I hope you’ve all got your popcorn and soft drink ready, for tonight is the first of the three televised leaders’ debates. These debates are unprecedented in the UK, and sets the tone for a very public run-in towards the election.
I am hoping for some explosive fallout which will snowball through the press machine creating a clash of the titans on May the 6th. I can’t see it happening quite like that, though.
You see, today it is being reported – and I had heard some bits about this around the time the leaders agreed to these debates – that they will be the most heavily policed, regulated and structured shows ever shown on British television. And I thought that God programme with Nicky Campbell on Sundays was bad!
There is a list of 76 rules that have been handed to the broadcasters, which they must comply with else the leaders will not participate. Some of the rules are about fairness. It wouldn’t be fair, for example, to give one leader more TV coverage than any other, and for that reason it is not allowed for TV control desk operators to switch to an audience camera whilst one leader is speaking.
The format of the show begins with a set theme, including things like the NHS, political reform, trust in politics, immigration and education. After 30 minutes of this, questions from the public are asked. These questions will be asked by the chair of the debate (Alistair Stewart in tonight’s show), not the audience, and they have been filtered by boffins in advance so there will be no outrageous or deep cutting, agenda laden questions. I’m not sure whether the politicians have seen the questions in advance.
There is a politically correct audience, which has been selected roughly to reflect the proportion of vote share. So 40% will be Tories, 40% will be Labour, and 20% will be undecided but “politically engaged”. For what this matters I do not know, since by the sounds of it the audience isn’t permitted to make a sound. Applause is banned until the end of the debate.
I doubt very much whether we will see any of the leaders commit to anything, and it’ll be more like the Chancellors’ debate whereby the Conservatives and Labour spit venom at each other whilst the Liberal Democrats play piggy-in-the-middle, nit picking Blue and Red policy.
Will we discover anything that we didn’t know already? I doubt it, but I hope to see them get each other worked up, riled, and in the end turn into outright enemies. I think it’s that kind of passion people want to see, none of this smooth talking, question dodging sales talk.
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I agree Phil, I wont be watching it and as there aren’t any of the leaders of the other parties who arent as PC and more likely to speak on sensitive issues, its a foregone conclusion: preorchestrated pantomine.
What a sick joke it will be and it shows how rotten our democracy has become; call it “The 3 tenors 2″.
I just hope someone does a parody of it, by dubbing over voices, and puts it on U tube.
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Get it made!
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lol well what software do I need to do that?
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*shrug*
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The latest Harris poll predicts a 97 seat gain for the Conservatives, a 97 seat loss for Labour and a 3 seat gain for the Liberal Democrats, which would give the following representation;
Tory 295
Labour 259
Lib Dem 65
Others 13
Northern Ireland 18
So it’d be a hung parliament unless the Torys could get the Others and the Northern Ireland lot on side…but it’d only be a majority of 2.
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The poll i saw put labour a lot closer then that.
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So we are looking at a hung parliament; if that happens what next?
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Ooh, interesting. They are taking questions from the audience!
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More police on the street, parents accepting responsibility.. been hearing this stuff for a long time now Gordon and nothing’s changed.
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They are all turds of the highest magnitude, lol!!!
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I have yet to watch it but it sounds interesting but I bet Labour will be trotting out the same crap they have in the last 3 elections. That obnoxious Alfred Huckett on the Gasjet the cocky confrontational sod who thinks he knows everything, he doesn’t know fuck all really made an absolutely ridiculous assumption about me the other day and it makes me laugh and infuriates me equally. Just because I support the wonderful smoking ban he said ‘I don’t believe all that made-up evidence you get from The Guardian’, if he knew anything about me he would know full well I wouldn’t be seen dead reading The Guardian. Then he started making crazy assumptions I am a Labour supporter just because I support the smoking ban. He kept saying ‘Labour will get trounced because people are fed up with the ban’. Labour will indeed get trounced and I will be glad to watch them get crushed but if this loon thinks its because of the smoking ban he really is deluded. He got it into his head that smokers are the core vote. The politicians couldn’t give a horse’s arse about smokers, Middle England is the battleground everyone’s fighting for. Sorry I just had to have a rant because that nasty, bigotted pillock is doing my head in. He bullies anyone who dares to disagree with his narrow-minded views and he thinks he knows everything.
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Just for you TB: http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/latest-national-news/Cameron-courts-public-sector-vote.6234407.jp
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Alfred Huckett sounds like hes needs to see a Doctor; Harold Shipman, lol
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What a boring show it was (at least the first part as I couldn’t bare to watch anymore). We know really it’s likely to be a hung parliament – for which read Labour again with even more money being diverted to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to gain the votes of their minority parties whilst the English suffer more and more. How Cameron can’t have created a better lead than this when Labour have so magnificently screwed up it’s hard to imagine. 4/5 more years of Brown and I can’t see economic prosperity coming back to Britain for an exceedingly long time – he’ll have turned us into the third world.
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Well said Frustrated I am going to watch it when I get home tonight, many news stories are touting Clegg as the ‘winner’ out of the first debate. Brown was expectedly just stooping to cheap populist swipes at Cameron which was probably met with cheers from the Labour sheep. Labour has brought the country to its knees and yet people still want them in. I say to Liebour supporters be careful what you wish for!!!!
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“What a boring show”
You must have been watching a different debate than I was.
I think this debate will go down in history as the turning point in British Politics.
I have known Nick Clegg for several years and knew he was an able politition who would make a great leader of our Party and our Country.
However, he did much better than I had hoped in the debate and I genuinely believe the Lib Dems now have a real chance of changing the face of British Politics.
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I thought it was quite boring myself to be honest.
I expected fireworks but it seemed desperately reserved. Cameron looked like a rabbit caught in headlights and failed to land any punches at all and Brown slipped his cheap jokes in (lets see if he uses them again next week as he has a habit of doing) but said little I hadn’t heard already.
Clegg did come out of it the best, but then you would expect that with the other two parties carrying lots of baggage and him being relatively fresh and relatively unknown.
The host did my head in with his constant interruptions. He should stick to drink driving, he was better at that.
I think next week’s one will be vastly different and hopefully Dave will come out all guns blazing and create a royal rumble!
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Nick Clegg has had a great week, firstly with the Paxman interview and then last week. It’s all about expectation and David Cameron seems to be suffering with high expectation, Gordon was what we expected and Nick Clegg peformed well.
If Nick Clegg continues to have a good election I’m sure the Libs will pick up Labour votes and possibly a few Tory ones in Northern seats where they finished in second place at the last election.
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I do want to see a change from the usual tweedledum/tweedledee show, increased support for the lib dems and the fringe parties is fine by me.For once I would be celebrating “Diversity” but of a political nature.
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Nick Clegg is bound to make a great leader look at all the experience he has at governing the country.
The Lib_dems winning is almost as conceivable as that UKIP might win and Hamish Howitt become minister for smoking and injustice.
I think the BNP may well get more seats than either UKIP or the Lib-Dems
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Nick Clegg has the same amount of experience of running the country as every other Parliamentary candidate with the exception of Mr Gordon Brown.
He has had experience so does that make him a great leader?
UKIP and the BNP are both falling apart at the seams.
I’m willing to bet Bruiser £1,000 that the Lib Dems will get at least 10 times as many seats as UKIP, BNP and the Greens put together!
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I can’t find those odds on Ladbrokes
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William Hill slashed the odds on the LibDems to win with an overall majority from 300-1 to 25-1. They are also now 14-1 to be the largest single party, down from 100-1. http://bit.ly/aP1Jl3
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It was tongue-in-cheek in response to finding someone willing to bet £1000 on the Libs getting 10 times as many seats as all those others you mentioned!
I wouldn’t mind some money for free right now!
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you seriously think ukip, bnp and greens will get more than half a dozen mp’s???
i can’t see them getting one between them!
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NOOOOOOOO!
Now you’ve really killed the tongue-in-cheekness!
Definitely the opposite – implying that I was hoping I could find somebody who’d be stupid enough to bet against the Libs getting that many seats!
Mind you, reading back what I typed, I can see that I omitted a word that would have given you that impression.
Long day, short attention span!
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lol sorry John, I was a bit too quick to jump in myself lol!
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Great news announced tonight Lib Dems have overtook Labour pushing Liebour into 3rd place. Fantastic news!!!! This is obviously a postive reaction to Nick Clegg’s performance on the TV debate, I still need to watch it. I hate to say it as well but I want to see UKIP get trounced this year because all this pro-smoking shite is just making them a joke. Dump Hamish, Hogan and all this pro-smoking rubbish and I might reconsider. Get some proper candidates.
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Don’t forget that the Liberals were once a great party in government with Lloyd George etc, and Labour were next to nothing.
The Liberals were a major party before the conception of Labour and now labour are in government.
You never know one of these tiny new parties maybe in power in 50 years or so and Labour, Lib-Dems and Conservative all being minority parties. Only time will tell.
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If immigration keeps up, then a UKIP government seems likely,within 50 years, unless all the immigrants outnumber the resident population so they will vote labour in; its time for real change fuck the mainstream and get some fresh parties gaining seats.
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I take your willingness to bet gives an indication of your morals, the fact that you want such a one sided bet is also an indication of you as a man. Are you not aware that gambling is sinful and it is immoral to encourage others to gamble.
With the first past the post system it is the number of seats that matters not the number of votes cast, don’t the Lib-Dems teach you anything.
Would have been so frivolous with your money in the Euro Elections.
The original point still remains, no one in your party has had experience in running a country, your comment about the Labour Party is untrue, there are many MPs who have held a real office not some silly shadow office without authority or even the full facts.
So please don’t mislead people just tell the truth, be honest for a change and stay away from the gambling.
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Bruisers with the best will in the world BNP will not get more seats then the Lib-Dems it would be a major break through for them to get 1 or 2.If a reason for not voting for the LDs is because they have never run the country before then we would never get a change in government. The first past the post system is unfair and unrepresentative of the people who vote and should be altered. This would mean protest votes would be pointless because your vote would count so people you vote for would be the people you would represent you. This could mean people would have to get more involved in politics Harold is a good example of this he feels he can no longer support the big three because they have let his country down so he feels to protest about this he will vote BNP (who will not win the seat), if however PR was in place his vote may well give the party he chooses a seat in the government this may mean he could no-longer vote as a protest voter because there would be no such thing. So perhaps this would mean people would have to get more involved with parties that they would vote for which (in the case of BNP) would probably tone the accusations of racism that (I feel) has a strong influence on that party down.
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The only seat that the BNP may win is in Barking/Dagenham and I hope they do,that for me will be a success story that will make may the 6th ,a day of celebration,celebrating diversity (in politics), lol.
I would love to see the smile wiped off the face of that Nulabour scum-whore: Margaret Hodge, the ignominy for her ,would be pure delight for me.
BTW I have settled for UKIP on may the 6th.
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I take your willingness to bet gives an indication of your morals, the fact that you want such a one sided bet is also an indication of you as a man. Are you not aware that gambling is sinful and it is immoral to encourage others to gamble.
Ohh, the LOLs!
Pass me a tree branch for some self-flagellation.
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to John Bickerstaffe
self-flagellation no that swound like fun can we watch?
Just seen this on a leaflet. any comments.
“Let’s have People Policies not Party Policies,
Politicians should be doing what’s best for the people not their pockets.
Help Bring Democracy Back to Government
By Voting
Dr. SiThu Tum X
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Nice words how is he going to do it? What are his policies? Why did hes suport ther LDs before he wasn’t selected to run for them?
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Hi guys, I asked him that, his response was he just wanted to do something for the community, he said he knew a lot about health care services etc and felt that he could do some good if only by asking the right questions. I think he stood for the Lib-Dems because it was the best option at the time but Integritys here now for all those who are really independents at heart.
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Barack Obama had no experience either – look how it held him back!
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lol well said Jon, and hes got huge charisma.
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I hope the BNP get seats but like UKIP are having internal issues.
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Forgot to add I’ve got a new email address if anyone has been trying to email me over the last 48 hours: zim.flyer@blackpoolaloud.org.uk
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Some very good observations from you all regarding the outcome of the General Election, even though it’s still early days yet and a great many of the electorate have short memories.
Nick Clegg in my opinion was certainly the most confident of them all and gave the impression he would make a good Prime Minister,Vince Cable has also added weight as Lib Dem spokesman on the economy to that argument,the combination of the two of them in the eyes of the undecided may well increase their vote in this election,however, i won’t be voting for them,as the Lib Dems have more in common with Labour than the Conservatives,a vote for Lib Dem would be a vote for Labour and i certainly can’t stand another 13 years in business under Labour.
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Nick Clegg had nothing to lose and went for it. I could never vote Libg-Dem they want to stay in the EU. They have never been the same since Lloyd George died!
If you are in Blackpool South why don’t you vote for Integrity the party with no policies so you can not dissagree with them.
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Integrity a party with no policies so you can’t agree with them.
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I like Integrity, you cant agree or cant disagree with them,due to zero policies, everyone is happy!
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