Election Day

Tomorrow is Polling Day in the European Elections. It's the first time in my adult life that I have seriously considered not voting.

Not because I'm shocked by all the mud and muck emanating from Parliament - I haven't been terribly surprised by it, to be honest. That in itself wouldn't stop me voting.

It's just, as someone put it on the radio tonight, "Always the same, whoever you vote for."

I've long been fascinated by the way in which the British can pledge allegiance to one party for years on end, and then suddenly, seemingly, the whole population changes its mind and the other party gets in. It's always particularly riled me, as a LibDem, that this pretence of democracy is simply a well-disguised two-horse race.

We have a LibDem MP, which makes voting seem slightly less futile than it did when I lived in a staunchly Conservative area. But still, recent events have fuelled my disillusionment to such an extent that I have seriously been considering not voting. I think I would have, because it goes against my grain not to. I have never considered myself a feminist, yet it seems churlish not to use a vote that women's blood was spilled to obtain. So I vote.

This evening as I arrived home, a woman was leafletting our street. She pleaded with me to go and vote: "Don't let the BNP in!!"

I had already identified this as the reason I must vote - and she removed any last traces of apathy from my mind. We cannot, in the name of "Showing them what we think" allow Nazis in through the back door. Make no mistake, we have learnt appallingly few lessons from history. I have lived in Continental Europe, and anti-Semitism, intolerance and racism are alive and well, just as they are here.

I can't risk letting the BNP or UKIP think they are doing any better than they deserve.

I'm voting tomorrow. Please join me...