It used to be Brown, now it is Clegg

The Conservative Party, unable to produce a sensible policy on what they call Europe and the rest of us call the European Union, spend their time attacking UKIP and its leader, Lord Pearson. They used to say that a UKIP vote will give you five more years of Brown despite the fact that it does not look as if the next government will last for five years, no matter who heads it. Since that first debate and the unexpected surge of Nick Clegg in the opinion polls, they have changed their wording a little. For a while it was vote UKIP and get Clegg; now it is vote UKIP and get both Clegg and Brown. What is missing from all those attacks is a positive reason why anybody who cares about this country's government should vote Conservative.

Alex Singleton in the Daily Telegraph goes even further. He asserts that this election is not about Europe and a vote for UKIP is, therefore, a wasted vote. So this election is not about the fact that a large proportion of our legislation comes from the EU and Parliament can do nothing about it.

Curiously enough, Mr Singleton agrees with UKIP's position in that Britain should come out of the EU. He just does not think it is of any importance at the moment because

Britain’s exit from the EU will happen, but it will take some time. Dramatic changes in public policy are caused by major crises, and – even with worries about Greek debt – we lack a big enough European crisis to force and win a referendum against our membership.

Mr Singleton possibly did not notice that the collapse of the Soviet Union happened suddenly and unexpectedly, long after the crisis had emerged. The idea that miraculously the Conservative Party, if it wins the election, will take Britain out of the EU just because the time for that has come does not argue any great political acumen.