Should Prime Minister Brown call a snap general election

There has been much speculation about Brown calling a snap general.

On BBC Radio 4's Any Questions?, there was a quick poll on the audience and the split was 50/50 on a snap general election.

There was a time on threads on this board that I posted Brown should seek a mandate from the people before becoming PM. (Our political system do not require that the PM be elected by the people) but now can I bothered with an election.

All the parties will promise much and when elected, just how much will they deliver.

So what do the rest of you think? Should Brown take advantage of the lead in the polls and get a mandate from the British people for the next 5 years?

The risk of course is that if Brown waits the economic situation may get worst.

I've been following the election rumours with interest. One notable thing I've found is that those who initially said Brown had no mandate to govern and should call an election now accuse him of opportunism. Make your mind up, will you? This is how our system works. Governments, both Tory and Labour, generally go to the polls when things look good for them if they can. And to say that it's opportunism makes it sound as if the entirety of the British people are idiots who blindly follow the tabloids and don't think for themselves.

It must be an agonising decision for the PM, but personally I'd be very tempted to go for it. I'd be very, very surprised if Labour's majority in the Commons was reduced at all. They'll probably lose a couple of seats in Scotland owing to the SNP's success (which is one reason to wait a while; let the SNP's popularity wear down a little) and possibly Wales with Plaid Cymru, but they'd more than make up for it with gains in parts of England.

I think, too, that Brown had learned from the recent Scottish and Welsh elections earlier in the year about how he should campaign; that to be optimistic and positive. In Scotland especially, the Labour Party painted an SNP-dominated parliament as doom and gloom whereas the SNP had an upbeat campaign about issues (However much I dislike the SNP, they certainly knew what the Scottish people wanted to hear back in May!) and it paid off.

We can see a similar situation with the Tories and Labour today - All the 'anarchy in the UK' stuff and so on paints a pretty bleak picture which turns voters off. If the Tories want to win they have to move away from that and start thinking positive and letting this come through in their campaign. They've got a big job in front of them, though.

When he does call a general election, I for one do not know which party I will vote for, as far as I am concerned all parties are as corrupt as each other. They promise you the world before they get into power. Once they are in they do the opposite. Its a no wonder alot of people do not trust the MP's nowadays.