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Why the Tories do not deserve a majority

Amidst all the media hype it is easy to get lost amid smoke and mirrors: The fact is that the betting and the reality of this election is that the Conservatives are set for a majority government, even upon no more than 36% of the vote.

The fact that the Tories genuinely believe that 36% qualifies them for 100% of the power is why the Conservatives should not be given such power.

The Liberal Democrats are going to face attacks from all sides in the last week of this election: and we are more than capable of dealing with the smears and untruths that the other sides are spreading.

The fact is that the economic crisis is systemic, and so is the political crisis. Swapping red for blue will not change the system, it will merely validate it. Unless the Liberal Democrats can disrupt the system, then the Tories will win- and within 6 months will be the most unpopular government in British history. The deep desire of the British people is to change the system that allowed Tory MPs to claim for moat cleaning and the rest of it.

Meanwhile, when the Tories talk about tax changes, they mean abolishing inheritance tax- which will cut the total government income to pay off the deficit. When the Liberal Democrats talk about tax changes they mean increasing the income tax threshold which will be fairer because it benefits the less well off and will still increase the total tax yield. The Lib Dems understand that we are facing an economic crisis: after all Vince Cable warned us about it four years ago. The defence review will be critical for future cuts, so will the review of every other department, which is why, unlike the other two parties, the Lib Dems can not exclude cuts in any department: unpopular: certainly, necessary: definitely.

Mr Cameron expects to win this election. If he does, then nothing will change. If the Liberal Democrats win enough, then the system must change, and if it changes, then everything else will change. Unless it does, we will face no real change at all: only a swap of the red hegemony for the blue. The Con/Lab stitch up that has damaged our country so much over the past 80 years will simply continue.

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