I think this story more or less sums up the futility of reading newspapers now.  Just about the whole thing is saying what is going to happen, and who is going to say what.  If I bought a newspaper I would not really get a chance to read it until I got home in the evening.If the papers were full of things that have happened then it would not be so bad – I would just be reading about them a bit late.  Instead I would be reading a prediction of what was going to happen during the day when I could be spending the time catching news on the TV, radio or internet about what actually did happen. Although the papers are usually right providing the politicians follow their scripts.

It is getting to the ridiculous point where the papers will tell you that some new statistics are due to be released, what they will be, what the government is going to say about them, and then how the opposition are going to reply to that.  The serious papers will anyway.  The others will just keep telling you that everything gives you cancer, or cures it, and that Diana is still dead.

I’m not kidding.  This particular story says:

Before launching his “GB on the road campaign”, the prime minister will say the choice is between securing the recovery and a reckless Tory party that will derail it. He will insist that the Tories are alone in believing this year is the right time to cut £6bn in government spending

And then:

David Cameron, the Tory leader, will counter by promising to fight for “the great ignored”.

And to complete the set:

For the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg will say: “The election marks the beginning of the end of Brown.”

Later on it says:

In a London marginal constituency, Cameron will say: “We’re fighting this election for the great ignored. Young, old, rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight

And

Clegg will travel to the three-way marginal seat of Watford. He will say that after “13 years of dodging elections despite being a key player in some of the most disastrous decisions, such as taking the country into an illegal war and a deep recession, [Brown] can’t avoid going to the polls any longer”.

I hope the bussed-in supporters in the London marginal constituency and in Watford have the grace to look surprised by these spontaneous remarks.  No wonder so many people are turned off by politics.  It is not that it is predictable but, worse than that, it is all carefully scripted.

I hope the televised debates show are not scripted, or at least that the scripts are not issued on a press release the day before, or there really will be no point to watching them.