My car is doing nothing this morning. Could it be the immobiliser, which is 'ticking' and the red alarm light has been on all the while. It isn't the battery. I've only had the car a couple of days.
I had a similar problem with a sierra, although you don't say how old the car is. Try locking and unlocking the car from the drivers door - the central locking and immobiliser are linked and this sometimes re-sets the immobiliser.