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| Nick Clegg challenges Nigel Farage to live debate on Britain's EU membership | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Nick Clegg has challenged Nigel Farage to a live debate on Britain's membership of the European Union before May's elections. | Nick Clegg has challenged Nigel Farage to a live debate on Britain's membership of the European Union before May's elections. |
| The deputy prime minister said he wanted to go head-to-head with Ukip leader Farage as "Ukip is the party of out, while the Lib Dems are the party of in". | |
| It comes after Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrats' president, warned his party could be almost wiped out in the European elections this year amid a rising tide of Euroscepticism. | |
| He warned that the party faced the fight of its life to keep its 12 MEPs as polls suggest there will be a strong vote for Labour and surge in support for Ukip. | He warned that the party faced the fight of its life to keep its 12 MEPs as polls suggest there will be a strong vote for Labour and surge in support for Ukip. |
| Clegg's challenge is an attempt to pick up pro-European votes from other parties, while the Tories are split on the issue and Labour's position has been criticised for lacking clarity. It will also put David Cameron in an awkward spot, as the prime minister is anxious to avoid debating with Farage on television in the runup to the general election in 2015. | Clegg's challenge is an attempt to pick up pro-European votes from other parties, while the Tories are split on the issue and Labour's position has been criticised for lacking clarity. It will also put David Cameron in an awkward spot, as the prime minister is anxious to avoid debating with Farage on television in the runup to the general election in 2015. |
| Clegg's acceptance of the Ukip leader as a legitimate debating partner will add weight to Farage's argument that he should be allowed a platform in any television leadership debates next year. | Clegg's acceptance of the Ukip leader as a legitimate debating partner will add weight to Farage's argument that he should be allowed a platform in any television leadership debates next year. |
| The Lib Dem leader threw down the gauntlet to Farage on his LBC 97.3 Call Clegg radio show, where the debate could be held if the challenge is accepted. | The Lib Dem leader threw down the gauntlet to Farage on his LBC 97.3 Call Clegg radio show, where the debate could be held if the challenge is accepted. |
| He said: "If Nigel Farage is either listening or looking at this programme I hope he would take up my challenge to debate, once and for all, publicly: should we be in the European Union, which I believe means that we have more people in work than would otherwise be the case, we keep ourselves safer because we can go after cross-border crime and terrorism, it means we can look after the environment in the way that we can't on our own? | He said: "If Nigel Farage is either listening or looking at this programme I hope he would take up my challenge to debate, once and for all, publicly: should we be in the European Union, which I believe means that we have more people in work than would otherwise be the case, we keep ourselves safer because we can go after cross-border crime and terrorism, it means we can look after the environment in the way that we can't on our own? |
| "Or do we do what Ukip want, which is to pull ourselves out of the European Union and so jeopardise millions of jobs in this country? That's the choice let's have the debate out in the open and I am very happy and very keen to debate that with Nigel Farage directly." | "Or do we do what Ukip want, which is to pull ourselves out of the European Union and so jeopardise millions of jobs in this country? That's the choice let's have the debate out in the open and I am very happy and very keen to debate that with Nigel Farage directly." |
| Farage has not yet accepted the invitation but suggested he could be more open to it if David Cameron and Ed Miliband joined in too. | |
| A spokesman for the party said: "Mr Farage would like to thank Mr Clegg for his kind invitation to a debate on the great issue of Britain's membership of the European Union. Perhaps he could also let us know whether he has invited David Cameron and Ed Miliband too in order that the British people can see all their main political leaders argue their positions. | |
| "If this challenge means that Mr Clegg is going to restore his backing for an in/out referendum, which he gave before the last election but then withdrew afterwards, then it could be a significant moment in British politics." | |
| Farage will set out his position when he makes an appearance on LBC 97.3 on Friday morning. |