""The libs were the only parliamentary party against the iraq war, they were the party responsible for getting the Ghurkas what they deserved, they have the best envirnmental policies.

Reading your views on here and comparing them to the views of the three main parties, you would be best represented by them too.""

O.K. Lox, since you are one of the few who are prepared to discuss the issues, rather than the educational status of candidates, let's just apply a little analysis to your statement.

Yes, on the face of it, you would appear to be right, but experience tells a slightly different story.

Firstly, let's agree that the chances of the LibDems achieving an overall majority are effectively zilch, partly because nobody knows what they would do in government.

Given that they have, on the whole, with a couple of notable exceptions, no experience whatever, it seems very likely that they would fall prey to the manipulations of the Sir Humphreys (and if Richard is looking for public schoolboys to despise, he'd be spoilt for choice there).

I hardly think that would redound to the benefit of the poorest in society.

So the best they could reasonably be expected to achieve would be to hold the balance of power in a hung Parliament.

This leads to a second, and much more cogent reason not to vote for them if, as seems to be the case, you have lost faith in Brown.

Since I reached the age at which I could vote, in 1959, There have been three occasions when the Liberals (later the LibDems) held the balance of power,

They could have done so much good by using their common sense and cherrypicking the most sensible policies of both sides, and supprting them issue by issue,

What did they actually do?......On each occasion they refused to consider any policy from the Tories, whom they loathe and detest, and contented themselves with rubber stamping Labour's decisions, right or wrong. And Labour each time made promises about electoral reform, which evaporated like Scotch Mist once they had the Liberals (LibDems) in their pocket.

So go ahead, vote LibDem, and if the Tories do not get an overall majority, you will have bought yourself five more years of Gordon Brown incompetence.

Who knows, he might even manage to get government debt up to Two Trillion?

He can do that, he's done it before.

Don T.