Six days into the New Year and are we the only people who feel as though the General Election is next week?  The major parties have run amok in the first few days of the year, claim and counter claim backed by ever increasing amounts of expenditure.  It sounds like a no limit game of Texas hold’em, each leader going check and raise as they hear the promises of the opposition. 

    Labour have made the decision to fight on the ‘survival’ of the Health Service.  Accident & Emergency Departments have slowly submerged under the flood of patients during the holiday, an event that Miliband puts down to Conservative policy.  Interestingly, the problem has been growing steadily since GP’s were given contracts that allowed them to drop out of hour surgeries.  With no available GP during nights and weekends, A&E is the only readily available medical service.  Who on earth introduced these contracts that left us with no GP’s when we need them?  Oh yes, now we recall, it was Labour.  And wasn’t Andy Burnham, Shadow Health Secretary, in charge when Stafford Hospital met targets as patients died on the wards.  Now he bangs the drum as though that never happened.

    It’s no surprise that Cameron has decided that the economy will be their trump card.  Growth performance has certainly improved in the last five years but what about government borrowing?  Osborne trumpets about the reduction in budget deficit but borrowing has barely improved, certainly not enough to trumpet it.  Both parties are talking tough about being in surplus by the end of the next parliament.  I’ll keep looking out for flying pigs!

    And then we have the LibDems. Nick Clegg seems to retain a broad smile as he delivers what could be the longest suicide note in history.  And while on fringe parties I should mention UKIP.  Nigel Farage seems to be keeping a low profile, probably because he has sworn off the booze for January and is frightened to leave the house.  In all probability he’s just waiting for the dust to settle before launching into immigration and the European Union again.  At least he’ll be singing from a different hymn sheet to the other three and one that registers strongly with the electorate. 

   The furore surrounding Ched Evans seems to get louder.  Convicted of rape, he has served his sentence and now tries to return to the only trade he knows, football.  To date three clubs have been keen to sign him but have had second thoughts as on line petitions have gathered support, making club sponsors threaten to step back.  While condemning what Evans did, he was convicted and sentenced within the bounds of our justice system.  Having served his time, he now finds himself on the receiving end of what seems to be our latest form of justice, the Twitterati.  If any club considers employing his talents, the on-line mob use tweets to deliver their own version of justice.  And it doesn’t take long to gather what seems to be a significant number of negative signatures for their petitions.  Oddly, it doesn’t help the female victim of the rape.  Supporters of Evans also have an on-line voice, and their hate campaign has forced the young lady into hiding making her a victim for a second time.  So where will it stop?  Those who raise petitions to try to stop Evans playing football will simply ensure that his supporters make the victims life a hell.  Maybe it is time for those on-line judges to find a better use of their time, which might allow those directly involved to move on.

    Angela Merkel is due in Downing Street today.  It is suggested that Big Dave will take the opportunity to make his case for a reduction in immigration.  I’m sure she will listen, while trying to seem interested.  Then Cameron can revisit his days at Eton as she pulls down his trousers and delivers what we hope will be a gentle caning.  The real problem for Angela will be if Cameron gets re-elected and is forced to let the people decide via a referendum.  Then the decision could be taken out of both their hands.

    Lord Hurd, Foreign Secretary in the early Nineties, has spoken out on the delay to the publication of the Chilcot report, calling it a national scandal.  Don’t hold your breath Douglas.  RIP Chilcot.