8.30 - Gordon Brown is terribly advised. Just drop the forced smiling. It ain't you. He also calls Clegg "anti-American", interestingly. Not sure what he's referring to, but he must have a point to make, as he's said it twice now. Dave gets "anti-European", for his part.
8.37 - Spicy question on whether the parties should distance themselves from the Pope in the light of his fruity views on homosexuality, AIDs, sex scandals in the church and pretty much everything else. None of them are up for it, obviously, despite opposing his views. We're all bathing in the warm water of British tolerance.
8.44 - Clegg must be elated to be asked about his plan to restore faith in politics. What the hell has that got to do with foreign affairs, though? Gordon basically begs the audience to vote for someone, anyone (him). Dave wants to cut the cost of politics, which we heard last week. He also mentions open primaries, which the Tories have taken the lead on (I think). Clegg strongly suggests that we all "get stuck in" in this election. It's almost as if low turnouts favour the Tories...
8.51 - My housemate puts me out of my misery by explaining that we've moved onto general issues and away from foreign affairs, which explains a lot.
8.52 - Dave tries to prevent Clegg from "getting on a pedestal" about expenses. Clegg concedes that he's "no angel". Ouch.
8.54 - An OAP asks whether the leaders think that £59 is a fair weekly pension. None of them think it's enough. Gordon points out that the questioner isn't getting all her entitlements, to use an Americanism, which is so like him ("the money is there if you can only navigate my labyrinth!"). Dave does pretty well by explaining exactly how he plans (to afford) to raise the figure. They're all doing their best "earnest" faces. This is much closer than last week.
9.05 - Is coalition government the way forward? Good question. Dave nods to bipartisanship, obviously, but also warns of the terrible dangers of a hung Parliament. You thought Dave liked bipartisanship? Clegg loves bipartisanship. He also declares that "we need a Committee for Financial Stability". Gordon points out that we already have one, actually. Doh.
9.08 - Adam Boulton is moderating pretty well. He seems more relaxed than ITV's man last week, who actually shouted the leaders' names to get them to yield the floor to each other. Boulton's also re-phrasing the questions that they fail to answer. Excellent work.
21.11 - Dave mentions Mothercare again. You don't think he's chasing the Soccer Mom vote, do you? Shameless. We're on the banking system. Clegg's bashing away, as he likes to do. Dave tries to joke with the audience about the now fabled "other two" bickering. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I suppose, so Clegg should feel pretty good right now.
21.15 - Immigration, which could be another banana skin for Clegg. His immigration "amnesty" might be eminently sensible, but will not play well with the public, sadly. Gordon instantly mentions it and I'm basically a genius. Clegg, bravely, wants to target the criminal gangs that prey on illegal immigrants, rather than the aliens themselves. I agree with him and wish the rest of the country did too, but I reckon he could founder upon this here rock. Gordon throws away any (remote) chance he had of me voting for him by saying that he's "deeply concerned" about "Nick's" policy. To hell with him and his cowardly politics.
9.26 - Closing statements and Gordon says "the buck stops here. If I'm in the job, you're in". Seriously, what does that even mean? Gordon says that Dave's a "threat to the economy" and Clegg's a "threat to our security". The cameraman's a Tory, because we're zooming in (uncomfortably closely) on Dave's face. Stop it. Don't nobody need to see that. Clegg's closing is better than last week, but I think he's (narrowly) lost tonight. I score it 1. Cameron 2. Brown and 3. Clegg. I don't think it's been overwhelming, but might this be the end of the yellow surge?
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