NO-ONE can doubt that a thrilling election is in prospect, as the two big parties square up to offer voters dramatically different visions of the nation’s future.

The electorate can choose between tax hikes for those earning more than £140,000 a year – to ease the burden on everyone else – and a pledge to extend tax cuts for the super-rich.

On the one hand, a £10bn fund to prevent home repossessions is promised, alongside a windfall tax on oil and gas companies to give emergency rebates for those struggling to pay their bills.

On the other, voters could choose a fuel tax holiday for all motorists, with the levy suspended for up to three months, and a pledge to build 45 nuclear power stations.

One side wants to pull out of the Iraq quagmire as fast as possible, while the other says staying put for 100 years “would be fine with me” – and jokes about bombing Iran, too.

“Culture wars” are also on offer, for those who like that sort of thing, with abortion rights, civil partnerships for gays and stem cell research to find cures for killer diseases all up for grabs.

That last sentence will tell you – should confirmation be needed – that I am, of course, talking about the looming American presidential election, not our own next general election.

When I was growing up, it was agreed that Labour and the Conservatives offered a true clash of ideologies, while you couldn’t slip a slice of salami between the Democrats and the Republicans.

Now, writing from Westminster, it is depressing to contrast the genuine collision of political philosophies across the water with the ever-narrower battleground on which our elections are fought.

In particular, it is striking how a phrase scrubbed from all British party manifestos – “tax rise” – is being debated healthily as the United States prepares to vote. Of course, much of the political choice in America flows from Republican candidate John McCain adopting right-wing positions that Tory leader David Cameron knows would be political suicide over here.

Nevertheless, from Labour’s point of view, a glance at Obama’s manifesto will reveal why so many Americans believe he offers hope – while Mr Brown appears to have no hope.

WITH Chancellor Alistair Darling badly wounded, the toughest opponent faced by Tatton MP George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, appears to be his own mother.

Don’t be fooled by her delightful name – Felicity Loxton-Peacock – George’s mum was a Vietnam war protester and Amnesty International worker and the fire appears to burn still.

He told an interviewer: “I still have rows with my mother about the Iraq war.”