Stilted, contrived, and virtually useless to anyone with an analytical turn of mind.

Brown came over as the bumbling idiot, repeating over and over on just about every subject "We're working on that". Wake up Mr Bean! You've had thirteen years to work on it, and if you ain't sorted it by now, another five years won't cut it.

Cameron was, to a Tory like me, a bit disappointing. Strong at the start and finish, but lost it a bit in the middle. He still wiped the floor with Brown, but failed to put Clegg in his place.

Clegg won hands down on style, and deserves credit for that, but on substance he was much less credible. With nothing to lose, because he can't actually win the election, he made a multitude of populist pledges he knows he won't have to keep, which is just as well given that he wouldn't have the money for any of them.

I came to the conclusion that the best result for the nation would be a LibDem official opposition to a Tory government.

Now, before the bricks start flying I'll give my reasons, which are IMO cogent and compelling.

Five years in opposition would give the LibDems the experience of practical government which, at the moment, they lack, and give the voting public the chance to see how they perform. This would mean that at the next election they would have the skills and experience to command the respect of voters who have hitherto regarded them as irrelevant.

The mere thought that the next election would mean trying to overcome a now fully qualified new kid on the block, would militate aginst any possible excesses on the part of the Tories.

New labour are now largely irrelevant, and until they shift a long way back toward their proper, and historical, place on the political spectrum, should remain so.

It will do them considerable good to be sidelined for a while.

OK, I know what to expect, and from whom, so go ahead. Let Fly!

Don T.