Tonight's Leaders' Debate and its Consequences

Tonight's Leaders' Debates will be the ultimate decider in this election, yet why anybody should vote for the Labour Party beats me. Talk about the global recession which started in America and affects every country in the world, in different ways,  does not disguise the fact that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown threw fiscal prudence to the winds and embarked on an extravagant spending spree under the impression that boom and bust was eradicated, led the country into an illegal and unwinnable war in Iraq and opened wide the floodgates of unchecked immigration, and established an expensive and unsustainable bureaucratic superstructure which instituted directives and regulations and a surveillance culture leading to a climate of fear and government control.

The two major parties are not indistinguishable although their policies with regard to dealing with the deficit are not dissimilar. The advent of a third force in British politics, the phenomenal rise of the Liberal Democrats in the popularity polls, has meant that a runaway victory by the Conservatives is no longer tenable and indications are that the result of the election will show a hung parliament with the Tories as the largest party. They will no doubt form an alliance, or at least an understanding, with the Lib Dems. It is unrealistic that the Lib Dems would associate themselves with a party which has presided over the destruction of society and the British way of life over the past 13 years, and which has led indirectly to the enormous debt which will take the first part of the present century to redeem.

The incident of yesterday and the confrontation between the prime minister and one of his long-time supporters, highlights the anguish and concern of the public and the dismissive attitude of the government. The importance of this incident should not be underestimated. It could make a huge difference to the outcome of the election. It exposes the fact that the government is out of touch with the feelings and concerns of the public  and has utterly failed to gauge its mood. In contrast, the Lib Dems have captured the psychological territory which Labour under Tony Blair once owned and will inevitably make a big impact on the composition of the new parliament. Along with the smaller yet vocal representation of Plaid Cymru, the SNP, the Greens, UKIP and the Independents they will help to make the changes which are fundamentally required.

Watch the polls change following the Debate and then see whether this has any relevance!