It's been a couple of years since I've studied German politics so I'm probably wrong about all of this but iirc the previous grand coalition between the CDU/CSU and the Social Democrats worked quite well for Merkel, but I'm not sure if it will work again. We have that coalition in Ireland and it's a nightmare, and (surprise surprise) Labour are being punished in opinion polls while the larger party remains relatively unscathed, and that's more-or-less what happened in Germany. The SPD will be very reluctant to take that gamble again. The only coalition that I think could work would be with Bündnis 90, although I'm not entirely sure if the CDU have a strong environmental policy that they'd be willing to jeopardize, and I'm sure Bündnis would fight for some major ministerial posts. Anybody getting into bed with Die Linke would be political suicide as the party is currently being monitored due to extremist activity and they only poll well in the East because of Ostalgie.

 

EDIT: Oh scrap everything I said about the SPD grand coalition. I just read their more recent policies and they'd probably be the better option.

Ideas being the operative word, Tyron put me on the spot, I thought of a few out aloud that could reduce the welfare bill

 

I disagree with the annihilation bit, welfare is one of the areas where the public want much tougher action so cuts in the welfare budget would be a vote winner at the election

Do try to keep up to date. The latest Social Attitudes Survey showed that attitudes towards benefit claimants are softening. That is likely to continue as more people know about people suffering real hardship due to Osborne's decision to let the Daily Mail dictate policy.

Wow interesting the right lost all their seats bar Merkel party, shows the affection they have for her in Germany

 

I can see a similar thing happening almost in UK too, can see the Lib Dems being near enough wiped out at next election, winning a handful of seats with Labour gaining many Lib Dem seats, although of course in that situation Cameron would have to form a minority government

I do love the way you like to come on here and advertise your ignorance. In roughly two-thirds of Lib Dem seats the Tories are the main challenger and in many of those Labour's chances of winning are about the same as Sunderland's chances of winning the Premier League this season. At the moment they are likely to lose a lot of the seats gained from Labour in the last two elections. I suspect they will hold a lot of the seats where the Tories are the main challengers and I still wouldn't rule out the possibility of them gaining a few.

I do love the way you like to come on here and advertise your ignorance. In roughly two-thirds of Lib Dem seats the Tories are the main challenger and in many of those Labour's chances of winning are about the same as Sunderland's chances of winning the Premier League this season. At the moment they are likely to lose a lot of the seats gained from Labour in the last two elections. I suspect they will hold a lot of the seats where the Tories are the main challengers and I still wouldn't rule out the possibility of them gaining a few.

HOWEVER. This side of the border they were literally wiped off the mainland in the Scottish elections with their only constituency seats being Orkney and Shetland. I could see Labour gaining a few of their seats and I wouldn't be too shocked to see the SNP pick up some of them given that there is a lot of people who wouldn't piss on the LibDems if they were on fire up here.

 

You can't jump into bed with the most hated political party in the country and not expect a backlash. They seemed to have escaped down south but they got a good kicking in 2012 at the Local elections by SNP and Labour.

HOWEVER. This side of the border they were literally wiped off the mainland in the Scottish elections with their only constituency seats being Orkney and Shetland. I could see Labour gaining a few of their seats and I wouldn't be too shocked to see the SNP pick up some of them given that there is a lot of people who wouldn't piss on the LibDems if they were on fire up here.

 

You can't jump into bed with the most hated political party in the country and not expect a backlash. They seemed to have escaped down south but they got a good kicking in 2012 at the Local elections by SNP and Labour.

Scotland is another country :lol: Even though a lot of Scottish Lib Dem seats were originally gained from the Tories, many of the current MPs will probably need to rely on a personal vote. Of course, if they lose, it is unlikely that they will lose to the Tories.

Scotland is another country :lol: Even though a lot of Scottish Lib Dem seats were originally gained from the Tories, many of the current MPs will probably need to rely on a personal vote. Of course, if they lose, it is unlikely that they will lose to the Tories.

Craig did say UK and we're still part of that, for now. :lol:

 

I think some of them would stand a better chance at re-election if they ran as an independent.