Cameron tackles broken society, while Labour suffers celeb no-show

Posted by Jo Cole at Tue, 27/04/2010 - 4:37pm in Political commentary

Family and society were the key themes on the election trail today and party leaders stayed close to home, with Cameron speaking in London and Gordon Brown in Scotland.

David Cameron focused his day on Britain's "broken society". He was joined by ex-Eastenders star Brooke Kinsella, who is supporting the Conservative Party's proposals in this area following the fatal stabbing of her brother Ben in London two years ago. During his speech ahead of a visit to a South London estate, Cameron said: "The broken society is not one thing alone. It is not just the crime. It is a whole stew of violence, anti-social behaviour, debt, addiction, family breakdown, educational failure, poverty and despair."

Speaking on Radio 1 this morning, Cameron admitted the election is currently "very tight" and that he planned a "great last 10 days" to secure victory. Meanwhile, taking part in the Daily Politics business debate this afternoon, Ken Clarke contradicted official Tory policy (again), saying that he had supported the nationalisation of Northern Rock and that a new bank tax would have to be internationally agreed.

Gordon Brown delivered a speech about services for children today, and visited a nursery where he was seen meeting yet more 'real people' and even giving out advice on their various problems. In a real display of family unity, married couple Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper outlined Labour's plans for children's services and accused the Conservative Party of planning to introduce a "toddler tax", with nurseries being allowed to charge "top-up fees".

There was also widespread disappointment in the Labour camp today. Following the unsuccessful visit from Elvis at the weekend, Labour were also let down by children's TV character Peppa Pig, whom Labour had kindly invited to their family manifesto launch as an advocate of Sure Start centres. Sadly it seems that Peppa's promoter, E1 Entertainment, wanted to avoid any political "controversy" and so turned down the invitation on Peppa's behalf. Questioned about the no-show shennanigans, Peter Mandelson claimed that: "It's all far, far too political for me to understand."

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg addressed the Royal College of Nursing this afternoon, setting out his party's plans for protecting the NHS. He said it was not for politicians to decide how the NHS should be improved, and asked nurses to give him their own ideas on how both cuts and improvements could be made effectively. "It is only the skills, innovation and ideas of the nursing staff of our health service that can protect it from the cuts you fear", he claimed.

Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party has today lodged a court appeal in Edinburgh against the BBC's decision not to include them in the Thursday's televised leaders' debate. SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon said: "The debate cannot and should not be allowed to go ahead while it excludes one of the main political parties in Scotland. This is not just about the SNP, this is about the right of voters in Scotland to have the choice they have on 6 May accurately represented to them." Whether Peppa Pig will be in attendance is not yet known.

Tagged with: Nicola Sturgeon, Nick Clegg, Ken Clarke, Gordon Brown, Elections, David Cameron