The Liberal Democrats are setting up their game plan in the event of a hung Parliament:

Small groups of senior Lib Dem MPs believe that there is a good chance that the next election will see no party with an overall majority, meaning that Nick Clegg’s party could be asked to act as “kingmaker”.

It intends to prepare for various contingencies using the principles of game theory developed by the Nobel prize-winning mathematician John Nash and regularly employed by the CIA…

[T]he top of the party is also united in its belief that they must remain “equidistant” from both Labour and the Tories in order to maximise their negotiating hand in the event of a hung Parliament. (The Times)

What a bunch of opportunistic tossers.

A hung Parliament is an unlikely event, according to the current polls, and even if one does come to pass, the least democratic thing possible would be for the third party to start dictating terms. Whoever the largest party may be, they must not give in to demands from a piddly little party that got virtually no support and certainly has no demcoratic mandate.

There is a reason why I detest all forms of coalition government – because it is completely undemocratic. Coalition government means that the largest party, the one with the greatest mandate is subjected to the whims of those who don’t. It is, frankly, a subversion of democracy.

Coalition governments have never existed in this country for a reason – because they don’t work, especially not in our oppositional political system. There never has been one in the history of our democracy, except in times of war, and the few minority governments we’ve had failed miserably.

How the Lib Dems can claim to be democrats yet be preparing a list of demands for creating a coalition government is beyond me.

We can just hope that the electorate see through the Lib Dems and chooses to vote for the Consevatives (or even Labour) instead.