British Prime Minister David Cameron, after visiting Queen Elizabeth II on the first day of the official campaign for the parliamentary elections, harshly attacked his main political rivals.
Cameron's reception with the Queen may be his last visit to Buckingham Palace as British Prime Minister as Parliament is dissolved today, marking the start of the most uncertain election campaign in decades.
In the 2010 election, neither Cameron's Conservatives nor Labor managed to win a majority of seats in the House of Commons, and the electoral picture is now even more complex. The Conservatives were forced to form a government with the Liberal Democrats.
Smaller parties, such as the Scottish and Welsh parties, the Greens or anti-European parties, may gain a significant role after the May 7 election.
Considerable attention during the campaign will be devoted to the EU and immigration, but the main topic of the two largest parties will be the economy.
Higher taxes, rising public debt and rising unemployment will be the result of a Labor victory, Cameron said outside the government headquarters.
Cameron said a Labor victory would mean "economic chaos" and jeopardize Britain's recovery from the global recession.
The leader of the opposition Labor Party, Ed Miliband, claims that many voters feel that recovery is "happening to someone else, somewhere else". He promised that his government would not increase taxes or red tape.
Cameron's promise to call a referendum in 2017 on whether Britain should remain in the EU was called by Miliband the biggest risk to UK businesses.
Cameron's visit to the British Queen today is more a matter of courtesy than an obligation.
These elections will end the tradition of the prime minister asking the monarch for permission to dissolve parliament. This will be done automatically from now on, according to the law which stipulates that elections are held on the first Thursday in May every five years, unless the government is voted no-confidence.
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