Omen writes

When the first shots were fired in the General Election campaign the opinion was that it was going to be a long and boring campaign. No one could have predicted the effect of the television debates by the party leaders. It is quite bizarre that a 90-minute appearance could produce such a large swing in the popular vote. It is also worrying that the prosperity of the country might well be decided by the charisma, or otherwise, of the party leaders rather than a more in-depth consideration of the issues.

Mention of eye examinations in the second debate was, unfortunately, less than encouraging with a suggestion from a local Labour manifesto that the Conservatives were going to dump NHS eye examinations for pensioners. This was emphatically denied by David Cameron. Indeed a failure to include a commitment in an election manifesto to retain 'free' eye examinations is a long way from deciding to introduce charges. However, those of us with long enough memories will recall Kenneth Clarke's involvement in both the deregulation of dispensing and the later removal of the universal right to an NHS eye examination free at the point of delivery.