Like some of my friends, I’ve having trouble deciding who to vote for in the European elections. I agree in general terms with the European policies of both the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party. I’m leaning Green at the moment: I like the Green Party manifesto more than the Liberal Democrats manifesto (with exceptions, some of which I note below), mainly because of its greater detail and specificity.

The tactical voting considerations are also quite strong: it’s not likely that the Lib Dems can get a second seat in the East of England constituency (they’d need at least another 10% or so over their 2005 result) whereas the Greens might be able to get one seat (they might only need another 5% or so). However, there are some arguments the other way.

For the Liberal Democrats:

• My Westminster MP, David Howarth, seems pretty good. He’s sound on several issues I care about (civil liberties, identity cards, climate change), he wrote decent replies to my letters, and he seems to be innocent of corruption. So I think the party deserves some kind of reward for his hard work.

Against the Greens:

• I strongly object to their proposal for “An immediate halt to xenotransplantation, genetic manipulation and cloning of animals” [manifesto, page 28].

• I don’t think their energy policy adds up: they plan “to campaign for an end to nuclear power throughout Europe, and against any new nuclear plants”, and they say that “current coal station schemes must be cancelled” [manifesto, page 11]. But that’s going to leave a big gap between energy generation and consumption, and I don’t believe that their proposals for renewable energy and increased efficiency are sufficient to fill the gap in time (based on the analysis in Sustainable Energy by David MacKay).

• I don’t like their association with animal rights extremists. Their candidate Rupert Read is a “frequent participant in demos over the years at places such as Huntingdon Life Sciences”. I don’t approve of guilt by association, but some of the anti-HLS protesters are really vile people and that’s hard to set aside emotionally.

• I don’t like their plan for the NHS to pay for complementary and alternative medicine [§HE300].

However, that’s a fairly small list of objections, and it’s not likely that the Greens will actually have the power to implement any of the things I object to. So maybe I should vote for Mr Read despite my worries.