UK General Election Called

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/poli ... 496591.stm

Actual election date is Thursday 6th. May.
The election would appear to be going to be a close run thing with very little separating the Conservatives & Labour Party in the polls. Also none of the leaders has ever actually won a General election so a bit of a novelty there as well. In a twist supposedly taken from the other side of the Atlantic the 3 main party leaders will slug it out on live TV debates.
Nick Clegg is the personable leader of the no hope Liberal/Alliance/What are we called party. He could find himself in the strange position of being the leader with power if the front runners come as close as expected.
Gordon Brown is the dour leader of the Labour Party. While dour was a good attitude in his former job (in charge of the money) I am not sure that a leader can get away with more than serious. Staff leaks from The Prime Minsters' office suggest that 'dour' is actually a lightening of his normal day to day approach.
David Cameron is the Leader of the Conservative Party. I imagine that there were cheers of celebration in Conservative headquarters the day he was elected leader 'We have our own Tony Blair clone now'. And cries of "Foul" the day Mr. Blair resigned. He is the sort of person who if asked what policies he had would probably reply "Why what policies would you like me to have in order to vote for me".
So these are the main contenders from the 3 main parties. There are plenty of lunatics standing who will promise just about anything in the way of bizarre views as well. Luckily they do not get much air time!!

The beeb is already trying to take the fun out of the election by issuing where the parties stand on the major issues of the day.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/poli ... ol3=libdem
Bit of a waste of time really. Despite anything they may say to get elected it will all change once the polls shut.
If Labour get in they will carry on relying on luck & reacting to any crisis that hits with panic.
If the Conservatives get in they will suddenly discover that they cannot introduce any of their policies because the situation left under Labour was much worse than they ever expected. They will then revert to a policy of relying on luck & reacting to any crisis that hits with panic.
If the Alliance hold the balance of power in a hung Parliament they will run about like headless chickens undecided who to support & what to ask for it...

The only good thing is that it only lasts for a month...

Yes, it probably would have a detrimental effect Prenders.
Though that is one of the strange things of the market - a hung parliament should really cause the pound to soar. After all neither of the Political Parties have the least clue what they are actually doing or why - except for the usual bit of 'dogma' economics.
A hung Parliament would stop either of the idiots doing anything & so should be greatly applauded & can only have a positive economic effect on the country.

The first of the 3 live 'leader' debates was held last night. Seems the political press were a bit underwhelmed by it all..

BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson said the biggest impact of the contest will be the insertion of Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats into the nation's consciousness but nothing the other leaders said had fundamentally altered the general election debate.

Not really surprising really. If anyone wants to see a disagreement between these characters they can tune into 'Prime Minister Question Time' that is held live from Parliament most Wednesdays...

Two opinion polls taken immediately after the debate, by YouGov and Populus respectively, suggested Mr Clegg won.

Not much of a surprise there either - he is by far the most personable of the 3, but stands little chance of being in charge of anything more than a party that can keep the next Government in office.

Events have conspired to mean that i will now be in the UK during the election.
Not that i will be voting as I still do not think any of the main political parties or leaders have really measured up to the task..
The 3 part 'Leaders Head to Head' turned out to be a bit of a non event except to confirm that
: Mr. Clegg is the most pleasant of the bunch. Half baked policies, but pleasant. Sort of bloke you would not shy away from meeting for a beer down the pub.
: Mr. Brown confirmed his grumpy status & followed that up by insulting a grandmother (by calling her a bigot) when he did not realize he was still broadcasting the other day. The sort of bloke you would avoid like the plague at meeting for a drink down the pub - even if he said he was paying!!
: Mr. Cameron confirmed his status as slime in charge of the Conservatives in a 'i will say anything to get elected' any face you want stance. Would be more like meeting a group than a person down the pub & you know they would all drink from the top shelf & expect you to pay.
Looks like the Conservatives will win but not enough for a majority. Just about says it all about the sorry state of British politics at the moment. Spotting the difference in what they say is difficult enough, without looking at what colour tie they are wearing. To think that the value of the pound depends on this bunch of clowns is enough to reduce a grown man to tears - or a huge desire to immediately join the sinking Euro !!

Given that on even the most optimistic (?pessimistic) projections, the Muslim population of the UK will not reach even 10% in the next 10 years, no need to take refuge under your beds just yet.