One less politician talking bollix is always a result in my book.
I'd prefer a full row of empty lecterns.
It's the same old turd.
Heard it all before haven't we?

I tend to agree.

In my opinion they are not really debates at all if recent ones are anything to go by. These so called debates are good for TV programmers as they are very low cost but do little for democracy. You will hear nothing new and they will be decided upon by who has the best celebrity status on the night and not who has the best policies for the country

In the Scottish independence referendum so called debate, the loud mouth Salmond nearly bluffed his way to victory and managed to convince many that the Scottish economy would boom on the back of the oil revenue income. I have always considered there was something fishy about the SNP what with leaders called Salmond and Sturgeon. To think he nearly netted the Scottish public hook line and sinker with his oily tales of riches from the North Sea. Some poor soles still haven't smoked out that the SNP economic ship would have sunk given the reality of the spot market.

Then if you recall the debates of the 2010 election which convinced enough voters to bring to power that weasle Clegg. Remember how a well rehed Clegg won favour by looking directly into the camera and somehow being perceived as more honest.! If that alone doesn't put you off live televised debates nothing will!

We do not have a presidential system in the UK and it is quite likely that if the TV debates go ahead none of the participants will actually become the next PM anyway. Recent polls suggest Labour will lose at least half their Scottish seats and even if the Conservatives take the largest share of the vote they may well not have an overall majority so we face the uncomfortable senario of the SNP holding the balance of power and propping up a Labour government in exchange for blackmailed demands for more powers and money for Scotland. So it is quite possible that to form a coalition each of the main parties will have to ditch their current leaders.

I do not think that David Cameron is being "chicken" in fact he is being more of a "fox" ie cunning rather than cowadice. The 2010 debates cost him an overall majority because of people voting based on personality rather than policy. To go against skilled debaters like Farage a la Salmond in the Scottish versions he has everything to lose and very little to gain. With Ukip sniping at the Conservatives the Greens would bring some form of balance as they snipe at Labour and the Lib Dems.

Finally with the news that the 'Pub Landlord' (FUKP) is to stand against Nigel Farage we should at least have some fun to look forward to. With policies that include beer at a penny a pint, bricking up the channel tunnel, revaluing the pound so it is worth £1.10 he may even win some votes.

Now if the TV debates included Al Murray there would be a good reason to rethink my position.

Why did you log out of the Juan Cornetto account and sign back in as Lord Elpers?

Did anyone see Andrew Neil destroy Harman on Sunday Politics yesterday on all matters to do with the economy and the cost of living. Labour's insistence to try and keep that lovely 'Cost of Living Crisis' sound bite on the agenda is making them look ridiculous when the statistics just are not showing any such crisis.

Labour should really try and steer the agenda away from the economy at the general election if they want to win.

not to mention the Labour Energy Price "freeze" that would have the effect of keeping household prices high whilst the wholesale price falls.

Soundbites are all that is required to win votes and elections - if you can convince enough people that they are not feeling particularly wealthy despite the opposition crowing on all the time about a booming economy then you will take seats, statistics will prove anything and the truth comes no-where near a politicians lips at election time.

Quite frankly I can't see Labour's pathetic leadership 2 Eds, Cooper, Harman, etc convincing anybody. They are truly wet and hopeless.

Quite frankly I can't see Labour's pathetic leadership 2 Eds, Cooper, Harman, etc convincing anybody. They are truly wet and hopeless.

Neither can I but they have nothing left to seel to the public but soundbites and victimisation, there's a lot left to fix but I don't think they have any more clue as to what to do and what order to do it in that the current incumbents have, I certainly can't see any form of leadership in their party and would trust Brown/Darling again more than Miliband and Balls.

On a lighter note and as a fan of the Pink Panther movies the Graham Stark character who owned the fancy dress shop that supplied Inspector Clouseau's disguises was called Balls and I feel that a Prime Minister Balls would be an excellent comedy role, cue Clouseau walking through the shop on his knees in Toulouse Lautrec disguise shouting "Balls, you're a genius!"

"Yes..yes..I know that"

I'd like to have been there when Ed marginally won leadership of Labour over his seemingly much better suited brother David.

Surely someone must have taken a step back, realised what had happened and said "woah woah woah, have a look will ya!"

So you think David would have made the difference do ya?
I must have been missing this towering colossus and inspirational heavyweight whilst he was contributing to British mainstream politics.
Not for me, and his brother isn't any better.

Maybe Danczuk was right?
Maybe the Labour Party has been hijacked by the North London liberal elite?

I think his brother was and still is far better suited to the role of leader. He's more natural looking and sounding on TV and would have been able to push Cameron more on issues.
However I honestly think Labours biggest weakness isn't Ed Milliband but Ed Balls. Making him shadow Chancellor was Millibands biggest mistake. He just doesn't connect with anyone. He doesn't come across as knowledgeable and a safe pair of hands like Brown did. And he struggles with speeches, so any time there's a big economic thing in parliament like the budget Labour can't fight back because Ed Balls cant manage his speech.
If Labour had had David Milliband as leader along with someone else as shadow Chancellor then I think Labour would be in a much stronger position.

That happened in Ramsey Macdonalds time and little has changed since, imo of course.

Aye, but it was a long way from Morayshire to Primrose Hill in the 19th Century.

What a stupid comment.

You would have to be a bit thick to assume as you seemingly do that they would legislate to ensure wholesale price falls were not passed on especially [isince they have called for the companies to do just that[/i given the large drop in wholesale prices is NOT being passed on anything like in full.

Indeed given wholesale prices have fallen by 20% since November and we are seeing cuts in domestic bills of around the 3.5 and 5 percent mark there is still plenty of opportunity for pricing reform here. Scottish power's 4.8% cut announced today (due in Feb by the way) amounts to a grand saving of 63p a week on the average bill. The price of a cabbage in Tesco.

The high cost of energy has not gone away especially as electricity which is not seeing a decrease in price is in often the much larger bill anyway.

I don't like Cameron one little bit, but why the hell should he have UKIP yapping in his ear while that brother back stabbing blatherskite gets away with not having the Greens doing the same to him. Anyway the whole TV debate thing is joke, but it gives people the idea they are making an informed choice so......

Just be glad you have electric....we frequently do not, here



If 4.8% equates to 63p, the weekly bill is 13 pounds. That doesn't seem especially high for an average bill.

It's a long way from Moray to anywhere

£33 a year is what it amounts to. The saving that is. Gas is quite a lot cheaper than electricity which is why for most people ground or air sourced heat pumps are uneconomical as the electricity you have to buy to run the pump is more expensive than just paying for the gas.

I don't know about you but my gas bill is much smaller than the electricity bill.

However from a national point of view given we have a number of gas fired power stations you have to wonder why electricity prices have also not fallen.

I work 37 hours a week in one job and another 15 in a second, I have zero debts to pay, no credit cards or overdraft, I don't drink, do drugs, smoke or gamble yet I am counting the pennies in and looking at the calendar waiting for my next wage. I am existing at the moment, working just and I mean just covering my bills. Regularly there are weeks when I do no shopping because I'm worried about bills being due and not having the money to pay them.

I'm in my late 40s and have worked all my life and have never been so hard up not even in the last recession when I was a much younger man on a lower salary.

Please don't try telling me that Labours insistence on people not feeling the economic upturn is just a sound bite because I and I'm sure many others find it grossly insulting!

It is just a soundbite if they have no solution to offer and until they are forced to issue their manifesto its difficult to see what on earth makes them any different to their main rivals.

Its their selling mantra to you, it grabs your attention and makes you feel that they also feel your pain whereas in fact they haven't yet come up with one solution or plan to give you more money in your pocket every payday, and nor will they other than tout some woolly plan that will never see the light of day - they can't force down prices anymore than they can fly a balloon to the moon.

At least they acknowledge there's a problem whereas Cameron, Osborne and Duncan-Smith are totally out of touch, in deep denial or just plain covering their s while practicing extreme ideology because it suits them.

Another term in office for the Conservatives will take us back a century

Not for the rich it won't. They'll continue to do just fine while the state helps them out every chance it gets.

The Stately Homes of England,
How beautiful they stand,
To prove the upper classes
Have still the upper hand;

The gap between the haves and have nots will be grow even wider, we aren't that far away from workhouses again.