It has been clear for several years now that the Tories would not agree to a repeat of 2010 when there were three debates in three weeks featuring the Tory, Labour and Lib Dem leaders. The Tories complain that these debates sucked the life out of the campaign—but the fact that they didn’t benefit from the debates is another reason they soured on them.
This time round, the Tories have made noises about favouring a direct Cameron-Miliband head to head debate but have not committed to anything. Indeed, some Tories worry that expectations are so low for Miliband that he would be the beneficiary of any debate between the two.
In an attempt to break this logjam, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky have come forward with a joint proposal for debates ahead of next year’s election. There would be one head to head debate between Cameron and Miliband, something that will appeal to the Tory high command as it plays to their message that these are the only two leaders who can be Prime Minister after the next election. Then, there’ll be a second debate featuring Cameron, Clegg and Miliband. Finally, a third debate will feature Ukip but, controversially, not the Greens.
The Liberal Democrats have already come out objecting to being excluded from the first debate, saying ‘We do not accept the proposal that the Liberal Democrats, as a party of government, should be prevented from defending our record in one of the TV debates.’
I expect that the Tories will not be happy with the fact that the Greens, who are threatening to nibble away at the Labour vote, not invited to the third debate. But Nigel Farage’s initial reaction seems positive, he tweeted this morning ‘Decision is better than it could have been. If political landscape continues to change we would expect and ask for inclusion in 2nd debate.’
Decision is better than it could have been. If political landscape continues to change we would expect and ask for inclusion in a 2nd debate
James Forsyth
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