It’s been a long political soap opera which exceeded even the expenses scandal, but now it’s almost over. The leaders of the United Kingdom’s three main political parties have agreed to face off against each other in three televised debates during next year’s general election campaign.

The three election debates (the first to be shown on ITV, the second on Sky, and the third on the BBC) is a development, in my opinion, long overdue. When compared to other democracies, where television debates between leaders and presidential candidates are the norm, our leaders in the UK tended to shy away from them. The media has been wanting this type of election debate for years, now they, and the public will get them.

Already however, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru, the main nationalist parties in their countries, are demanding they be involved too, despite the promises of separate debates in their homelands, and are considering threatening legal action. The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and the Green Party are also demanding to be involved.

I bet most of the attention from commentators would be focused on how Prime Minister Gordon Brown will perform in these debates. The fate of his… and the Labour party in government… are in his hands. It’s good for the public to genuinely find out what he and  Labour really stand for, and where he believes the United Kingdom should be heading.

So, there was a deal… of sorts…. in Copenhagen this week,  but not the sort of deal in which many environmentalists… and commentators…. may have wanted.

After much wrangling, haggling, and walkout threats, more money will be provided by the richer nations, around $30billion (£18.5billion) for the next three years, and that the main goal is to provide a total of around $100billion towards helping the poorer nations tackle climate change. But there was a lot of criticism that demands for specific cuts in carbon emissions were not included, and that the agreement hadn’t been made legally binding.

I suppose there was a collective groan from many people who desperately wanted the politicians to take the issue seriously. The real decisions have been put off yet again, for another day. However, THAT other day may be too late.