David Cameron has been branded a coward by Labour for avoiding a head-to-head debate with Ed Miliband.
Broadcasters said on Saturday that the prime minister and the Labour
leader will take part in a question-and-answer programme in the runup
to the election, but will not debate head-to-head as originally
proposed.
The programme will be broadcast on Thursday 26 March by both Sky News
and Channel 4 and presented by Kay Burley and Jeremy Paxman. The prime
minister and the Labour leader will be interviewed separately and will
then answer questions from a live studio audience.
It was also confirmed on Saturday that Cameron, Miliband and Nick
Clegg will appear on a special edition of Question Time on BBC1 on 30
April, presented by David Dimbleby. The three leaders will answer
questions separately from a studio audience but not debate directly.
A Labour Party spokesman accused Channel 4 and Sky of backing down on
a pledge to “empty chair” Cameron. “After weeks of pressure from the
Conservative party, Channel 4 and Sky have indicated to us that they are
unwilling to stick to their commitment of 6 March to proceed with the
head-to-head debate programme if David Cameron refused to take part,” he
said.
“We have therefore, and with great reluctance, agreed to a change in the format of the programme on 30 April. David Cameron and Ed Miliband
will now attend the same programme and take the same questions from the
same audience. But due to the cowardice of David Cameron the two
leaders will not be on stage at the same time to debate each other,” the
spokesman added.
However, a Tory source said: “If anything this is an
improvement on the deal we were offered last week. The PM has always
believed too many debates would suck the life out of the campaign. In
all these formats, we are confident the choice between competence and
chaos will be clear.”
The announcement of the final line-up for the debates follows years
of wrangling between parties and broadcasters over whether and how to
repeat the debates from the 2010 election campaign in which the then
prime minister Gordon Brown, Tory leader David Cameron and the Liberal
Democrats’ Nick Clegg went head-to-head three times.
Cameron rejected previous proposals on the basis they did not include
the Greens, and insisted the sessions should not take place during the
short election campaign that starts on 30 March.
However, last week he appeared to surprise other parties and the
broadcasters by announcing he had accepted plans for a seven-way debate
on 2 April and had agreed to participate in a variety of other
programmes.
Leaders from the three main parties, along with Ukip, the SNP, Greens
and Plaid Cymru, will take part in a live TV debate on ITV on 2 April,
moderated by Julie Etchingham.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage dismissed the situation as an “utter farce” and said the broadcasters should be “ashamed”.
“They’ve kowtowed to manipulation from Downing Street and are now
offering a shoddy selection of alternatives that are no different from
typical election coverage already taking place. There are no longer what
anyone could sensibly call leaders’ debates,” he said.
“The entire plan has been concocted by the broadcasters in collaboration with the Conservatives.
The general public ... are being fobbed off with a total rehash that
plays into the hands of one man and one party only. It’s a smack in the
face of democracy and I am appalled.”
A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: “If it was down to us, we would be
in every TV debate and every interview and are ready to take part in
any of them.”
On 16 April, Miliband will also take part in a BBC debate with
leaders of Ukip, the SNP, the Greens and Plaid Cymru, moderated by David
Dimbleby.
A joint statement from the relevant broadcasters said on Saturday:
“We’re delighted that there will be a debate with all the party leaders
during the election campaign.
“We’re very pleased to be able to offer viewers an extensive range of
programmes across the four channels, featuring the party leaders
interacting directly with voters during the campaign.” — Stephen Bush (@stephenkb)March 21, 2015
Whoever in Labour agreed to let Ed Miliband join the also-rans debate: do Labour a favour, skip work on Monday. http://t.co/H8cAOsIDbq
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