Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat energy secretary has quit the government cabinet after being charged with (allegedly) getting his ex-wife to claim that she was driving a speeding car when Chris was actually the driver to avoid penalty points. There are some interesting questions that come from this, such as did Chris Huhne jump before he was pushed? What effect will this have on the coalition government, and it could it be the spark that leads to its dissolution?

 

What are your thoughts?

Edited February 17, 201312 yr by Brett-Butler

Huhne didn't really have much choice. It's a pity as he was always far better at fighting his corner than other Lib Dem ministers.

i would say it's definitely a "jump before pushed" damage limitation exercise tbh... To be brought down for something as ridiculous as this though is just stupid. If he really is guilty, what the hell was he thinking..? Okay, so he might have lost his licence for a while, but being in the public eye as he is being an MP and all, he really should've known better, it really does eventually come back to bite you in the arse.. Just ask Jeffrey Archer....

i would say it's definitely a "jump before pushed" damage limitation exercise tbh... To be brought down for something as ridiculous as this though is just stupid. If he really is guilty, what the hell was he thinking..? Okay, so he might have lost his licence for a while, but being in the public eye as he is being an MP and all, he really should've known better, it really does eventually come back to bite you in the arse.. Just ask Jeffrey Archer....

He was a fairly low profile MEP at the time. A driving ban would have made the job more difficult for a time but no more than that. In truth he's wealthy enough to have been able to employ a chauffeur if he wanted to.

He was a fairly low profile MEP at the time. A driving ban would have made the job more difficult for a time but no more than that. In truth he's wealthy enough to have been able to employ a chauffeur if he wanted to.

 

Precisely. And no doubt the bugger would've claimed it on expenses anyway, so he's a double fool.... -_-

 

Even if he is acquitted (or charges are dropped) maybe some people will wake up to the fact that something as seemingly innocuous as getting someone else to take your speeding points can result is a jail sentence.

Even if he is acquitted (or charges are dropped) maybe some people will wake up to the fact that something as seemingly innocuous as getting someone else to take your speeding points can result is a jail sentence.

 

Indeed... The cops and the courts dont really like people lying to their faces... Funny that.... :lol:

 

Does seem to be the latest in a series of Lib Dem ministers being ousted - David Laws (or 'outed' in his case), Vince Cable (nearly) and now Chris Huhne. Wonder is Michael Moore is hiding any skeletons? Clegg and Alexander will be ok - the Tories like them.

The Tories like them because the have no back bone or morals and will do just about anything for power including betraying their own beliefs and the trust of those who voted for them.

Chris Hulme pleads guilty to perverting the course of justice, and has resigned as an MP, triggering the first by-election of a LIb Dem seat since the Coalition formed. It will be an interesting one indeed.

 

On an unrelated not, hasn't the Perspectives forum got pretty dull recently?

Edited February 4, 201312 yr by Brett-Butler

It's been dull since Craig left. Probably since about a year before that even.

From the looks of your Twitter I think you have rather different views on this Tirren but I can't see it being anything but a Tory walkover. Labour would need a swing of over 20%, if it were to somehow go red you could probably put your house on the same result in 2015.

The Lib Dems first won the seat in a byelection following the death of the previous Tory MP in an unusual sexual act. This byelection will be the first parliamentary test of whether people will sswitch from Lib Dem to Labour when the likely consequence is a Tory victory. Eastleigh is one of the few places where the Lib Dems have cointinued to do well in local elections so the result is by no means a foregone conclusion.

Oh, Labour don't stand a chance at all. Yet you can be NEAR CERTAIN that we're all going to get shipped down there to show how 'One Nation' we are :D

 

I think UKIP will be too much of a factor to allow a Tory victory, and I could see there being a big outside chance of them winning by pulling in enough disaffected voters from the Tories and Labour, plus a Farage effect if he runs.

 

But yeah, it'll be either that or the Lib Dems I reckon, given Eastleigh's one of the few areas (along with Colchester, what luck!) where the Lib Dems are still going strong at the council level. Of course, if they do win it'll be trumpeted as a massive shock, but I've been saying for a while that my big theory for 2015 is that the Lib Dems won't actually do as badly as expected when it comes to seats. I see their vote collapsing everywhere else but a big incumbency effect keeping them in a lot of their seats. I can't see them falling beneath 20, but until now everyone's been basing their analysis on the Lib Dems failing miserably in by-elections along with the polls...in areas where they didn't win anyway, hence there was no real reason to vote for them now.

 

I have to say, the mischief-maker in me would LOVE to see Farage win. He'd liven up Parliament like nobody's business.

If Farage looked like he was going to stand the three main parties would do a complete hatchet job on him, I can't see UKIP getting anywhere near but you could be right with them taking Tory votes and turning it into a real contest. I haven't seen when the by-election would be but I'd presume local election day, in which case I'll be camped in Doncaster. Far more fun and I actually get to order people around up here.

On an unrelated not, hasn't the Perspectives forum got pretty dull recently?

 

Yes, it has. I'm thinking of starting a "Perspective Of The Day" thread every day in this forum because the interest is clearly there.

 

Also, I want to be a moderator of this forum along with Chris (Brett-Butler). :D

The byelection may be local election day although there is no reason why it should be delayed that long. If it is held then, that could favour the Lib Dems who, as I said earlier, continue to do well in Eastleigh. They get to decide the date so they may decide they want to wait until May. However that is still a risk as other parties will still be able to pile activists in before the local election campaign gets under way in earnest. Unlike when an MP dies, there is no period when it is considered "unseemly" to start campaigning.

Oh, Labour don't stand a chance at all. Yet you can be NEAR CERTAIN that we're all going to get shipped down there to show how 'One Nation' we are :D

 

I think UKIP will be too much of a factor to allow a Tory victory, and I could see there being a big outside chance of them winning by pulling in enough disaffected voters from the Tories and Labour, plus a Farage effect if he runs.

 

But yeah, it'll be either that or the Lib Dems I reckon, given Eastleigh's one of the few areas (along with Colchester, what luck!) where the Lib Dems are still going strong at the council level. Of course, if they do win it'll be trumpeted as a massive shock, but I've been saying for a while that my big theory for 2015 is that the Lib Dems won't actually do as badly as expected when it comes to seats. I see their vote collapsing everywhere else but a big incumbency effect keeping them in a lot of their seats. I can't see them falling beneath 20, but until now everyone's been basing their analysis on the Lib Dems failing miserably in by-elections along with the polls...in areas where they didn't win anyway, hence there was no real reason to vote for them now.

 

I have to say, the mischief-maker in me would LOVE to see Farage win. He'd liven up Parliament like nobody's business.

At the moment the Lib Dems will struggle to hold any of the seats they gained from Labour in the last two elections. However, roughly two-thirds of their seats were originally gained from the Tories. They probably need there to be at least an outside chance of a Tory victory at the next election. They can use that to raise the possibility that voting Labour in those seats can only increase the chances of that happening.

If the Tories win in Eastleigh it will be the first time a party in government has gained a seat in a byelection since 1982. That byelection was held because the sitting Labour MP resigned and then fought a byelection as a candidate for the newly formed SDP. It was held at the time of the Falklands war and that was the main focus (almost the only focus) of the Tory campaign.

 

It would also be the first time the Tories have won a byelection when in government since William Hague won Richmond in 1989. He only just won, benefitting from the fact that the SDP and Lib Dems both fielded a candidate. Their combined votes was eeasily enough to have won.

 

I didn't need to look any of that up. How much of a geek does that make me?

If the Tories win in Eastleigh it will be the first time a party in government has gained a seat in a byelection since 1982. That byelection was held because the sitting Labour MP resigned and then fought a byelection as a candidate for the newly formed SDP. It was held at the time of the Falklands war and that was the main focus (almost the only focus) of the Tory campaign.

 

It would also be the first time the Tories have won a byelection when in government since William Hague won Richmond in 1989. He only just won, benefitting from the fact that the SDP and Lib Dems both fielded a candidate. Their combined votes was eeasily enough to have won.

 

I didn't need to look any of that up. How much of a geek does that make me?

 

That is some impressive political knowledge!

 

On the original topic, I'm glad that this has finally been resolved - the fact that he didn't own up to it in the first place is frankly bizarre. Speeding is a crime, but it's not an especially serious one (in most cases), deliberately misleading the Police and putting pressure on his (then) Wife is serious and I am glad that he has not been allowed to get away with it.