Ah, election fever is in the air, lurking like the stench of a decaying whale carcass over a sewage-encrusted beach. It’s not just irritating…it’s M&S irritating. And so, to maintain our interest, over the last few days the debate about whether to have a debate has taken off.

However that Nick Thingummy has written something in a newspaper that nobody reads, saying:

“If Gordon Brown believed in the Labour party and his own record, he would be champing at the bit to hold this debate. I’m eager because I want people to know about Liberal Democrat policies, and I want the opportunity to explain why Labour and the Conservatives would take us in the wrong direction. Labour’s time is up, and the Conservatives think it’s automatically their turn, but I think in these difficult times we need to do something altogether different.” – Nick Clegg in The Independent

This is interesting for several reasons –

1. He assumes that it will include no-hopers such as himself. Everyone realises that the fight is purely Con/Lab in terms of where the next PM comes from. So why does he think that he is entitled to a pulpit? Mind you, the BBC will want two lefties against the Tory so he’ll get it, but under his logic there would also need to be space for Nick Griffin, Nigel Farange etc etc and the BBC won’t let THAT happen.

2. Compared to the LibDems doorstep canvassing techniques, it’ll be more tricky to be all things to all people on television. Perhaps they will ask for regional debates so they can say whatever they like to different audiences.

3. He doesn’t realise that giving a wider audience to LibDem ideas, rather than gain them votes, will result in their existing supporters garotting themselves with razor wire and a pencil out of shame and humiliation for sticking one of those diamond poster thingies in their window last time round.

Cleggy is not on a winner here.