I rarely comment on the minor parties at Westminster because their impact is so limited and their behaviour so erratic. The minor parties include the Liberal Democrats, the Democratic Ulster Unionists, the Scottish National Party and the Ulster Unionists. There is also an assortment of independents as well.

The biggest and often funniest of these parties is the Liberal Democrats. Now with 60 odd MPs (although likely to be under 40 after May 6th!) it pretends to be the Her Majesty's Official Opposition, even though everybody knows it is not and is unlikely ever to be so. Yet, apparently, it has its own self styled Shadow Cabinet meetings and calls its Foreign Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and so on down the pecking order. Of course it is lampooned for it by the lobby journalists and MPs, but it did get me thinking how difficult it must be for the minor parties to sustain themselves. Every time a big story breaks very few people care what they think, the Parliamentary system pays them scant attention and they generally have little in the way of funds. So you can understand why they spend their time 'ambulance chasing' in an attempt to be heard.

However, next week Gordon Brown is trying his latest political ruse to save his skin under the guise of giving the House of Commons a vote on the Alternative Vote (AV) system. He doesn't want Proportional Representation (PR) because that would dilute his, and the big parties’, power to govern considerably both now and forever more. What he wants is to offer something to the minor parties that will allow him to persuade them to join him in Government in the event of a hung Parliament after May 6th (I'm assuming that's the date of the General Election).  It's so nakedly political and is widely considered as the most unashamed attempt to rig the electoral system in living memory – a true Mugabe-style, ZaNu Labour moment. Even the Liberals have apparently rejected the idea – although we'll see how they vote next week. There's also the question of whether any small party would want to tie itself to a sinking ship. Why would any Government, serious about reforming the voting system, decide 6 weeks before an election is called to actually do it? Bogus, cynical, but I suppose you can admire the brass neck!

I know there are some out there who want a change in the voting system because they genuinely believe it will change politics and Parliament for the better. My response is be careful what you wish for as the European Elections show that you may well get representatives from extremist parties. No electoral system is perfect but first past the post does generally provide decisive outcomes and ensure Government from the centre (whether centre left or centre right). We should not change the voting system simply because there are small parties who wish to exert influence and power well beyond their level of support. And we should certainly not change it to help a Prime Minister worried he will lose the election.