might be in a good state based on all the donkey work FG now have to do

They have been junior partners in an unpopular government before.
They have never collapsed like the Greens or PD's before.

Ergo, the fact that they are a larger party must be significant.
Nobody can hope to go into government now and come out smelling of roses.

Fr Tod Umptious

Consider this
If Lab decide not to do a deal then it's FG and a few 'high maintenance' independents.

In 6 months time (this sort of government would not last 5 years) the independents decide to pull the plug based on some unpopular yet long-term beneficial budget issue.

So FG go to the people and say 'we tried to fix the country, the independent f**ked it up, and before that Labour f**ked it up by not joining us in the first place'

Result = FG majority next election

d'Oracle

De Dannan wrote: »

It should I agree.
And I hope that Labour are going into government "for the good of the country" and not their own agenda policy wise. Is going in for their owns policy agenda for all our good ?

What is it you think they base their policy on?
Do you actually think there is a party likely to be in government who's policy agenda is planned to for the detriment of the country?

Greenmachine

We Need Community wrote: »

I totally agree, Labour being the smaller party will have to comprimise a lot of there policies, Look at what has happened to the Lib Dems in the UK. I doubt FG will last that long anyways. If Labour don't go in a coalition and independents can't or won't make up the remainder to give FG the majority, it may force FGs hand to go into government with FF which would further damage them in future elections.

There is always SF. Not that I am suggesting they should go in for it.

De Dannan

d'Oracle wrote: »

What is it you think they base their policy on?
Do you actually think there is a party likely to be in government who's policy agenda is planned to for the detriment of the country?

I have no idea what you mean
I said that Labour have their own policies, like every other party....

th3 s1aught3r

ei.sdraob wrote: »

So its all about the good of the party not the country?

They may as well re brand as FF Lite then

So do Labour believe in a left alternative in Iirsh politics or not
They jump into bed with the most right wing party no problem
Yes they might get into power but they will be back to being an also ran the next time.
I see Labour now as no different to the main centre parties, their not left at all

d'Oracle

De Dannan wrote: »

I have no idea what you mean
I said that Labour have their own policies, like every other party....

You said that you hoped Labour were going into government for the good of the country instead of for their own policy agenda.

I put it to you that its a nonsense statement, because most of the parties policies are based on what they think is for the good of the country. Even Sinn Fein, although they are wrong.

hatrickpatrick

th3 s1aught3r wrote: »

They go into a coalition now, they will be junior partner in whats likely to be an unpopular government. And we all know what happens to unpopular government junior partners !

Let FG go alone with independents. They will have to make some very very difficult decisions in the next five years. Come next election they will be in for a bashing, and Labour would be poised to maybe take a lot more seats, become a major player, perhaps largest party in the state ?
And in 5-10 years the economy might be in a good state based on all the donkey work FG now have to do

Do you really think an unopposed FG single party government is a good idea?
I'm not saying that out of any dislike for FG, I would say the same for ANY party - a coalition partner acts as a leash, preventing their more extreme policies from getting very far.

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Cliche I know but we all know it's true. The idea of any of the current parties being able to do whatever the hell they want for five years terrifies me to the very depths of my soul.

Pure Sound

Greenmachine wrote: »

There is always SF. Not that I am suggesting they should go in for it.

I'd imagine FG would go in with FF before SF, Going in with SF would further damage FG as it would be too left vs too right, similarily they wouldn't go in with ULA, I might be wrong though

th3 s1aught3r

I dont think FG would want to go in with FF but based purely on idealogical terms FG and FF would have a lot more in common than FG and Labour

K-9

I don't buy the "good of the country" attack from the Anti Labour voters.

We don't have great opposition parties either so they'd be doing the state some service as well.

th3 s1aught3r

K-9 wrote: »

I don't buy the "good of the country" attack from the Anti Labour voters.

We don't have great opposition parties either so they'd be doing the state some service as well.

I think Labour are saying that they will go into government for the 'good of the country'. I just think they want to be in government, period

De Dannan

th3 s1aught3r wrote: »

I think Labour are saying that they will go into government for the 'good of the country'. I just think they want to be in government, period

Labour will certainly be leaving themselves open for attack from the 'left' of which there are many on the opposition benches if they plan to enact the ecb/imf cuts that are planned.