Election debate 1

Here we go again! This time it's the economy... hold onto your seats brothers and sisters.

Q1: There are going to be spending cuts - why don't you be honest and tell us?

Clegg - we specify the savings we are going to make in our manifesto. What we can't do is say that just efficiency savings are enough.. they aint.

Brown - 4 year deficit reduction plan, starts in 2011, includes N.I. rising and some cutting (public sector pay and pensions). If we fail to support the economy this year it'll go bad.

Cameron - we were the first to say there will need to be cuts. We will save schools, NHS etc. We are going to freeze public sector pay. People will have to retire later starting 2016. But to stop the jobs tax, we'll make efficiency savings.

Comment: They are all basically dodging the question. Lib Dems seem to be more honest in this regard (honesty is the best policy from Clegg is playing very well). Brown and Cameron are simply telling us what they won't cut - this doesn't cut the mustard. Simple as. The responses are simply going over the same material - it seems to be a choice between so called efficiency cuts now, or a NI tax rise next year, or the Liberal Democrats (who don't seem to be saying much about this specific argument because they are proposing a much more radical tax system as well as more stringent efficiency savings).