The men who stare at votes
Of course, what we would really like to know is what Gordon Brown said when somebody in the prime minister's Jaguar pointed out that he still had a live microphone clipped to his tie. We all know about the "that was a disaster" and "she's just some bigoted woman" comments he made after meeting a Labour pensioner but what my bet is that he said something much fruitier when he realized the colossal gaffe he had made.
I've been pleasantly surprised during the run up to the British election. The TV debates were a bit tame and more like party political broadcasts than they should have been but at least it gave the electorate and the media an opportunity to put questions to party leaders without giving them a chance to consult their spin doctors before answering.
And the good thing about this election is that, hung parliament or not, there is obviously a desire for change in Blighty. Gordon Brown, the man who sold the Bank of England's gold at the market low when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, has had a disastrous three years as prime minister. One of the problems was that he was unelected because he slipped into the coveted job when Tony Blair decided to go on the lucrative lecture circuit and bring peace to the Middle East. One has been a huge success, the other not.
Over the past decade the UK has become involved in an unwinnable and costly war, the country has become even more of a nanny state, the level of debt has risen and the level of service delivery has deteriorated and people are fed up. Whether any other party will manage to cut government expenditure, raise taxes and still keep people happy is doubtful because what needs to be done in England is what should have been done long ago in Greece to prevent it from becoming the pitiful basket case it has become today. Fortunately the UK has financial services and industry to pull it out of the hot smelly stuff. Quite how Greece plans to even service the interest on its new debt is unclear. They're going to have to export a hell of a lot of olives and Ouzo.
The interesting contrast between UK politics and SA politics is that there are three main parties contesting the British election. The three main party leaders have spent the past few weeks scrutinizing the ever changing opinion polls which claim to indicate how Brits will vote today. But it's what happens in the polling booth that counts and that's why a lot of people will be staring at votes when the counting starts tonight.