On 13 April 1997 Tiger Woods putted his way to golfing history in Augusta, Georgia. The fact that he was the first black winner of the US Masters was not even half of it. At 21, he was the youngest; with a 12-stroke lead, he was the most emphatic; and finishing 18 under par, he was, quite simply, the best the world had ever seen.

On 5 January 2009 the Israeli army rounded up around 65 Palestinians (including 11 women and 11 children under the age of 14) in Gaza, several of whom were waving white flags. After handcuffing the men and stripping them to their underwear, the soldiers marched their captives 2km north to al-Atatra and ordered them to climb into three pits, each three metres high and surrounded by barbed wire. The prisoners were forced to sit in stress positions, leaning forward with their heads down, and prohibited from talking to one another. On their first day they were denied food and water. On the second and third, each was given a sip of water and a single olive. On the fourth day the women and children were released and the men were transferred to military barracks.

For all the talk about Britain being on the threshold of a new politics, events following the recent election reached a somewhat familiar conclusion: a group of posh white guys thrashed it out in a room and then went to Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s blessing.

Last Thursday in Sheffield Hallam students who did not have a chance to vote tried to block the path of election officials taking away ballot boxes. In Hackney police broke up a sit-in of voters who were in a similar situation. In several other cities across the country police were called to stem or prevent unrest as disgruntled and disenfranchised voters were turned away by incompetent officials. In Sheffield roughly 100 staged a demonstration outside Nick Clegg's house and tried to post their ballots through his letter box.

As chaos goes it was all very British. Voters queueing in an orderly fashion for hours in some areas only to be turned away from polling stations that had run out of time or ballot papers; a parade of bejewelled municipal functionaries delivering astonishing results in deadpan tones; a constitutional wrangle in a nation without a constitution; a race between party leaders to see who would claim the right to visit the Queen and ask her permission to do the people's business.

For me the single most stunning moment of the election campaign was the look on Gillian Duffy's face when a journalist told her what Gordon Brown had said about her in his car. Just the shock, disappointment and bewilderment at how anyone could have come away from their encounter thinking that.

I hate Tories. Not the people who vote for them. But the people they vote for. I make no great claims for that as a political position. But as an electoral category it is crucial. For I'm sure I'm not alone and it's pretty much the only thing keeping Labour going right now. It's certainly the only thing that could get me to the polls on Thursday.

When the police asked about setting up a stall for Scarborough's first ever gay pride event last September Christine Mark turned them down. She feared the turnout might not exceed six – her, her partner of 33 years, Jane, and two other couples. There had been some reticence in the community when she was planning it.

I need a pin for my chip. When I left this country they swiped credit cards and let you sign. In the US, where I live now, they still do. Here I find myself in standoffs with waiters.