Clegg to Cameron: Farage anxieties should not prevent televised debates
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Version 0 of 1. Nick Clegg has warned David Cameron not to use his anxieties about the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, as an excuse to block a repeat of the television general election debates next year. Amid signs that Downing Street is keen to avoid a repeat of the so-called 333 formula, in which the leaders of the three main parties held three debates on three consecutive weeks during the 2010 election campaign, Clegg warned that such a move would mark a backwards step. Clegg spoke out after the Guardian reported that Ed Miliband has instructed his election co-ordinator, Douglas Alexander, to open talks with television companies about reviving the debates during the campaign for the 2015 general election. Tory strategists, who believe the debates in 2010 allowed Clegg to outmanoeuvre Cameron as the new fresh face of British politics, believe Farage could dominate the debates next year if the Ukip leader were admitted. The broadcasters would face immense pressure to admit Farage if Ukip does well, possibly coming first, in this year's European parliamentary election. Downing Street has suggested that a larger number of debates could be held in the lengthy run-up to the election to ensure the three-week campaign is not dominated by the debates as it was in 2010. But Clegg said the leaders of the three main parties at Westminster should agree to revive the 333 formula and then work out whether to include Farage. Speaking a his monthly press conference, Clegg said: "I am ready to sign up now, as leader of the Liberal Democrats, to the same format of those broadcast leaders' debates as happened last time. They were a success, people liked them, they were a step forward, people felt they could compare and contrast political leaders. "It is really good news that the Labour party appears to be prepared to do the same. So the only party leader of a major party represented in the house of commons who still needs to, if you like, sign along the dotted line is David Cameron. "I hope they won't use their anxieties about Ukip and Nigel Farage as an excuse not to give the British people the right to see those leaders' debates take place again next time. It would be a real step backwards if any party leader were to use an excuse not to do these leaders' debates again. "The key thing is to get agreement from the three party leaders of the three main parties represented in the House of Commons. I've personally got no problem debating with Nigel Farage. I'd probably relish it actually. But the first thing you have got to do is get the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative party leaders agreed to do this again. I am prepared to do it, if I understand it correctly Ed Miliband is. I hope David Cameron will as well." Clegg spoke in favour of the debates after Alexander told the Guardian last week of the 333 formula: "That was the formula approved by both Nick Clegg and David Cameron in 2010 and widely seen as a success." Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |