Well, that was quick. After the Tories’ one-hour-and-forty-minutes-long manifesto
launch yesterday, and Labour’s comparable event the day before, it was quite a relief that the Lib Dems got through theirs in a nerve-soothing 45 minutes. And that included introductions from
Sarah Teather, Danny Alexander and Vince Cable, and a speech from Nick Clegg – all of them short, sharp and snappy. The only thing which seemed to drag was the Q&A session at the end.
But timings aside, it was clear that the Lib Dems have hit on an issue which – they think – separates them from the other parties. In 2005, it was Iraq. This time around, deserved or not, it’s fiscal responsbility.
In his introduction, Cable said that the other parties were ignoring the “massive elephant in the room,” which is the state of the public finances.
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