Latest Moan From You and Me 2024

I don't see why the size of the electorate should have a bearing on whether or not a coalition government will succeed. But there are plenty of larger countries than Ireland governed by coalitions, setting aside those in Europe with particular problems at present - eg Pakistan, India, Spain, Australia, Malaysia... and some of the most successful, though admittedly smaller than those you mention, @simone_in_wiltshire , have managed to produce highly stable and successful coalitions. Scandinavian countries in particular seem to manage very well; Finland's "rainbow coalition" consisted of 5 parties.

The Lib Dems were castigated for not having more influence in their coalition with the Tories, but given the size of their representation, it's perhaps not surprising that their policies were trampled on. The same thing largely happened to the Greens in Ireland in the recent election; in the previous parliament they were the small party in the coalition, and their influence was therefore quite limited. Their support dropped hugely in this election. So perhaps the most successful coalition is likely to be made between parties with a similar number of representatives (eg MPs) in each group.

Compromise... not popular in government, I fear.

 

Why does nothing to do with govdot com work.
I need to renew my driving licence, apparently so go on line to the site.

Put in all my info and then it askes for my NI number, put the first letter in and the screen closes.
So I go back and do it all again, put in all my info. this time as I get to the point of putting my NI number in it says, We cannot process this now, try again in 24 hours, it a joke.

They couldn't run the proverbial piss up in a brewery, does nothing work properly in this country.

 

I had to renew my driving license and didn't want to do it at Christmas when it was due. At the beginning of November, I filled out the form online in minutes thanks to OH. I'm too stupid to fill out any form. OH scanned my picture taken over the summer when I look brown below the eyes and white as light above the eye brows from wearing my NT cap all the time. It looked ok on the photo, but when the license came 4 days later, it looked like photoshoped. Their photo made the lower part even darker.

 

@Liriodendron I remember well the coalition process in Finland. I wouldn't call it stable being just a few months in power, and if one of the 2 small parties breaks out, everything collapses. That's what happened in Germany.
India is a completely different topic. It cannot be compared with any country in Europe.
My friend in Spain told me a different story in particular knowing that the winner of the election hasn't been given a chance to build a government. The same that happens in the East German regions. The winners (and this means its voters) of the elections are ignored.
In France, all left wing parties had to build a coalition not to get lost. Now they can't agree on anything and all world is worried about the impact on the EU.
The same with Germany when they will have their election. They will most likely build a coalition of which the voters originally wanted to get rid off, but they have no chance as everyone stubbornly resists to try something new.
Fact is that there are more and more small groups elected in Europe and this limits tremendously the chance to make needed changes. Voting in Western Europe has become a farce.

 

It's a problem.

"First past the post" only works if there are just two parties to vote for. As it is, in the UK, the majority of people who support either of the two parties most likely to win using that system, think it's great. For anyone else, it's undemocratic, because their vote means nothing. It also leads to very polarised government, in my view, with - as I said before - the incoming party often scuppering perfectly reasonable policies of their predecessors, because they are fundamentally more concerned with their own future than with the future of the country.

Proportional representation is democratic, in that everybody's votes are given weight. But coalition governments sometimes fail because one party in the coalition finds it cannot support the view put forward by others.

You probably know a lot more about coalitions than I do, @simone_in_wiltshire , but I do know that the first two "rainbow coalitions" in Finland lasted 4 years each, which is a reasonable period, I would have thought...

 

This is on a completely different topic.

Help please!

Our bathroom door has developed an appalling squeal, which we can't improve by squirting graphite in its 3 hinges. I wonder if it has warped; it's near a radiator. I seem to remember that loosening screws in hinges might help... am I right? And if so, which hinge?? It's remarkably difficult to work out which hinge is making the noise...

Our grandchildren are visiting at the New Year, and will delight in making rude noises with the door at 3am if we can't cure it!

All suggestions gratefully received.

 

Take the middle hinge off and see if it still squeaks.
You could be right it may have twisted a bit but that should show up when you take the hinge off, because any tension will be obvious.

 

Take one hinge in turn completely off and see if it stops.

Otherwise remove the door and put up a curtain.

 

Snap!

 

Thank you, @pete and @Tidemark . I'll give it a try later this afternoon... though probably not the curtain. Difficult to attach a lock...

 

We always find that candle wax works on squeaky door hinges. Just rub a candle on the hinge. Both sides.

 

It appears the government will dictate where housing will be built with no local consultation or opposition allowed.
More difficult decisions.

They will probably go for allotment sites.

 

Our local on-line 'newspaper' is often way behind the times with its stories, publishes non-stories or leaves them up when they are no longer relevant. A couple of classic I've seen today - A list of all Bonfire Nights and a story about a home office getting planning permission. Full details of the size, construction and colour. Wow.