Kieran Lawrence looks at autonomous weapons and the effect they could have on modern warfare
Continuing a series on world leaders, Miles Deverson takes a look at Angela Merkel
Ben Bland examines the fallout from the Iowa caucuses and looks forward to the New Hampshire primaries.
In the first of a series on world leaders, Miles Deverson takes a look at Nicholas Sarkozy
Essentially a rather dull looking debate turned out to be a rather vigorous one between the parties. Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Gordon Brown all looked rather nervous at the start, but as they grew more accustomed to the setup, the attacks started to follow. Cameron and Brown traded blows, including a ‘this isn’t question time, this is answer time’ attack from Gordon about Cameron’s refusal to answer questions on policing cuts. Cameron reposted with repeated hammering of Brown’s thirteen years in office, asking why Brown hadn’t made any of the changes he’s suddenly started suggesting. Nick Clegg (what do you mean who? He’s the guy on the left!) came out strong, presenting himself as the third way. Clegg repeatedly attacked both parties’ records, rebutted Brown’s attempts at showing similarities between the two, and presented himself as a man of substance rather than spin. Neither Brown nor Cameron really attacked Clegg, allowing Clegg the free reign to lambast each of them.
The star of the night was Clegg. Given his biggest publicity platform by miles, he took full advantage to put across his simple message of there being a third, believable way. He continually contrasted his substance to the spin and rhetoric delivered by the other two. In this debate he played the disillusioned voter, building on the general discontent with politicians felt in Britain, to show the contrasts between his party and the others. Brown did relatively well, considering he was defending thirteen years of Labour government and all the mistakes made. Cameron came across as more spin than substance. Although Clegg attacked both Brown and Cameron about their spending proposals, Cameron fared worse as he was attacked heavily by Brown over his proposed savings too. Cameron’s failure to produce a concrete response to this will have made it harder for him to seduce undecided voters. He did however play well to his own supporters, referencing scenarios that would shock middle England, and sticking to his principles of presenting himself as the better option to Brown.
The fact that approximately 10 million people watched the debate, and the fanfare caused thereafter, means that this is not just a one-off. The debate has really grabbed the imagination of a large portion of the population and the performances will ensure it continues to do so. The debate itself caused a surge in opinion polls for Nick Clegg from those who watched the debate, yet the overall standings didn’t change much. Cameron is still the favourite, followed by Brown, who is only a couple of points ahead of Clegg. Yet, with the fanfare surrounding this one and the next debate scheduled on Thursday, there will be even more people watching. If the current trend continues then the increased number of viewers will raise the Liberal Democrats overall poll rating. For all three parties, the remaining debates will be of the utmost importance in this election. For the average voter, this has made politics the most interesting it’s been in a long, long time.
It is still unlikely the Liberal Democrats will enter government, but they are only 6 seats behind Labour in the latest polls conducted. A hung parliament seems likely at this stage in time. Also, Cameron’s relaxed attitude towards Clegg may not have been from ineptitude. Clegg’s surge in the polls is fuelled by disillusioned Labour voters, and this splitting of the anti-conservative vote means Cameron has a better chance of outright victory. Finally, Brown did not attack Clegg vigorously, instead attempting to court Liberal Democrat voters by showing the similarities. However, giving Clegg such free reign has significantly hurt Labour, as Clegg sought to build his own reputation by rejecting Brown’s comparisons. Brown will have to attack Clegg in the next debates if he wants to keep the anti-conservative ‘blocking voters’ who are only voting Labour to make sure Cameron doesn’t win.
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