Fergus Finlay: The smaller political parties are behaving like the adults in the room

There is an entire generation at risk of becoming increasingly alienated from ordinary democratic politics

We desperately need to see this election focus on real issues. There are rights at stake — including the right of an entire generation to at least aspire to a home of their own.

If I’m being honest, I’ve found my stomach being turned a bit by the sham carry-on of the two largest parties in the government. Happy enough to work together for the last four years, and we all know they’d be delighted to be back together after the election. But they’ve spent the first week of the election campaign involved in makey-up rows about nothing, pretending to be wildly different from each other.

They’ve been behaving like kids fighting over whose ball it is to present an utterly fake façade of difference. I don’t know who they think they’re fooling, but they need to stop it and start acting like grownups.