My Predictions for 2011

Here are my predictions for the coming year:

1. Labour will win the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election but the Lib Dems will be a close second.
2. All 3 main party leaders (Cameron, Clegg and Miliband_E) will still be in post by the end of the year.
3. The AV referendum will be (narrowly) won.
4. Sarah Palin will do something that will effectively end her chances of being a serious candidate for the 2012 US presidential election.
5. A Lib Dem MP will resign the party whip to either sit as an independent or join another party.
6. England will win the Rugby World Cup.
7. For the third year running I predict that Eddie Mair will become the new host of BBC Question Time.
8. Liam Fox will no longer be a cabinet minister by the end of the year.
9. Including Old and Sad there will be 3 by-elections during the year.
10. A petition signed by more than 100,000 people will trigger a debate in parliament about legalising cannabis.

Happy New Year!

May the 5th be with you

Having the AV referendum on May 5th to coincide with the local and Scottish Parliament/Welsh Assembly election next year (as has now been officially declared) makes perfect sense to me.

It will save millions of pounds as elections will already be taking place in lots of areas (including my own) and hence two electoral birds can be killed with one stone. It will also increase turnout for the referendum which surely is good for democracy whatever the result?

Whenever the date was called there would have been objections from some quarters. You can always find problems if you look hard enough. The objections I have seen raised so far really do not cut the mustard and the pros outweigh the cons.

The date should remain May 5th 2011.