No more gaffes

The first leaders' debate set the scene for the election. The polls adjusted and have settled in a position which is wonderful for the Liberal Democrats. I spoke with a voter last week who was thinking that the polls may still be volatile but my opinion is that we have had no major gaffes and unless we get any more faux pas (everyone knows about Gordon and Rochdale) then what we have is what we will get on May 6th.

Francis Pym was famous for answering a question on Question Time about whether we need an effective opposition. He admitted that it was necessary for effective democracy and he was immediately sacked by Margaret Thatcher. Her position was that power was more important than democracy. I feel that we are now in a position to cast off the old system and democracy will win.

On Sunday the Tory candidate at the hustings meeting felt that there was an army of volunteers out there that would take over part of the role of government. They call it the 'big society' but they mean an active society. I'm afraid that power has been centralised for far too long for any great wave of volunteers to appear. Apathy is rife. Just take a look at the pattern of those who can be bothered to vote. If we really want to inspire people to action then we have to be serious about devolved power and a fair system to do this. Until the Tories recognise this then any call for a big society will sound hollow.

Gordon was right when he says that he doesn't get everything right, and neither does anyone else. It is time to strengthen our political system, so that gaffes aren't seen as such an important part of it.

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