From the Guardian’s Jonathan Glancey, who concludes that it’s hard not to get the feeling that “both parties are sending themselves up” after seeing the manifestos released ahead of Britain’s May 6 election:
The Tories’ starchy blue “Invitation to Join the Government of Britain” reminds me of a book of trusty, well-established hymns. One can easily imagine I Vow to Thee my Country alongside Blake’s Jerusalem….Labour’s image of a heroic Soviet-style family, circa 1950, seems to be an in-house joke by someone who enjoys Private Eye’s lampoon of Gordon Brown as the Supreme Leader of a half-cock, Soviet-style state.
I don’t have a huge dog in this fight, but I will say this: David Cameron’s pledge to offer “California-style referendums on any local issue if residents can win the support of 5% of the population” is the most willfully wrongheaded idea I’ve heard in a long time. I mean, have you checked out the Golden State lately, David? “California-style referendums” have not exactly done California any favors.