According to a recent report, around 6 billion pounds are spent on gambling in the UK every year. Add to this the 20 pounds I bet on Irish Raptor in last Saturday’s Grand National, and you get an idea of the amount of cash flowing into the coffers of British bookmakers.

Normally, when I bet on a horse – something I do once or twice a year – the beast takes the first opportunity to go into hibernation or retirement, whichever comes first. But this time, my selection was actually in contention for the first half of the race. But as this classic event is contested over 4.5 miles, this isn’t saying much.

The Grand National at Aintree is one of the major events on Britain’s sporting calendar, and attracts thousands. This year, 70,000 punters showed up and nearly a billion pounds were bet on the 7 races held during the day. Often these races are run on a muddy racetrack as rain is common in early spring. But this year, the sun shone, and the track was hard and fast: perfect conditions for racing.

One reason this event is so popular is that the horses have to jump 32 high fences, as well as a number of ditches and other hurdles that provide a stiff test of stamina and skill. Small wonder that out of a field of 39 horses, only 14 finished. The rest either fell, unseated their jockeys, or simply (and sensibly) refused to jump. Irish Raptor bit the dust at the 14th fence. Obviously, the race can be dangerous for rider and horse alike: the day before, three horses were killed. Once unseated, all a jockey can do is to curl up in a ball and pray that the thundering horses coming up from behind avoid him.

The appeal of the race lies in its sheer unpredictability. In the last 50 years, only four favourites had won. Now add Don’t Push It to this short list. This horse was joint favourite at 16-1 with three other entries till about half an hour before the start; suddenly, somebody plonked down 5,000 pounds on him, and the odds dropped to 10-1. Whoever the punter was, he’s now 80,000 quid richer. But because the track record of heavily backed horses is so patchy, everybody thinks he has a chance of winning a bundle. Last year’s winner came in at 100-1. When outsiders win, the bookies do too. However, if a favourite lifts the cup, bookmakers have to make huge payouts, something they don’t enjoy doing. Irish Raptor would have paid out at 33-1 if the stupid horse had not taken a tumble. Being a Pakistani and a firm believer in conspiracy theories, I want to know who placed the 5,000 pound bet on Don’t Push It, and what did he know that I didn’t.

The Brits are keen gamblers, and will bet on anything. Next month’s general election offers bookies yet another opportunity to lure in the punters. Even though the Conservative Party is the odds-on favourite at 1/7 (i.e., a bet of 7 pounds will win you a quid), I’m sure there will be takers. It is estimated that around 10 million pounds will be bet on the elections. Bookies are offering odds on everything from how many seats which party will win, to who will lead the Labour Party after its inevitable defeat. Currently, a Conservative majority is favoured at 8/15, while the odds on a hung parliament are 7/4.

Usually, the odds offered by bookmakers are a more accurate indicator of the outcome of an election than opinion polls. The reason is that while those asked questions by pollsters do not always say what’s on their mind, bookies are putting their money where their mouths are. Thus, their calculations mirror political reality more truly than the wishful thinking of pundits.

As the poor Liberal Democrats are at 250/1, their chances of forming the next government are even more remote than Irish Raptor’s were of winning the Grand National. Nevertheless, given the very real possibility of a hung parliament emerging, the Lib Dems could see themselves in the driving seat, even though their leader Nick Clegg has repeatedly denied the possibility of going into a coalition with either major party.

When I drove into London for a couple of days last week, I was amused to see a couple of Tory posters. One showed a sneering Gordon Brown saying: “I doubled the national debt – vote for me!” The other had the same image, with the PM demanding: “I doubled unemployment – vote for me!”

After the campaign officially began last week, newspapers have been offering extensive coverage of
the major parties and their leaders. The biggest debate is over who will cut how much from public services, and who can be trusted to fix the economy. Even though Britain is now officially out of recession, its economy is still in intensive care. While some pundits declare this election to be ‘one of the most important in a generation’, the public’s reaction is one of complete apathy.

The reality is that at the end of the day, not much separates the two major parties. Over the years, both have gravitated towards the centre, and there is hardly any difference between them. True, Gordon Brown is more down to earth, and promises to promote the working class. David Cameron, the rich Tory leader, went to Eton and Oxford, and has the plummy accent of the English upper classes. So while they may differ in style, their positions on major issues are very close.

Labour cheerleaders remind us of how Margaret Thatcher gutted the social services in the Eighties, while Tory spin-doctors keep hammering away at the fact that Labour has been in charge since 1997, and Gordon Brown presided over the economy for a decade. It is true that now when the PM makes electoral promises, people ask why the Labour government didn’t do all these marvellous things during their three terms in office.

For an observer like me, the whole exercise provokes a big yawn: compared with our elections, this one lacks all drama and tamasha. Our electoral contests are noisy, colourful affairs with lots of mud-slinging. Given the inaccuracy of our opinion polls, nobody (except possibly the ISI) knows the outcome until the votes have been counted. And even then there can be last-minute reversals of fortune. Here, the very predictability of the result could switch voters off, and persuade them to stay home and watch telly on 6 May.