Having sometimes been criticised for placing too much emphasis on applause as a measure of the effectiveness of political speeches, I’m greatly reassured by the attention paid by this post (and quite a few others I’ve seen) to the amount Vince Cable was applauded during the debate.

If this is a trailer to the televised leaders’ debates during the election, it’s going tol be interesting to see how they plan to enforce the ridiculous ‘no applause’ rule they’ve all agreed on. It didn’t work during the 1984 presidential debates between Reagan and Mondale, and I’m amazed the broadcasters think it will work here – for more on which, see http://su.pr/2V8KQp

Meanwhile, LibDems may like to ponder the fact that some of the applause Vince received was won by blatant ‘yah-boo’ politics, of which many in the party have traditionally taken a rather dim view, but which I’ve always recommended as an important weapon in the rhetorical kit bag. Vince has also used it before, as did David Steel as far back as the 1979 general election – examples of which can be inspected here http://su.pr/2PYqCY