No doubt gun control laws will be under discussion over the next couple of weeks, and whilst I hate to see events like this (though thankfully rare that they are), it goes against my natural instinct for government intervention in peoples’ lives. However the idea of everyone being able to legally run around with a gun is absolute madness and needs to be prevented.

It’s a tricky one, and the government will need to think carefully about ALL of the possible effects before it reacts.

Fingers crossed for 15th June!!

It remains to be seen whether this unlikely partnership can be made to work. Certainly the overtures by the two leaders would certainly suggest that things are starting off on the right foot.

Once the emergency budget comes round in a few weeks’ time we shall see just how solid the foundations of this coalition are. I would think that the cabinet will remain united  – there is too much for most of them to lose by the whole thing falling apart at the first obstacle. However, it will be interesting to watch the extremes of both parties and how they react to the first joint Tory/Liberal budget.

I hope for the sake of the country it succeeds, but it’s really up to how long the MPs can stay mates for!

As an observer of politics it will undoubtedly be an interesting time, but as a UK taxpayer it’s at the very least unnerving as we wait to see exactly who will be in charge of rebuilding our economy over the next five years.

Personally, I don’t see how any coalition can last longer than a year, and any attempt at pushing through a new budget will almost certainly break it. I think we’ll be doing this all over again within the year.

After the first (which I actually didn’t see on account of me being ill) went the way of the Liberal Democrats’ leader Nick Clegg (principally because he was able to dodge the blame for anything because his party hasn’t been near power since World War II), it will be interesting to see if he can maintain his momentum throughout this debate.

Mr Clegg has been the centre of attention of the media this past week, and in my opinion, thorough dissection and scrutiny of the policies and personalities of the Liberal Democrats is critically important. The scale of the Liberal Democrat vote will likely decide what sort of parliament we have after 6th May. It is for this reason that it is very important that people know EXACTLY what and who they are voting for before they register their “protest”.

In the face of relentlessly negative campaigning, Fraser Nelson has outlined ten excellent reasons to vote Conservative in the forthcoming general election.

My personal favourite is number 7 regarding civil liberties: “the state should be small and people should be big.”

The Libertarian Party UK – Take The Test.

Despite mounting pressure from the media on Justice Secretary Jack Straw, he has stated in the House of Commons that the reasons behind Jon Venables’ recent return to prison will remain secret.

For those not familiar with Venables’ crime, I won’t repeat the horrific details here, but point you to the relevant Wikipedia article.

The ‘outcry’ from the newspapers has been based around the notion that it is in the “public interest” that we know the full details surround the reason why Venables has been returned to prison. As novelist Will Self stated on BBC’s Question Time programme last week, the act that caused him to break the terms of his licence could have been a very minor transgression. It could be something as minor as a speeding offence.

He also stated that there is a difference between the “public interest” and “public curiosity”. This case certainly falls into the latter category. Whatever Venables did seventeen years ago has little or no bearing on his actions now. We all still like to think of him as the evil child we saw in those mug shots, or in those chilling CCTV pictures as he led Bulger out of the shopping centre where he was taken from.

If we believe in the ability in offenders to be rehabilitated back into society, we must learn to let go of the crimes of times past. It may be impossible to forgive his crimes, and I certainly wouldn’t begrudge anyone for saying so, but if his identity is compromised the inevitable lynch mob will dispense vigilante justice. Is that something that we could be proud of?

Over the past five years, Lord Ashcroft’s UK company (Bearwood Corporate Services Limited) has been the single biggest donor to the Conservative party. However, his donations make up less than 5% of the total amount raised by the party in that time. The majority of Tory party funds are raised by local associations.

Despite this, there has been mounting pressure on Lord Ashcroft to finally reveal his ‘big secret’. This pressure has come principally from the left who regard Lord Ashcroft as a example of ‘Tory Toffery’ and a prime target for their class war. What they blatantly ignore are the non-domiciled peers sitting on the Labour party benches – Iain Dale provides a full run-down of the names and their respective (substantial) donations to the party.

Let’s hope that now all the information is out in the open, this non-story can be put to rest.