I work on Thursday nights, so it wasn't until this afternoon that I managed to watch The First Debate. And, being me, I took some notes.
So, I sat down to watch the Podium Power Rangers, each sporting a tie of their party's colour (apart from Brown, who either decided to go for pink for no apparent reason, or accidentally put his red tie in with his dark laundry), battle it out in an attempt to win my vote.
It was a shame that I had, by this morning, already found out what people thought of the debate. I found that Nick Clegg had the upper hand, and why wouldn't he? He is allowing the public to call him Nick, after all. It seemed obvious from the outset though, that Clegg was gladly riding on the back of the conflict between Cameron and Brown. He used to it his advantage, which I don't hold against him at all. However, I do wonder how well he would have come across had Cameron and Brown not been there.
In contrast, Brown seemed to have a disadvantage as although he could make promises for the future, he was repeatedly criticised for what was happening at present. So, he spent much of his time having to defend himself, while Clegg and Cameron (well actually, just Clegg) painted pretty pictures of the country's future.
This isn't to say that Brown failed to win over the audience in this debate. I must admit that although Clegg was the more likeable character, as far as substance goes, Brown definitely knew what he was talking about. By that, I mean that he didn't seem staged, for the most part. A lot of the time he simply spoke, without sounding completely rehearsed, as Clegg often did and Cameron... well... let's just say his High School Musical quote "We're all in this together" was the cheese.
Immigration. Who doesn't like a good debate on that? My Sixth Form Common Room often hears an argument or two on this subject. Clegg proposed a partial solution that actually surprised me, as I had never heard anyone mention anything like it before. Yet, it seemed so simple - immigrants will only be allowed to work in places they are needed. Fair enough, I thought. Whether or not that could work is beyond me, as I don't pretend to have much knowledge on immigration. Cameron put forward the idea of a "Border police force", which made me laugh as I assumed we had one of those already. Brown confirmed my suspicions to an extent, as he said Labour had started to bring in this kind of border protection. I laughed again when Clegg fancied himself as "like anybody else". That's got to be the lamest line in the political book, hasn't it? I mean really, there's no way that just because your children go to a state school (that goes for you too, Cameron... I don't know where Brown's children are educated...) that you're the same as the average Joe working in Tescos. To be honest, I think it's ridiculous that even though they can afford it, they don't send their children to private schools, just so they will look good in the eye of the working class. At one point in the debate, Clegg proposed smaller class sizes (as small as 20, which would be fantastic, but I do believe it to be quite unrealistic given the cuts/caps education funding will undoubtedly receive). I thought to myself, if everyone who could afford to send their children to private schools did so, that target would be much more achievable.
I was disappointed to hear the "more police on our streets" line thrown at me left right and centre in this debate. It's the easiest thing to say, especially if you add "we need" in front of it. It shows an understanding of our dismal numbers of police officers on the beat, with no actual promise of improving the issue. Clegg mocked an ID card system (which, by the way, I have never heard of, and thought sounded very cool - as if John Anderton had thought of it himself), taking it out of the pipe line and replacing it with 3,000 more police officers. Okay, I thought - my Sci-Fi days can be put on hold if it means my house won't get burgled. But the one proposal that did make me favour the Liberal Democrats was stopping young offenders from re-offending in the future. This nip-it-in-the-bud attitude is what schools try to enforce now - why is it that the government has only just stumbled upon it? Brown did take back some of my support as he stated that parents must take responsibility for their children. Hallelujah. Just I had felt previously, Cameron didn't really offer much on this subject either. It was Clegg and Brown that stood out in this instance, offering solid proposals that actually made sense. I did feel sorry for Brown though, as his cringe-worthy attempt to mock the Tories's posters of himself was so utterly awful. I wish he had planned it slightly better, because it probably could have been quite funny. He got his own-back luckily, when he asked Cameron something about his cutting of funding for the police force, and Cameron had no answer and just started going on about what "Gordon is not telling you".
By the way, did anyone notice how many times Cameron said, "What small business, what big business (insert hardship here)"? I counted three, but I'd be much happier if you could prove me wrong and present me with a higher count.
The education section of the debate was something I was looking forward to, but none of my questions about University fees were answered, so I was disappointed. The whole thing about teachers and headteachers having more freedom was very nice - they did like to state the obvious. I really liked it when Brown said that we need Teachers and Teacher's Assistants, and that he didn't want to get rid of any jobs, like the Tories will. I feel very strongly about this - Teachers' jobs always need to be safe, because without them we'd end up having grown men wanting to represent our country having arguments on TV. I promise you, education has improved immensely... and I say this having been educated at a state school (and liking it) my entire life. Well done Eton, you've produced some marvelous pieces of work.
I understand that Clegg wanted to get the point across to the audience that the Liberal Democrats will be "straight" with us. I understand that because he said it at every opportunity. However, as much as I have criticised him, I liked Clegg very much. Even though his trousers were too long, the arms of his jacket too short and he had my Nan is uproar commenting that he should take his hands out of his pockets, he used the phrase "Millions and Squillions", which makes him one of the most amazing politicians ever, quite obviously.
So here's the deal:
Brown knew what he was talking about. He wasn't the most charismatic, but he was the solid, older man you feel you can trust to water your plants when you're on holiday. That's a good thing.
Cameron was just plain useless, and a lot of the time I forgot he was there, even when he was speaking. I heard he flew in the guy who coaches Barack Obama - so, while he spoke like a news reader, his content wasn't very impressive. His closing statement reminded me of my Year 6 house captain elections (I won... by the way) when my teacher told me not to say "if you fall over in the playground, I will help you" but rather, "If you want something to change, tell me and I will tell Mr Guest".
Clegg was, as I have already said, the most likeable character. He offered figures, which instantly makes people feel that he is a trustworthy kind of guy. And he did present some good points, for which I was very happy. I think Clegg showed that a change would be alright, as a matter of fact.
Oh, and Cameron - how do you know that woman is doing a great job with regards to our health service? For all you know she could be stealing office supplies and spending her shifts looking for bar maid jobs online.
It's probably only fitting that I link the debate to this post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk5HvJmy_yg
I also liked how Alistair Stewart never knew where the camera was.
Women - never forget the Suffragettes. Vote.
Tails.
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