OpEd: Election 16-04-15

The commentators 16-04-15

...on the general election

Who is the most under-rated, over-criticised, most misunderstood politician in Britain? Whose party is being punished most heavily for its record over the past five years? And which leader is most likely to be in government after May 7? It is one of the paradoxes of British politics that the answer to all of the above is Nick Clegg.
- Jenni Russell, The Times

This is the election where the social engineers finally triumphed. The Tory manifesto promises, in all seriousness, “a plan for every stage of your life”; Labour and the Lib Dems are obsessed with using taxes and regulation to remake society; and the Greens want to ban just about everything useful or enjoyable. The major change in 2015 is that the policies on offer are significantly more fiddly, intrusive and brazenly political than those of the past few elections.
- Allister Heath, Daily Telegraph

Dear Ukipper: both of us have been traduced by the Cameroons. Tory members were famously called “mad, swivel-eyed loons” by one of David Cameron’s closest advisers. The prime minister was even ruder about you — once describing your party as a bunch of “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists”. But it’s decision time now. Do you really hate Mr Cameron more than you love your country? The time for protest is over.
- Tim Montgomerie, The Times

Talking tactics brings politics into disrepute and disgusts young voters with its calculating cynicism. But that’s what our rotten system demands: head not heart. For those in seats where they know following their heart helps Cameron into Downing Street, vote-swapping is an option that lets them register heartfelt politics while using their head to block the brutality of Conservative plans. The new vote-swap site already has 100,000 voters signed up – with no publicity. This year vote-swappers could make all the difference.
- Polly Toynbee, The Guardian

Why was Justine furious? Because a man she had never met before - a man who didn't seem particularly interested in her or her choice of conversation - was involved with her hostess friend?
Was she furious with him because he didn't interrupt a conversation about economics to say "by the way, I'm going out with Stephanie". Was she furious with Stephanie for not mentioning the secret relationship?
Or was she perhaps furious because she thought she might have made a fool of herself by making a play for a man who wasn't available?
- Getting into a tangle over Miliband's love life

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