Poll Crawl

The news is a mixed bag for the Conservative Party: ahead of Labour by 8% in the current polls it translates to around 60 more MPs than Labour's, but 20 or so short of an overall majority. The deficit could be made up by support from the Ulster MPs, which could number around 25-30 and provide for a razor-thin majority in the Commons.

British election law is peculiar and puts the Tories at a distinct disadvantage. In order to pull even with Labour the Conservatives need to be at least 4% ahead of the socialists. My prediction for the May 6 election stands: Con's will win a majority of 29 seats.

Lip Clamps for LibDems

This morning the LibDems' Whince Cable told the BBC that the Tory plan to give married couples a tax credit amounts to - in his humble mind - "patronising drivel from an Edwardian Age." He, the spokesman on financial matters for the pathetic grouping, might be forgiven; he lacks knowledge and grasp, from the present to the past. On the one hand he muses about "the pity of £3/week in a discriminatory give-away for married couples that cannot be financed," - - only to promise that the LibDems would treble that amount!

The ill-wired Cable then attacks business leaders who have expressed their support for the Tory plan to nix the increase of National Insurance conributions promised by Labour. He called people like the chairmen of Marks & Spencer, BP, Selfridges and 116 others business leaders as "nauseating people who don't have the good of the country in mind." Special, eh? To accuse business leaders who combined employ 2.7 million Britons of lacking interest in the country condemns Cable and his flock to be a redundant fringe group that will be punished by voters.

It is a bright Spring day in London, and we're having breakfast with all windows wide open, curtains waving in a gentle breeze. Full of plans for the weekend, lots of them outdoors, it will pass all too quickly before my Femme de Couleur boards the train back to Paris on Monday. So, without much ado, have a great weekend everybody, and I will report back on Monday.

Current Music: Shy'm – Femme de Couleur