Bernard Dineen: Evasions that masked the terrifying reality

We had the illusion of fierce debates about the issues. In fact, we have watched exercises in evasion. It is easy to see why.

Voters wanted change. They wanted something done. But spell out the consequences and they run in the opposite directions. A survey last week revealed that three-quarters of the public believe that "efficiency savings" can solve our financial problems. They don't want taxes to rise and they don't want services to be cut.

The politicians feel compelled to say the same thing. You can't blame them. The Tories tried talking tough on the economy earlier in the campaign and their poll ratings immediately took a dive. So they went back to "ring fencing" NHS spending and similar soft soap.

The facts are terrifying. Gordon Brown has wrecked the economy. We are borrowing 500m a day. Over the next four years, the national debt is set to double. We are talking in terms of trillions but it is pointless using figures because no one can grasp the dreadful reality. The one thing that Brown and his acolyte Ed Balls have done competently is hide the truth from the public. The scale of debt has been disguised by keeping it off the books. The private finance initiative pays companies to build schools and hospitals and puts them in their debt for years to come. There are schools and hospitals in Yorkshire that can bear testimony to the grim result. The same goes for the mountain of debt needed to fund pensions in the public sector.

Now watch for the strikes when the new government tries to do something about it.

The other terrifying problem is immigration. Three million migrants have arrived since Labour took over. In the next 20 years, the population is set to rise from 61 million to 70 million. The response, from Labour's weak Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, is that he is not losing any sleep about this. He should be. The level of political lunacy on the subject was shown by that photogenic smoothie Nick Clegg when he said that 80 per cent of the immigrants come from outside Europe, mostly from Africa and Asia. And a high proportion of them, like the Somalis, go straight on to benefits and stay there. Don't blame them: blame the Labour politicians and ignorant Lib Dem leaders.

Why haven't the Tories launched an all-out assault on Labour's immigration record? Because, when the last two Tory leaders, William Hague and Michael Howard, did so, they were immediately smeared as racists. The campaign to smear an honourable politician like Michael Howard as a racist and bigot was filthy even by Labour's debased standards. The most perceptive comment during the election campaign came from the Governor of the Bank of England, who said that the party taking over would have to do such unpopular things that it could be out of power for a generation. He was right, I fear.

IT is a mistake to regard Nick Clegg as just light relief. He is much more dangerous than that.

Three former defence chiefs issued an open warning that Lib Dem policies could endanger Britain. They said there had been different positions on whether British forces should be withdrawn from Afghanistan, and on policy on the Trident nuclear deterrent. There had also been no proposals for combating terrorism.

What was Clegg's response to these respected defence chiefs? He dismissed them as "a bunch of retired establishment figures". They included Lord Guthrie, a former Chief of Defence staff and SAS Commandment, Sir Richard Dearlove, former head of MI6, and Peter Clarke, Scotland Yard's head of counter-terrorism. How dare he insult them in this way? The Lib Dems have also kept up a barrage of criticism of the security services, calling for even more investigations and inquiries.

The effect on morale is obvious. If the opinion polls were to be believed, there was a moment when this man was in danger of reaching the top in politics, with the power to influence policies on defence and counter-terrorism.

OUTDOOR preaching is an old British custom, whether in the street or in the park. The audience is usually a couple of supporters and people pass by without taking much notice.

That was before the official snoopers got to work. A Christian preacher who talked to shoppers in a Cumbrian town and handed out leaflets was observed by two of Blunkett's Bobbies. One introduced himself as not only a PCSO but the force's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender liaison officer. You can't get more important than that.

He told the Christian preacher that his comments, labelling homosexuality as a sin, were an offence and he would be arrested if he made any more similar comments. When he continued to talk to passers by, the PCSO radioed for assistance and uniformed officers arrived.

At the police station, the man was kept in a cell for several hours and charged with a public order offence – usually used for rioters and soccer hooligans.

This disgusting episode is just one of many similar cases. The most bizarre was in Oxford, where an undergraduate said to a mounted officer: "Do you realise your horse is gay?" Two squad cars were sent to arrest him and he was kept in a cell overnight. The case was dropped at the last moment.

The police are now as infected with political correctness as the rest of the society.