Editorial

Britain goes to the polls today in a tightly fought three-way contest that could actually see the governing Labour Party being beaten into third place, at least in terms of the popular vote, for the first time since 1918.

The main question voters will be asking themselves is which party is best suited to cut the enormous deficit without putting the country's fragile economic recovery at risk and without damaging the so-called "front-line public services" such as healthcare, education and the police.

Labour has been in power for 13 years and voters will have to think hard about the need for a change in government. It is true that Labour introduced important political reforms, invested heavily in health and education and, for most of the time, presided over economic growth. However, there has also been a great deal of over-spending, the deficit is at an all-time high of 11 per cent, 48 per cent of national income in consumed by state spending and there is disappointment among voters with the levels of health and education.

It is also true that Prime Minister Gordon Brown managed to steer the British economy out of the recession, helped save British banks from collapsing and played an important role in getting last year's G20 summit in London to agree to the reform of international financial institutions and a global stimulus package.

Voters will have to take Mr Brown's experience as a crisis manager into consideration when opting for change but they also need to consider whether the man who is largely responsible for the size of the state is the most suitable person to shrink it.

Hard choices definitely lie ahead for Britain and none of the three parties has given sufficiently detailed explanations on just how they intend to cut the deficit.

The Conservatives' plans suggest they would do most to reduce the size of the state by aiming to eliminate the bulk of the deficit within five years, starting with £6 billion in cuts this year. Labour argues that the fragile economic recovery would not be able to withstand such cuts this year and would reduce the deficit over a longer period of time. The Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg, are more or less of the same opinion.

Most opinion polls show David Cameron's Conservatives leading with between 33 and 36 per cent of the vote, probably not enough for an overall majority of seats. Labour and the Liberal Democrats trail with roughly about 28 per cent of the vote each.

It is very likely that Britain will end up with a hung Parliament, with the Conservatives getting a relative majority of seats.

A hung Parliament is perhaps not exactly what Britain needs in today's economic circumstances, when strong decisions need to be taken. However, a Parliamentary alliance between two parties or, indeed, a coalition government could bring about the national consensus needed for structural economic reforms to be carried out. Such a scenario might also pave the way for the much-needed reform of Britain's disproportional electoral system, which is particularly unfair towards the Liberal Democrats.

Irrespective of who is elected, Britain's foreign policy and the excellent bilateral relations between Malta and the UK are unlikely to change. There will no doubt be a shift away from closer integration with the European Union in the event of a Conservative victory but one trusts that common sense will prevail and Britain will continue to play a constructive role within the EU.