Would we want it?

Have you followed the developments in Scotland, which now has a minority SNP government?

What we see is not so much a minority government, but one which consists of occasional and ephemeral coalitions.

Opposition parties, excluding the Tories, voted against and defeated the proposed budget of £33 billion.

So the Greens offered to support the government, so long as the government increased the money in the insulation scheme. They subsequently asked for 50% more and Mr. Salmon played hard to get and spoke of dissolving the government and calling for an election.

What we have then is the weakness of proportional representation, which usually leads to coalition because there is no overall majority. A small party, which can have as little as 5% of the national vote is able to foist some of its policies, which may be supported by no-one else, on to the governing party. What few people want may become what they get!

The threat of an election may make one or more of the minority parties conform. The horse trading and the question of who blinks first is not a worthy way to decide the future of a country.