I will make some points. As I like numbered lists, the points will be in the form of a numbered list. I realise that although the Internetz is serious bizznizz, what I write will not change anyone's minds, and I'm sure you're fed up with my long boring monographs, but here we go anyway.
1. On a hung parliament - I do not believe this will be a disaster, despite the previous experience in this country. Many countries - most notably Scotland, but also places like Germany - function highly effectively with a coalition government, even when the governing party is in the minority. This builds consensus and adds much-needed oversight. I would like to point out that the preceding 26 years have consisted solely of monobloc single-party governments and have done much to damage the country, be it the 13-odd years of Labour or the 13 years of Conservative rule before that.
I'd also like to add that one of the most successful coalition governments was Winston Churchill's "all-party" government during World War 2; and that Churchill's appointment actually came about as the recommendation of his opposite, Neville Chamberlain.
With that said, let's move to some salient points about the parties.
2. As much as it pains me to say it (and it does pain me deeply) Labour has done an awful lot of good for this country. We might be on our way out of a terrible recession, but to be honest that's more Goldman Sachs' fault than anything else. Let's also remember the recession has been reasonably short (18 months, I think) and whilst very deep and painful, far from the nightmarish Great Depression of the 30s. Labour's economic policies have worked to get us moving out quickly (as opposed to a Greek/Spanish/Irish style neverending nightmare).
3. Labour have also done much, despite their breathtaking incompetence, to promote industry in the UK, and we are seeing a slow resurgence of science and technology-related business. Let us remember that the last Conservative government utterly destroyed manufacturing in the UK, instead preferring to support a "service-side industry" - that is, banks and hedge funds and the like - and the legacy of that is the recession we just passed through. Germany, with the strongest manufacturing sector in the EU, fared very well.
4. Labour has also significantly improved the infrastructure in the UK. The preceding Conservative government more or less abandoned the provision for new infrastructure, saying more or less "the market will provide". This resulted in mass traffic chaos, the deregulation of the bus system, privatization of the railways, and woeful undercapacity at airports. Labour implemented some reasonably sensible infrastructure policies which involved much road-widening and building, a reorganisation of the privately-run railways resulting in pretty good fares and reliability these days, and the provision for extra capacity at airports.
5. Lest this turn into an advert for Labour, I'd like to say that Labour in government has been stunningly incompetent, had little to no understanding of electronic data or infrastructure, has taken far too much time to do all the "good" stuff I've listed above, led us into an illegal war, passed far too many laws, acted in far too risk-averse a manner, and reacted in a knee-jerk fashion to far too many things.
6. No one apart from the Liberal Democrats have actually said anything reasonable regarding immigration (let me state my view: I'm all for it, as long as immigrants contribute to society and pay tax); Labour doesn't quite know what to say, and the Conservatives have somehow managed to turn not having a plan into a talking point.
7. Conservative plans for non-state-run-state-schools are laughable. Teaching is a discipline and should be left to professionals, not to groups of well-intentioned parents. Such schools end up teaching things like creationism as science. Likewise for many of these Conservative plans to invite the "people to join the government". I don't know about you, but when I'm tended to by a doctor I'd like him to have some certificates; I want to know that the bridge I drive over has been built by qualified people. Specialism and training matters. Letting amateurs run (most) things is a bad idea.
8. As far as I'm concerned the EU is a generally good idea, even if terribly executed in concept, and any talk from anyone about "pulling out" is balderdash and will cause major disruption and chaos. People saying such things should be laughed at.
9. One of the most important issues that needs to be addressed is that of parliamentary reform. The first-past-the-post system is nonsensical and should be overhauled. A Scottish-style proportional representation system would be better. The Liberal Democrats are the only ones talking about this. Labour and the Conservatives tend to ignore the issue.
10. No one has a sensible energy policy. Every seems to think all energy will be provided for by magical windfarms. Nuclear is the only realistic option, but no one wants to admit it; Labour are the only party to have made fumbling forays in that direction. The Conservatives are ignoring it and the LibDems have said they oppose nuclear.
11a. Things like "bigotgate" are to be ignored; we already know they're all liars/idiots and tbh Gordon was just caught unlucky with the mic. The decision should be made on policy rather than who is the frontman, because as we know, the frontman in UK politics is essentially interchangeable.
11b. With all that said: a re-elected monobloc Labour government would be bad (I'm fed up with them, as I'm sure many are), but they would be reassuringly incompetent and unable to perform their basic functions at the very least. An outright Conservative victory would be frankly terrifying in my opinion, and would stand to gut the country's industry and manufacturing sectors which is only just getting back on its feet.
12. The best option therefore, is a Labour-LibDem coalition; the LibDems would hopefully stop some of the imbecilic Labour policies, Labour would stop the worst of the LibDem policies, and some useful stuff (like electoral reform) would get through. Together they would also have some 50-60% of the vote; far greater than a monobloc government which would have received some 30-40% of the vote.
Who will I be voting for? Well, in my case it's essentially irrelevant because I live in a staunch Conservative stronghold, and under first-past-the-post that's unlikely to change (more call for electoral reform!); but it will go to the Liberal Democrats even if they are a bunch of Guardian-reading hippies.
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