British Prime Minister David Cameron has informed the Queen of the dissolution of parliament, firing the formal starting gun on what he has termed "the most important general election in a generation".
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street after returning from Buckingham Palace, Cameron said that the May 7 poll offered voters a "stark choice" between him and Ed Miliband as prime minister, and warned that a Labour victory would deliver "economic chaos" and tax hikes of more than STG3000 ($A5,763) for the average family.
SBS Europe correspondent Brett Mason spoke with Peggy Giakoumelos
Meanwhile, Miliband warned that the referendum on EU membership promised by Cameron if the Tories win power represents "a clear and present danger to British jobs, British business, British families and British prosperity".
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - who followed the PM to the Palace in his role as president of the Privy Council - predicted another hung Parliament, saying: "It's my view that the era of single-party government is over in British politics."
Clegg said Britain was at risk from a "lurch to the left or the right" under a Labour or Tory majority administration, and promised that his Liberal Democrats would keep a future government "anchored in the centre ground".
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