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I have to say, Nick clegg did well. I thought Gordon Brown did not come across well, his jokes fell flat and he was too aggressive with Cameron in places. Cameron under performed.

It'll be interesting to see the next debate.

lancasterlad wrote:I have to say, Nick clegg did well. I thought Gordon Brown did not come across well, his jokes fell flat and he was too aggressive with Cameron in places. Cameron under performed.

It'll be interesting to see the next debate.

+1. Can't wait to see Gordon's sickly smile again.

lancasterlad wrote:I have to say, Nick clegg did well. I thought Gordon Brown did not come across well, his jokes fell flat and he was too aggressive with Cameron in places. Cameron under performed

Gotta agree with that assessment. Not entirely convinced by Cameron's ability to count years though...

Taken from the transcript on the BBC site (maybe a typo, but I've seen it discussed on forums before the transcript came out, so other people heard it)

I was in Plymouth recently, and a 40-year-old black
man made the point to me. He said, "I came here when I was
six, I've served in the Royal Navy for 30 years. I'm incredibly
proud of my country. But I'm so ashamed that we've had this
out-of-control system with people abusing it so badly."

Never mind the shock of Cameron actually meeting.... a black person!
I love the fact that this person joined the Navy when he was 10 years old

Brown was quite impressive. Is this the same person who has been running the country or it's finances for the last 13 years? If Labour had been in opposition for all that time it might be half believable, but all the things he promised should have been done years ago. Along with the fact that he admitted he should have ignored the pleas of the *ankers for less regulation, is this someone we really want running the country? The words organise, piss-up and brewery come to mind!

I was lucky enough to be able to listen without seeing them, and Nick Clegg was definitely the winner. I liked hearing the opinion of some banking expert on the news yesterday, who said he's a nice chap, but if was able to carry out his ideas on banking he would be dangerous. Sounds like a good reason to vote for him .

I keep hearing Cameron and Brown talking about the importance of returning to GROWTH again. I think I have become very sensitive to the G word and everytime I hear it I recoil mentally.

Also Clegg talked about telling the electorate the truth a number of times and this hit a positive note with me, since we are largely told a lot of crap by most of the politicians who think they can't tell us anything bad..... looks like they might half to say nothing for a few years if they stick to that concept......

I'll admit I've only watched the first 11 minutes of the debate, so can't really judge it. (And that on Youtube this morning, since the relatives I was visiting last night are getting rather tired of all this 'election fever'.) Nick Clegg did seem to almost be getting the better of the others on the imigration issue, tentitively.

Of course I think basing any vote on how the party leaders perform on one TV show, especially in a FPTP system where we're not actually directly voting for them anyway (unless they're the MP for our consitituency), is futile. You have to analyse more closely the party policies, the other key figures in that party, your own local candidates, the general tone of election campaigns and not just on which out of three men looks good on TV, to really make a proper and informed decision.

Trouble is that there is a lot of futility!

But yes, of course you are right, one should take everything into account in the round.

snow hope wrote:Also Clegg talked about telling the electorate the truth a number of times and this hit a positive note with me, since we are largely told a lot of crap by most of the politicians who think they can't tell us anything bad..... looks like they might half to say nothing for a few years if they stick to that concept......

Surely a politician doesn't need to be part of a government to be able to tell the truth? Opposition MPs are just as able to identify and talk about the downward slope as ministers.

JohnB wrote:I liked hearing the opinion of some banking expert on the news yesterday, who said he's a nice chap, but if was able to carry out his ideas on banking he would be dangerous. Sounds like a good reason to vote for him .

My brother (banker with RBS) said the same thing: "Clegg is dangerous."

Ippoippo wrote: Taken from the transcript on the BBC site (maybe a typo, but I've seen it discussed on forums before the transcript came out, so other people heard it)

It's not a typo, I heard it live and thought: "What? he joined at 10?"

I'm not sure bankers are in any position to describe someone else's ideas as dangerous.

Overall I'd say my biggest impression of the debate was how rubbish Brown is when he's not speaking as PM but just another leader. He couldn't promise anything because his party has had ample chance already to do anything he could promise now. His one 'spontaneous joke': "This isn't question-time any more David, it's answer time" was interrupted and fell flat, while his interesting ideas all seemed to start with 'I agree with Nick Clegg."

Cameron did okay, but nothing spectacular. There was a bit of 2v1 which didn't help him. And his make-up was way too perfect. I get the feeling the Tories just think they don't have to make any mistakes and they'll be in power, and then they can figure things out from there. Same old party, sucking up to the wealthy and the established.

I don't remember Nick Clegg being quite the star he seems now to be seen as. But if the poll this morning putting Libdems at 35% is sustained, we could be seeing something as near to a revolution in British politics as we've had in a lifetime. Personally I'd be overjoyed to see a hung parliament so I'm very happy for the yellow team to do well. PR is just about the only policy promise I care about for this coming election. I'm pretty sure all the 3 main parties will suck at just about everything else I'd like to see done.

Out here in south&east Carmarthenshire it's Plaid Cymru who are going to win. They are streets ahead of everyone except Labour and Labour are doomed.

Whatever happened to 'Socialism'? Has the word been banned?

I know capitalism is a complete no-no, what with the banking bailout demonstrating that the heart of capitalism can't survive without state subsidy but...

biffvernon wrote:Whatever happened to 'Socialism'? Has the word been banned?

I know capitalism is a complete no-no, what with the banking bailout demonstrating that the heart of capitalism can't survive without state subsidy but...

and socialism and the state cannot survive without the tax receipts generated by capitalism and the private sector.

What a conundrum!